Speakers

Dean Nell Jessup Newton became Notre Dame Law School’s 10th dean in July 2009. She came to Notre Dame after serving as Chancellor and Dean at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, the same school from which she earned her law degree. Before going to law school she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California at Berkeley.

Known for her law school leadership, Dean Newton is also a widely recognized scholar who has taught and researched issues relating to the rights of indigenous peoples. Her work has had a particular focus on the treatment in American law of the status of American Indians, Hawaiian natives, and native Alaskans and their property interests, and she is editor in chief of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law, the only treatise on the subject. Finally, Dean Newton continues to teach whenever her schedule allows and will return to the Law School faculty full time after completing the tenth year of her deanship in July 2019.

• Introduction of the Symposium on Genocide

Dr. Jean-Marie Kamatali is a Tenured Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Democratic Governance and Rule of Law at Ohio Northern University Law School. He is former Dean of the Law School at the University of Rwanda and has taught at different universities including the University of Notre Dame Law School, Indiana University (South Bend and Indianapolis), Kent State University and Leuven University (Belgium). His publications have focused on accountability for genocide and crimes against humanity, rule of law, human rights and US First Amendment. He is a regular consultant for the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

• The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi
• The Role of Scholars on Genocide Prevention

Marie-Rose Gatete is the General Accounting Manager at Conn-Selmer Inc (manufacturer of Musical instruments) in Elkhart, Indiana since 2005. She is married to Gaetan Gatete with two children – Gabe and Jabo. She is a graduate of University of Notre Dame with Executive MBA, in 1999. She holds a Bachelor of sciences in Accounting and a Bachelor in Business administration from Indiana University at South Bend. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), licensed in the state of Indiana

YWCA – Board member / Finance Committee Chair: 2016 – February 2019 Red Cross – Finance Committee Member: 2008 - 2009. Member of Financial Executives International (FEI) Member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Member of Indiana CPA Society

• The Role of UN and world leaders in preventing genocide

Dr. Charles Rufuku is a science Professor at Ivy Tech College, Elkhart Campus. He practiced medicine at Mugonero Hospital, a SDA Mission Hospital in Rwanda where he was the director of that hospital. He also had a private surgical clinic in Kigali, Rwanda from 1998-2000. Dr. Rufuku graduated from Friendship University in Moscow, USSR in 1975 where he graduated as a physician /surgeon.

Dr. Rufuku moved to USA in April 1987 and worked at Saint Joseph Hospital until 1987. He is married to Jackie Mukarwema for the last 35 years and is blessed with three children and one grandchild. A member of the Rwandan American Community of Midwest, he is considered as a wise and trustworthy man who advises young couples for lasting marriage.

• Roots of Genocide

Christine Venter is the Director of the Legal Writing Program, Notre Dame Law School. She earned her B.A. degree from the University of Cape Town and her law degree from the University of Cape Town School of Law, where she was Editor in Chief of the Law Review. She also holds an LL.M in International Law and Human Rights (summa cum laude) from Notre Dame Law School and a J.S.D., also from NDLS. a member of the Legal Writing Institute, the Association of Legal Writing Directors, and is an Editor of The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute. Venter teaches Legal Writing I, Legal Research and Writing II, and Gender Issues and International Law. She also teaches International Moot Court and serves as the coach to the International Moot Court team.

• Gender propaganda in Rwanda and rape of Tutsi women

Consolee Nishimwe is a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. She suffered physical torture during her three months in hiding and miraculously survived with her mother and younger sister. She is a committed speaker on the genocide, a defender of global women’s rights, and an advocate for other genocide survivors. She now lives in New York. Her story of resilience and determination to speak of her unbelievable experience gives courage to other girls to empower each other and make our world a better place where love and dignity win in every corner of our society.

• Tested to the Limit is a testimony of Consolee Nishimwe, a survivor and author of this book based on her story.

Dr. Catherine Borshuk is Professor of Psychology at Indiana University South Bend. A native of Canada, she has lived in the United States since 2000. Her research focus is social psychology, in particular group relations and gender. She has published on topics such as intergroup helping, immigrant acculturation, and incarcerated women; her current project is on myths regarding sexual harassment. She teaches classes on the psychology of women, and on domestic violence and sexual assault.

• The trauma from rape for victims and children born of rape

Pamela Cronkright is an educator, administrator and small business owner who aims to prepare and equip those she works with to make positive contributions to the community. After more than two decades in the classroom and in facilitating teams, Pamela believes the highest outcome of education and training is when it is transformational and used for a greater good. Pamela’s students have raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity, the systems she has created have improved profitability and outcomes for the organizations and businesses she has led, but her greatest source of joy and pride is found in her marriage of 26 years and her three children.

Pamela holds a B.A. in History/Social Science from Wheaton College and a M.A. in Educational Administration from National-Louis University, as well as 32 additional post-graduate hours in Educational Leadership from Aurora University.

• Two Weeks in Rwanda – A Transformational Journey

Dr Usta Kaitesi is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and currently the acting CEO of the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB). She is also a non- permanent commissioner at the Rwanda Law Reform Commission. She previously served as; the Principal of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Rwanda; the vice Chairperson of the technical support commission to the parliament of Rwanda for the Review of the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda in 2015. She served as Deputy Dean and head of Department at the then Faculty of Law at the National University of Rwanda. Kaitesi is a non-active member of the Rwanda Bar Association and the East African Law Society and a vice chairperson of the Inter University Council of East Africa.

Dr Kaitesi holds a PhD in Law from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, a Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa, Canada and a Bachelor’s degree from the then National University of Rwanda. She has published in the areas of law, human rights and gender including the book entitled Genocidal Gender and Sexual Violence: The legacy of the ICTR, Rwanda’s ordinary courts and Gacaca courts.

• Genocide Ideology and Denial

Kelley Szany, Vice President of Education & Exhibitions,  provides strategic leadership and planning for education initiatives and exhibitions. Major recent initiatives included development of the content and education framework of the groundbreaking Take a Stand Center ­– including the award-winning interactive, holographic Survivor Stories Experience; and content development for the Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory exhibition, the first special exhibition curated by the Museum, and co-leading the creation of a new audio tour integrating Survivor storytelling.  In her previous role as Director of Education, Szany oversaw all initiatives for educators and students, public programing, and training for all recruits and promotional classes (Sergeants and Lieutenants) to the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Sherriff and Correctional Department recruits, and suburban law enforcement officials.

During her 16-year tenure, Szany has become recognized as a leading human rights and museum educator. Training facilitator, and public speaker. Szany currently sits on the Board of Directors for both the Association of Holocaust Organizations and Educators Institute for Human Rights. She serves on the Advisory Councils for Together We Remember and Unsilence. In 2015, Szany was appointed to serve on the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission. Szany has served as adjust faculty at Aurora University and Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at National Louis University.

She has won multiple awards for her educational and human rights work, including the Samuel Goldsmith Award from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Damen Award from the Graduate School at Loyola University of Chicago. In 2014, Kelley was awarded with the Carl Wilkens Fellowship, a yearlong program where she worked alongside national leaders to create and strengthen a permanent anti-genocide constituency through both advocacy work and influence of U.S. policy.

Szany is the author of “Teaching the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Through Stanton’s 8 Stages,” and “The Power of Story: Teaching About Genocide Through Literature Circles,” in the upcoming Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group book Teaching About Genocide: Insights and Advice from Secondary Teachers – Volume One and Volume Two. Szany holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Canisius College, and a master’s degree in public history from Loyola University Chicago, where her area of study and education focused on the trajectory of memory in Holocaust museums and memorials.

• Genocide Education both in the Museum Setting and Classroom Setting

Amber Maze is the Holocaust Education and Program Coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis and CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and a Masters of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University in Pomona, New Jersey. While working towards her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she had the opportunity to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s inaugural Student Board on Genocide Prevention; take part in the Slavia Bioarchaeology Field Study in Drawsko, Poland; work as the Advocacy Intern for the Enough Project in Washington, DC; and assist in the implementation of the Stockton Study Tour to Germany and Poland.

• The role of Good Leadership in Peace Building

Marcus Steiner is the Program Coordinator at the Candles Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. He also conducts research alongside the Center for Genocide Research and Education in Longmont, Colorado where he previously worked as the Director of Development. Marcus holds a Master's in History from Arizona State University and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College. His research focuses on identifying, quantifying, and indexing risk factors for genocide and mass atrocities in order to create accessible risk models for use in by decision-makers. With his research, Marcus seeks to bridge the gap between research and action through straightforward statistical models.

• The role of individuals dedicated to peace

Kizito D. Kalima “Z” is survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and Founder/Executive Director of the Peace Center for Forgiveness and Reconciliation, public speaker, and an advocate for Genocide Survivors. In 2014, he had the pleasure of sharing his story at the United Nations Headquarters. Kalima is the 2018 D. Susan Wisely Award Winner “Youth Worker of the Year” for helping the refugees youth/second generation genocide survivors.

• Teaching unity and reconciliation to promote peace

Albert Gasake is a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Both his parents, three sisters and many members of his extended family were murdered during the 100 days of Genocide. While in Rwanda, Albert served on the Board of IBUKA (From 2010-2014), the umbrella body for survivor’s organizations in Rwanda. Albert also worked as an attorney with the Rwanda Bar Association, specializing in criminal law and reparation for genocide victims. Before starting a private practice 2012, Albert was a legal Advisor at Survivors Fund (SURF), the only international NGO supporting the survivors in Rwanda, advocating for survivors’ welfare and rights to reparative justice. In 2014, Albert moved to the United States. He currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his wife Adeline, where he works for the State as a Workforce Development Specialist. In his free time Albert is a regular blogger on social justice, genocide memory and prevention.

• Walk to Remember: Worldwide Justice to Survivors

Dr. Phodidas Ndamyumugabe is a survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. As a Missiologist, he has taught at the Adventist University of Central Africa, in Rwanda, for 14 years. Currently, he is a professor at Weimar Institute in California. He also teaches as an Adjunct professor at the Adventist University of Africa.

As an evangelist before 1994, Phodidas was disappointed to see thousands of Rwandan “Christians” involved in atrocities. After 1994 Genocide against Tutsis, he conducted more than 60 evangelistic campaigns facing and dealing with spirituality and post genocide life experiences. As a Missiologist, his PhD dissertation was on “Possible Causes of Christian Involvement in the Genocide in Rwanda.” He is also the author of Rwanda Beyond Wildest Imagination, published in 2001. Dr. Phodidas has a wide range of experiences in teaching, evangelism and church planting. His main interest is Reconciliation with God and fellow human being and relieving the suffering.

• Message of Hope