Our UNESCO Chair, Professor Alain Tschudin, is proud to present the fifth session of the Research Engagement Dialogue Series (REDS), “Bearing Witness Across Histories of Violence: Reckoning with the Past and Present.” The event is hosted by the Von Hügel Institute, St Edmund’s College, and co-hosted by the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University.

The dialogue will take place on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, from 10:00am to 12:00 pm (GMT) in the Garden Room, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, and online. A reflective workshop will follow from 2:00–3:30 pm (in person only); attendance at the morning dialogue is required to participate in the workshop.

Speakers include Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, 2024 Templeton Prize Laureate (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), Professor Ralf Wüstenburg (Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany), Dr Zeina Barakat (Europa-Universität Flensburg), and Dr Akuch Anyieth (Stellenbosch University).

This roundtable traces the emergence of “bearing witness” from its moral and theological roots through its scholarly development in Holocaust testimony and trauma studies, to its role in post-conflict repair. Through reflections on Germany, South Africa, Palestine, Sudan and South Sudan, the speakers will explore how bearing witness can foster acknowledgement, accountability, and the possibility of solidarity with societies emerging from (and still confronted with) mass violence.

Further information, including registration details, will be shared in due course.