Today's Events | Persson Hall, 027, Auditorium
PCON invites you to an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.Marie-Eve Desrosiers will give a lecture titled, "Authoritarian Strategies and Prospects: Lessons from Pre-Genocide Rwanda." Rwanda is associated with one of the worst episodes of mass state violence in the last century: the genocide that swept it in 1994. It is also associated with images of extensive state control and citizen compliance before and during the genocide. As a result, and especially because of the rare scale of violence it experienced, Rwanda is often portrayed as an exceptional case, and so are the authoritarian governments at its helm prior to 1994. Yet, the authoritarian strategies they developed and employed are part of a known authoritarian playbook. In this presentation based on her new book, Marie-Eve Desrosiers explores the political trends of the First and Second Rwandan Republics to show how, contrary to assumptions about control and compliance, pre-genocide Rwandan authorities never achieved authoritarian control. It is, however, their imperfect strategies to achieve it that led them to harsher authoritarianism, and ultimately towards the extreme state violence that the country experienced. What a focus on pre-genocide Rwanda shows is that, over the course of their time in power, authoritarian governments often end up creating more challenges than they succeed in managing, which can lead them to adapt, but also to decay.Marie-Eve Desrosiers holds the Research Chair in International Francophonie on political aspirations and movements in Francophone Africa. She is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). She specialises in security and governance issues. More specifically, she studies political crises and conflicts, authoritarianism, political mobilization, and the relationship between state and society in the Great Lakes and Francophone Africa. She is also interested in foreign policy and international aid. She is the author of Trajectories of Authoritarianism in Rwanda: Elusive Control before the Genocide (Cambridge University Press). Her research has also been published in journals such as African Affairs, Comparative Politics, Ethnopolitics, and the Journal of International Relations and Development Studies.Cosponsored by Africana & Latin American Studies program, Core Communities, International Relations program, and the University Studies Division.

Today's Events | Chapel House, Chapel
Designed to help you to accept and become aware of the present moment, zazen meditation is focused on being aware of every sensation simultaneously, including thoughts. This helps in finding peace in the present moment.This meditation is led by visiting Zen Buddhist teacher and scholar Jeff Shore with guidance for beginners.

Today's Events | James C. Colgate Hall, Hall of Presidents
Please join the Colgate Jewish Union in the celebration of the festival of freedom. All are welcome!

Today's Events | Ho Science Center
In 2017, Kristen T. Woodward was able to witness a total solar eclipse in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was moved by the dramatic planetary display. She is looking forward to viewing another eclipse in her hometown of Webster, New York in April, as we will be in that exquisite path of totality. Woodward marvels at how science has allowed us to countdown the minutes while other events in our lives appear random and chaotic. The experience leaves one to ponder what is pre-ordained. By including images inspired by solar eclipse, her encaustic paintings intend to capture this conflict and visual tension between chaos and natural order.Woodward received her BFA in Printmaking from Syracuse University, and her MFA in Studio Art from Clemson University. Her zoomorphic paintings combine encaustic and print processes, and often utilize found collage materials. Woodward is a professor in the department of art and art history at Albright College, teaching drawing, painting, printmaking, and gender and the visual arts. Currently, she is collaborating with an environmental biologist to explore tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica. Woodward serves as is Resident Curator for the online site Artists2Artists.

Today's Events | Case-Geyer Library, 3rd Floor
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), check out Haven, Help Restore Hope, and Shaw's library display on the 3rd floor of Case-Geyer throughout April. The display includes featured books that speak to survivorship, resiliency, healing, and action. You're invited to engage with and borrow these books and additional ones on display, make a bookmark, grab a teal awareness pin, and more.

Today's Events | Chapel House, Chapel
Designed to help you to accept and become aware of the present moment, zazen meditation is focused on being aware of every sensation simultaneously, including thoughts. This helps in finding peace in the present moment.This meditation is led by visiting Zen Buddhist teacher and scholar Jeff Shore with guidance for beginners.