October 20, 2011 - 18:38 AMT
Richard Hovannisian to speak at Symposium on Moral Courage

San Diego State University has scheduled a weeklong Symposium on Moral Courage.

The series of events, which begin Monday, October 24, are part of a larger initiative of SDSU’s Jewish Studies program and the Department of Religious Studies that will act as an interdisciplinary think tank focusing on the study, promotion and recognition of moral courage.

“The Initiative for Moral Courage looks to examine not just the critical issues of genocide and global justice related to events taking place around the world today, but also those everyday actions such as standing up to a bully or being a whistle-blower at work,” Rebecca Moore, a professor of religious studies, said in a prepared statement.

“We also want to look at what prompts people to do extraordinary things to save people’s lives and stand up for what is right.”

In addition to the week’s events, an exhibition of photographs and stories from the genocides in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda and Cambodia will run through Nov. 24 in the SDSU Library.

The highlight of the week will be an Oct. 30 Symposium on Genocides, Past and Present.

Richard G. Hovannisian, professor of Armenian and Near Eastern history at UCLA, will deliver a speech on the Armenian Genocide, signonsandiego.com reported.