Professor Cushman’s preferred subjects for talks are in the areas of general human rights, the study of genocide (with specific reference to Western responses to genocide), liberal-humanitarian perspectives on the war in Iraq, and other aspects of international relations.

To arrange for a speaking engagement, please call (781) 283-2142.

Speaking Engagements from 2001-2006

1. “War Crimes Tribunals” Panelist discussion at Wellesley College, March 29, 2001. Sponsored by Amnesty International, Wellesley College Chapter.
2. “Turkey and the Problem of Human Rights”, a lecture series presented at Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey, May 16-23, 2001
3. “Teaching In a Time of Troubles” talk by invitation of the Wellesley College Admissions Office to the Massachusetts Association of Heads of Private Schools, December 6, 2001
4. “Is Genocide Preventable? Some Theoretical Considerations.” Talk presented at Colloquium of Fellows and Associates at Harvard University, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, JFK School of Government, March 16, 2002.
5. “Genocide and Modernity”. Talk at American Sociological Association, Annual Meetings, Session on “Genocide”, Chicago, IL, August, 2002
6. Discussant, Panel on Religion and Human Rights, Conference on Religious Sources of Human Rights, Co-Sponsored by Boston University, The Pew Foundation, Hebrew College, and Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, October 6 and 7, 2002
7. “The Prevention of Genocide”, talk given by invitation of the Gladstein Committee on Human Rights, University of Connecticut, Storrs, October 24, 2002.
8. “ The Relationship between Research on Genocide and Prevention of Genocide,” presentation by invitation of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
9. “ The Problematic Status of the Idea of Evil in the Social Sciences, “ seminar given at The University of Oslo, Department of Philosophy, January 23, 2003
10. “Genocide Prevention: Problems and Prospects, “seminar given at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, Norway, January 24, 2003.
11. “Modernity and the Problem of Genocide Prevention.” A Debate at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, February 25, 2003 Presentation by T. Cushman, response by Erik Markusen.
12. “A Critique of Definitionalism in Genocide Studies,” talk at the bi-annual meetings of the International Association of Genocide Studies, Irish Human Rights Center, Galway, Ireland, June 7-10, 2003.
13. "Iraq: Assessing American Policy Six Months After the Liberation of Baghdad", panel discussion on the Iraq War, with Paul Kennedy (Yale), Michael O’Hanlon (Brookings Institution), Katherine Moon (Wellesley), October 2, 2003, Wellesley College
14. “Should Liberals Support the War in Iraq”? Talk by invitation of Christopher Hill, American Ambassador to Poland, American Embassy, Warsaw, Poland, January 22, 2004
15. “Poland and the United States: A Moral and Strategic Alliance,” talk to the Wellesley College Alumni Reunion, June 15, 2004
16. Preventing Genocide in the Modern World: Feasible or Folly?
    talk to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, November 1, 2006

Fall Semester, 2004 Scheduled talks

1. “Morality Versus International Law: Is there A Humanitarian Case for the War in Iraq?” Paper to be presented at the Inaugural Conference “Human Rights and the War on Terror,” Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut, Storrs, September 9-11, 2004.
2. “Atrocity, Avoidance, Apology: The Social Structure of Response to Genocide in the Modern World,” paper to be presented at a Conference on “The Age of Apology: The West Faces Its Own Past,” University Center for International Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, October 21-24, 2004.
3. “Paradise as Power: The European Civilizing Process as a Factor in Transatlantic Conflict”, paper to be presented on a panel on “The United States and Europe in Comparative Perspective,” Annual Meetings of the Social Science History Association, Chicago, November 18-21, 2004
4. "The Elephant in the Room: The Invisibility of the Human Rights Case for the War in Iraq." Talk by invitation of the Schell Center for International Human Rights, Yale University Law School, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, December 10, 2005.

Spring and Summer, 2005 Scheduled talks

1. “The Sacralization of International Human Rights Law: A Weberian Critique”, talk by invitation of the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 8, 2005.
2. “The Euro-American Rift as Cultural Estrangement”, presentation for Thematic Session on “The Other ‘Clash of Civilizations’: Sociological Aspects of the Euro-American Rift,” with Bryan S. Turner and John Torpey, Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, 2005.