Sound Justice

Bonnie Gordon, 2001–2002 Radcliffe Institute Fellow
Anne Coughlin, University of Virginia
Nomi Dave, University of Virginia 

What does “justice” mean to ordinary people around the world? How do they pursue it through and beyond formal legal mechanisms? What role can and do the arts play in articulating and advancing claims? We convene an interdisciplinary group of scholars, artists, and practitioners who work in law, the arts, humanities, and social sciences to explore new methods and frameworks for understanding and developing creative collaborations and advocacy. At a moment when public confidence in legal systems has sharply deteriorated, the concept of Sound Justice aims to create new frameworks for hearing, seeing, articulating, and promoting justice claims.

This seminar is convened by the codirectors of the Sound Justice Lab at the University of Virginia. The first day centers a core lab project Big Mouth. This documentary film project, by Bremen Donovan and Nomi Dave, asks how journalists and legal practitioners in Conakry, Guinea speak about and report on sexual violence, and in so doing, create an independent press.