Dr. von Vacano’s teaching and research interests are in political philosophy and the history of political thought. He is especially interested in modern European and Latin American political theory. His current research for a monograph focuses on the problem of racial identity in relation to citizenship in the Hispanic tradition, focusing on the themes of Empire, Nation, and Cosmopolis in various thinkers. The ancillary aim of The Color of Citizenship: Race, Modernity and Latin American Political Thought (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) is to develop a normative conceptualization of race for modern multicultural societies.
Professor von Vacano is also beginning research on a book project that defends globalization through an examination of the development of immigrant identity. This uses the dialectical tradition in German political philosophy and empirical evidence from immigrants in global cities such as New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Buenos Aires.
In 2009-2010, the Program on Human
Rights will partner with FCE and DLCL to launch part 2 of the Contemporary History and the Future of Memoryseries by
adding "Reconciliation" to the mission. This
series will examine scholarly and institutional efforts to create new national
narratives that walk the fine line between before and after, memory and
truth, compensation and reconciliation, justice and peace. Some work examines communities ravaged by colonialism and
the great harm that colonial and post-colonial economic and social disparities
cause. The extent of external intervention creates discontinuities
and dislocation, making it harder for people to claim an historical narrative
that feels fully authentic. Another response is to set up truth-seeking
institutions such as truth commissions. Historical examples of truth
commissions in South Africa, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Morocco inform more
current initiatives in Canada, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, and the United
States. While this range of economic, social, political and legal
modalities all seek to explain difficult pasts to present communities, it is
not yet clear which approach yields greater truth, friendship, reconciliation
and community healing. The "History, Memory, and Reconciliation" series
will explore these issues.
The series will have its first event in
February 2010. Multiple international scholars are invited.
This 2009-10 interdisciplinary research workshop examines the
trajectory of human rights discourse and institutions in Africa by
means of regional and international comparisons. Africa is the third,
and most recent, region to establish a regional human rights court, the
African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights (ACPHR). At this critical
juncture in African human rights, there is an urgent need for deeper
understandings and applications of the law of human rights.
This workshop will be of interest and benefit to faculty and
graduate students conducting research in the following areas: African
studies; human rights; law; anthropology; cultural studies; history;
political science and international relations; philosophy; and
sociology.
The workshop, coordinated by Helen Stacy (Law School, FSI), will
meet once this quarter and between three and four times during the
Winter and Spring quarters of the 2009-2010 academic year.
At the core of US-Taiwan-China relations, mistrust has long been, and remains today, the most difficult and elusive problem policy makers face. The danger is obvious given that the Taiwan Strait is the only place where the US could go to war with a nuclear armed great power. In her talk, Nancy Bernkopf Tucker will examine the nature of US commitments, the intricacies of decision-making, the intentions of critical actors and the impact of Taiwan’s democratization.
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker is Professor of History at Georgetown University and the
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service . She also holds an appointment as a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is the author of Strait Talk: US-Taiwan Relations and the China Crisis (Harvard, 2009), Uncertain Friendships: Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States (Columbia, 2006), Patterns in the Dust: Chinese-American Relations and the Recognition Controversy, 1949-50 (Columbia, 1983), and more than a dozen of book chapters, edited volumes and journal articles.
Philippines Conference Room
Nancy Bernkopf Tucker
Professor of History
Speaker
Georgetown University
Professor Horrigan will be discussing recent developments in corporate governance, responsibility and sustainability under Anglo-american law. In particular, he will explain how Australia's embrace of the UK-Canadian institutional dialogue model will affect business, human rights, and corporate social responsibility. He will also be providing an update from the recent UN Secretary-General's Special Representative business and human rights session in Toronto.
Professor Bryan Horrigan is currently the Louis Waller Chair of Law and Associate Dean (Research) at Monash University’s Faculty of Law in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a long-standing law firm consultant in business and governmental areas of law and practice.
Professor Horrigan completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Queensland and holds a doctorate in law from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He has held academic and research leadership positions previously at a number of Australian universities, including Director of the National Centre for Corporate Law and Policy Research, Deputy Director of the National Institute for Governance, and Foundation Co-Director of the Centre for Comparative Law, History, and Governance.
His most recent book in the area of corporate responsibility and governance, Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century: Debates, Models, and Practices Across Government, Law, and Business, is to published internationally by UK-based Edward Elgar Publishing in the latter part of 2009. The book was commenced during his time as a Visiting Scholar at the Wharton Business School.
Encina Ground Floor Conference Room
Bryan Horrigan
Louis Waller Chair of Law and Associate Dean (Research)
Speaker
Monash University’s Faculty of Law in Melbourne, Australia
This series will examine scholarly and institutional efforts to create new national narratives that walk the fine line between before and after, memory and truth, compensation and reconciliation, justice and peace.
