For Immediate
Release—Thursday, January 25, 2007
Contact:
Mary E. McCrank
Media Relations Officer
(585) 245-5516
SUNY Geneseo Students to Discuss
"Northern Ireland and the Troubles" During Film Series in February
Geneseo, N.Y.—Six
students at the State University of New York at Geneseo have organized a series
of presentations on "Northern Ireland and the Troubles." The students spent the
fall 2006 semester participating in a directed reading group on the Troubles,
which explored firsthand accounts of the civil rights movement in Northern
Ireland, and will outline the long history of religious tension in Northern
Ireland.
On January 30, 1972, one of
the most notorious episodes in the turbulent history of Northern Ireland
occurred in the city of Londonderry. In the midst of a march to protest the
British government's suspension of due process rights for suspected Irish
Republican Army supporters, British soldiers fired on protestors and killed 13
civilians. Although controversy surrounds the events of "Bloody Sunday," it is
universally recognized as a key date in the history of Northern Ireland.
The student presentations
coincide with the 35th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and are part of Geneseo's
Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration.
Geneseo students Rob Adamo,
Lauren Chechanover, Lisa Hofstetter, Pat O'Neill, Claire Ruswick and Lauren
White will present a 90-minute introduction to the history of the Troubles and
Northern Ireland Feb. 2. During the following three weeks, the students will
present films and lead discussions on topics relating to Northern Ireland and
the Troubles.
The students' presentation
and the film screenings will all be held at 3:15 p.m. on Fridays in February in
201 Newton Hall. The series are free and open to the public.
The presentation on Feb. 9
is titled "Bloody Sunday." During this presentation, the film, "Bloody Sunday,"
will be screened. The film covers the events of Jan. 30, 1972, when British
paratroopers fired on a crowd of civil rights marchers in Londonderry, Northern
Ireland.
The presentation on Feb. 16
is titled, "Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights during the Troubles." During
this presentation, the film "In the Name of the Father" will be screened. The
film presents the story of Gerry Conlon, an Irish laborer living in England who
was falsely convicted of participating in the Irish Republican Army bombing of
a pub in Guildford and his subsequent arrest and torture by British authorities
and his ultimate exoneration.
The presentation on Feb. 23
is titled "Life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles." During this presentation,
the film "The Boxer" will be shown. This film is a fictional story set in
Belfast during the Northern Ireland peace process and covers the difficulties
of everyday life in a war zone.
"These presentations are
important because they cover a topic that has significant relevance to the
modern world," says Joe Cope, assistant professor of history and supervisor of
the directed reading course.
"The students will show the
connections between the situation in Northern Ireland during the 1960s through
the 1990s and the civil rights movement here in the United States," says Cope.
"There will also be similarities drawn between fighting terrorism in the United
States and Northern Ireland."
For more information, e-mail
Joe Cope at cope@geneseo.edu or visit http://mlk.geneseo.edu/filmseries.htm.
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Written by Joe Mignano,
public relations intern in the Office of Communications and Publications.