Thursday, February 10, 2022
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Virtual Event

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Film Synopsis: American Insurrection (2021, 85 mins) examines the individuals and ideologies behind a wave of extremist violence that culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, and where the movement may be headed a year after the attack.

Discussants:

• Senator Christopher J. Dodd, former U.S. Senator from Connecticut
• A.C. Thompson, Senior Reporter with ProPublica and Frontline Correspondent
• Aaron Hiller, Chief Counsel for the House Committee on the Judiciary
• Emily Kaufman, Researcher for the Anti-Defamation League

Moderator:

• Glenn Mitoma, Director, Dodd Impact

This event is sponsored by the Human Rights Institute, Dodd Impact, the Department of Digital Media and Design, and the Department of Journalism.

Monday, March 28, 2022
3:30pm – 4:45pm
Virtual Film Discussion

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The Human Rights Film+ Series presents Tacheles – The Heart of the Matter, written and directed by Jana Matthes & Andrea Schramm (Germany 2020).

Synopsis: In this moving documentary, we follow the story of Yaar, a young Israeli living in Berlin who is rebelling against his Jewish identity. He accuses his father of suffering from the Holocaust although he never experienced it firsthand. In order to face his own family history, Yaar decides to engage with the Holocaust in a new way: via a computer game. Together with his two German friends, he creates a 1940s Germany in which Jews can defend themselves and Nazis can act humanely. His father is shocked. “Tacheles – The Heart of the Matter” shows how the trauma of the survivors affects the third generation. By blurring the truth and switching the roles of victims and perpetrators – can anyone cope with their own history? Is reconciliation possible with a Computer Game?

Co-sponsors: Human Rights Institute, Dodd Impact, Digital Media and Design, Center for Judaic Studies & Contemporary Jewish Life

March 13-14, 2019

The Human Rights Institute, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, and other programs at UConn will host a symposium on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, culminating in an exclusive preview and post-show discussion of Rob Miller and Henry Singer’s documentary, The Trial of Ratko Mladić (2018). The symposium brings together varied stakeholders, scholars, and experts to consider the past, present and future of international justice, examining the ICTY as an exemplar of the possibilities and limits of the quest for justice in the face of crimes against humanity and genocide.

5:00 – 7:00   “Between Evidence and Ethics in the ICTY”

Location: Bloomberg Hall, UConn Law School, Hartford

A buffet dinner will be held between 5:00 – 5:30 pm, followed by the round-table discussion

• Camille Bibles, U.S. Magistrate Judge
• Elvedin Pašić, witness, former ICTY
• Bojana Vuleta, linguist, former ICTY

10:00 – 12:00     Archives for Justice: Dodd Papers and Romano Collection

Location: Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

• Glenn Mitoma, Director, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
• Predrag Dojčinović, Research Affiliate, UConn Human Rights Institute
• Robert Donia, Research Associate, Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, University of Michigan

12:00 – 2:00       The Making of The Trial of Ratko Mladić

Location: UConn Humanities Institute, Conference Room, Babbidge Library, 4th Floor; light lunch will be provided

• Rob Miller, Director of The Trial of Ratko Mladic
• Henry Singer, Director of The Trial of Ratko Mladic
• Arthur Traldi, Trial attorney, former ICTY
• Heather Elliott-Famularo, Head, UConn Digital Media and Design, Moderator

3:00 – 4:30          Past, Present, and Future of International Justice

Location: Konover Auditorium, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center

• Richard Wilson, Gladstein Distinguished Chair in Human Rights, University of Connecticut, moderator
• Camille Bibles, U.S. Magistrate Judge
• Dermot Groome, Professor of Law, Harvey A. Feldman Distinguished Faculty Scholar, Penn State’s Dickinson Law
• Predrag Dojčinović, Research Affiliate, UConn Human Rights Institute
• Marie O’Leary, Counsel/Legal Adviser, Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, International Criminal Court

3:00 – 4:30 Teaching Genocide with Film Workshop

Location: Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, Room 162

• Alan Marcus, UConn School of Education
• Glenn Mitoma, Director, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center and UConn School of Education/HRI
• Rob Miller, Director of The Trial of Ratko Mladic

4:30 – 5:00          From the Streets to the Courtroom: Human Rights Archives on Display

Location: John P. McDonald Reading Room, Archives & Special Collections, Dodd Research Center

• Graham Stinnett, Archivist of Human Rights and Alternative Press Collections

5:00 – 7:30   The Trial of Ratko Mladić: Film screening & post-show discussion

Location: Konover Auditorium, Dodd Research Center

• Rob Miller, Director, The Trial of Ratko Mladić
• Henry Singer, Director, The Trial of Ratko Mladić

7:30 – 8:00 pm Reception in the Dodd Lounge

This event is supported by the Human Rights Institute, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, UConn School of Law, Archives and Special Collections, and the Department of Digital Media & Design.

National Anthem
Nadia Aguila-Steinbert ’21 MM

Land Acknowledgement
Sage Phillips ’22 (CLAS)

Invocation
Rabbi Lazowski

Welcome
Dr. Andrew Agwunobi

Greetings on Behalf of the State of Connecticut
Honorable Ned Lamont

Human Rights at UConn | Video

Remarks
Senator Christopher J. Dodd

Remarks
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro

Greetings on behalf of UConn’s Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Toscano

Introduction, President of the United States
Senator Christopher J. Dodd

Remarks
President Joe Biden

Closing Blessing
Rabbi Lazowski

This is a ticketed event. Due to COVID protocols, seating is extremely limited.

Questions? Please contact University Events and Conference Services at rsvp@uconn.edu or by calling 860-486-1038.

The Dodd Center

Dodd Impact

Human Rights Institute

Giving

The Dodd Center for Human Rights honors the public service and human rights legacies of Thomas J. Dodd and Christopher J. Dodd. Beginning with Thomas Dodd’s service as executive trial counsel to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and carrying through to Christopher Dodd’s leadership in the drafting and adoption of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Affordable Care Act, father and son have worked to advance justice and dignity for over 60 years.

The Dodd Center for Human Rights is home to the UConn’s world-class human rights research, academics, and outreach programs. Dodd Human Rights Impact, which was recently created with the support of Senator Dodd, fosters a culture of human rights at UConn, in Connecticut, and around the world. Dodd Impact is part of the Human Rights Institute which supports interdisciplinary inquiry into the most pressing human rights questions and prepares the next generation of human rights advocates across a range of fields. HRI offers an undergraduate major and minor – the largest at a public university in the United States – and a graduate certificate and Master of Arts program. HRI supports research by over 40 faculty in the fields of law, social work, education, the humanities, social sciences, fine arts, and others.

In addition to its human rights focus, the Dodd Center for Human Rights will continue to house the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life and the University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collection, further underscoring the dynamic, multidisciplinary nature of the space.

Learn More About The Dodd Center

The building was originally dedicated as Thomas J. Dodd Research Center in 1995 by President William J. Clinton and Senator Christopher J. Dodd to honor Thomas Dodd’s service as executive trial counsel in the International Military Tribunal, the first of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. In the year that followed, known as the Dodd Human Rights Year, UConn hosted an international conference examining the events surrounding the Holocaust and Nuremberg Trials and offered programming dedicated to human rights violations in Latin America, Tibet, and Cambodia, disability rights in North America, the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War, and the plight of African Americans involved in the Tuskegee Study. The Dodd Year began with an address from Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and concluded with a speech from former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Over the past 25 years, the building has become a center of archival research and UConn’s diverse human rights programs.

The Dodd Center: A Home for the Discussion of Human Rights

October 3, 2011 | Bret Eckhardt

The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center was opened by incumbent President Bill Clinton 16 years ago, establishing a focal point for the study of human rights at the University and in the state.

Historic Nuremberg Papers of Sen. Thomas Dodd Go Digital

February 13, 2014 | Kenneth Best

Some 50,000 pages of documents from the Nuremberg Trials will be made available to scholars from around the world.

Reflections on the Dodd Center’s Namesake 75 Years After Landmark War Crimes Trials

November 30, 2020 | Christopher J. Dodd

Sen. Chris Dodd reflects on his father’s service as a prosecutor in the Nuremburg war crimes trials 75 years after they began.

Read More Articles About The Dodd Center