New MOOC on Memory Sites and Human Rights

After reaching more than 3000 people within one year, the Global Campus of Human Rights continues to grow its Open Learning Series with its third Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The new MOOC will focus on Memory Sites and Human Rights and will be released on 12 March 2018. Enrolment opens on 19 February 2018 and is completely free.

The MOOC is led by a team of Global Campus Professors from the Regional Programmes in South-East Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. They are joined by an international faculty of academics, experts and practitioners, including among others: Nora Cortiñas, President of Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Línea Fundadora, Argentina; Tarik Samarah, author of “Srebrenica – genocide in the heart of Europe”, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Albie Sachs, former Judge of the Constitutional Court, South Africa. 

“Memory is always false, but part of it can be true. It’s not the actual thing, it’s somebody remembering, or people remembering”, said Justice Albie Sachs. “You can’t say this is the true representation. But that’s not to say there is no truth in memory or that all memories are equally valid as representations. I think it’s useful to look at that problematic character of memory to prevent anybody taking hold of a memory and converting into a frozen and authoritative representation”. 

With this in mind, the contribution of this new Global Campus MOOC is to provide participants with multiple perspectives and examples of memorials that can help them develop and reinforce their critical understanding of a topic that is at the crossroads of history, arts, architecture, design, social justice and human rights studies.

The Programme consists of three Modules. Module 1 focuses on the conceptual framework behind memory sites. Starting from a reflection on why and what is important to remember, it then moves to discuss how memories are shaped and who is involved in ‘building memory’. Module 2 is dedicated to the objectives of memory sites, ranging from knowledge-sharing to providing evidence of abuses; from identity building/reconstruction to ethical, legal and political challenges in the representation of horror. Module 3 will focus on aspects related to the ‘design’ of memory sites stressing the artistic contextualization vis-à-vis the visitors’ reactions and empathetic sentiments for past atrocities and abuses.

The MOOC is funded by the European Commission and is offered in cooperation with Canvas Network, one of the leading providers of open online learning for everyone, everywhere. 

You can enrol for free here.
For general queries about the MOOC on Memory Sites and Human Rights you can send an email to e-learning@eiuc.org