Nebraska Wesleyan University professor Gerise Herndon has conducted extensive research on Rwandan genocide survivors and through that research she’s learned the role of art in their healing.
Herndon will share her research and experiences during the Faculty Scholarship Presentation on Wednesday, January 24 at 6 p.m. The annual presentation highlights the scholarship of NWU faculty.
Herndon’s presentation, “Transforming Trauma: Art and Healing after Genocide,” will distill and analyze examples of how survivors of genocide and human rights violations express pain and sometimes healing through visual, cinematic, literary, and musical creations.
“When pain and injustice are translated into or recreated as works of art, such aesthetic expression may move imaginations to new insights,” says Herndon.
Herndon, an English professor who also teaches in the global studies and gender studies programs, has a forthcoming book, “Art and Healing after Genocide, Mass Violence, and Injustice.” In addition to her research, she has led two student groups to Rwanda to witness post-conflict reconstruction.
Her free lecture will be held in Callen Conference Center, located on the lower level of the Smith-Curtis Administration Building.