Dr Rodgers is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of War Studies and was previously a postdoctoral fellow in the same department, funded by the ESRC through the LISS-DTP. She is writing a monograph for publication as part of the Springer Series in Transitional Justice, entitled Child Participation in Transitional Justice: The Case of Rwanda. The monograph makes the case for why and how the participation of children under the age of eighteen should be facilitated in processes of transitional justice, arguing for a framework grounded in what is understood as the ‘right to be heard’ for children, as outlined in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Dr Rodgers has conducted focus groups with children between the ages of 13 and 18 in schools across Rwanda. She has recently held interviews with national stakeholders in transitional justice and children’s rights in Rwanda, alongside an affiliated NGO, Never Again Rwanda, and the ENHA-Girubuntu Initiative.

 

Research interests:

• Transitional Justice (particularly truth and memory processes, children and youth participation, local justice and links to national processes, and prevention/non-recurrence)
• Children’s rights (particularly the ‘right to be heard’ and associated rights)
• Developing rights-based frameworks for the participation of children in transitional justice processes
• Creative arts as a method of child / youth participation in transitional justice processes

 

Dr Rodgers is the project lead for the Children, Youth, Peace and the Arts research group (CYPA), based in the Department of War Studies.

Dr Rodgers’ current research focuses on child participation, the creative arts, and collective memory in Rwanda, emphasising the importance of utilising a child-rights framework when facilitating the participation of children in the creative arts as a vehicle for sharing their views, opinions, and experiences in transitional justice and peacebuilding. As Principal Investigator of a Thematic Working Group for the Research, Documentation, and Policy Engagement Department (RDPE) at Aegis Trust Rwanda, Dr Rodgers is collaborating with her colleague, Debby Karemera, Strategic Peacebuilding Advisor at Never Again Rwanda and Rotary Peace Fellow at the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center, on several journal articles, a public policy blog, and conference presentations on this subject.

 

Publications:

• Rodgers, J. Child Participation in Transitional Justice: The Case of Rwanda. Springer [forthcoming]
• Rodgers, J. “Twese Turi Abanyarwanda: the legacy of Ecole Secondaire Nyange on the participation of second-generation children in transitional justice in Rwanda.” [forthcoming]
• Rodgers, J. & Karemera, D. "The creative contributions of children to transitional justice and peacebuilding in Rwanda." [forthcoming]
• Rodgers, J. & Karemera, D. "Child participation, the creative arts and collective memory: the perspective of arts organisations in Rwanda on the role of children in transitional justice and peacebuilding." [forthcoming]

 

Research Centres and Groups:

• Children, Youth, Peace and the Arts (CYPA)
• War Crimes Research Group
• Africa Research Group
• Arts and Conflict Hub