Samantha Chen, Biology

Advisor: Edward Ramsamy, Africana Studies

This project theorizes a pathway through the fraught terrain of the #MeToo movement through a comparative analysis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in post-apartheid South Africa. I detail the complications of the #MeToo movement through news articles, opinion pieces, and social media posts of prominent public figures. Using public records and Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s novel, I examine the process of South Africa’s TRC which I then use to develop a reconciliation plan for the #MeToo movement in the modern United States. In particular, I identify public hearings as a crucial avenue through which #MeToo victims tell their stories and begin the process of personal and societal healing.