100 Years of Genocide: Student Conference Call for Papers

As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Human Rights Program and the Institute for Global Studies will be hosting three days of events to commemorate this centennial. The events will include the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture featuring Professor Bedros Der Matossian, which is open to the public (April 23), a student conference, entitled "One Hundred Years of Genocide" (April 24) and a K-16 teacher workshop (April 25). The objectives of these events are to promote public understanding of the genocide and the fates of those who lost their lives and those who escaped. The events will also analyze responses by the international community (and/or lack thereof), and discuss the long-term implications for international policy and actions to prevent and respond to genocide. In addition to these events the Armenian Community of Minnesota will also be commemorating the genocide with there own special programming.

The student conference seeks to bring together graduate and advanced undergraduate students from different disciplines that are working on the Armenian or other episodes of genocide and mass violence.To this end, we are seeking a broad range of papers that examine but are not limited to the following topics:
The Armenian Genocide: Historical and socio-political paths leading to the genocide; the role of the international community, testimonials of survivors; public memory; etc.
Genocide and the international community: Intervention or lack thereof in genocides and large-scale political violence; potential responses to genocide and mass violence; the role of neighboring countries, and other countries.
Genocide and the media: International and local media coverage of genocide; hate media and genocide incitement; representations of mass violence and its (cognitive and ethical) limits; representations in popular media such as movies, documentaries, music etc.
Representing mass atrocity before Lemkin: the Armenian genocide has been referred to as a Crime with no name because it occurred before the Genocide Convention. How does this fact affect how we understand and talk about mass atrocities that occurred before December 9th 1948, including the Armenian genocide?
Genocide Awareness and Advocacy in the Age of Digital Communications: Social media campaigns to promote awareness and response, traditional vs. new technology platforms to document genocide and mass violence, affect organization and mobilization of citizens, etc.
Justice and politics of reconciliation after genocide: The role and effectiveness of judicial processes and transitional justice mechanisms such as International Tribunals, truth commissions and reparations.
Genocide education and public memory: Teaching about genocide and mass atrocities; the representation of the Armenian genocide in history and other textbooks. Memorials, museums and commemoration days/weeks; the politics of commemoration; the use of human remains in memorials and related issues.
Abstracts not exceeding 300 words and a 2 page CV should be sent to Wahutu j. Siguru Siguru@umn.edu by the 15th of January 2015.
The conference was made possible by funding from the Ohanessian Endowment Fund for Justice and Peace Studies at The Minneapolis Foundation and is sponsored by The Institute for Global Studies, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair, and the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota.

Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda

On April 16, 17 & 19, the Institute for Global Studies, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program held a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that took the lives of an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The events included a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events were: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.



The public conference, Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda, was designed to bring together research and praxis. Academics, activists and diplomats led a public exploration of what we have learned from the genocide in Rwanda and how we have been affected by, and should use, that knowledge to create more effective methods of intervention. Themes of the panels included: representations of atrocity, immediate aftermaths, transitional justice and its impacts, and preventing genocide and mass atrocity.

Watch the conference's opening address by Taylor Krauss, founder of Voices of Rwanda, and the keynote address by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as well as the three panel discussions, please click here or visit CHGS' youtube channel.

Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda

On April 16, 17 & 19, the Institute for Global Studies, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program held a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that took the lives of an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The events included a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events were: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.



The public conference, Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda, was designed to bring together research and praxis. Academics, activists and diplomats led a public exploration of what we have learned from the genocide in Rwanda and how we have been affected by, and should use, that knowledge to create more effective methods of intervention. Themes of the panels included: representations of atrocity, immediate aftermaths, transitional justice and its impacts, and preventing genocide and mass atrocity.



Watch the conference's opening address by Taylor Krauss, founder of Voices of Rwanda, and the keynote address by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as well as the three panel discussions, by clicking here or visiting CHGS' youtube channel.

CHGS partners with international Holocaust institutions for a major conference in Madrid

On November 24-26, 2014, a conference entitled, Bystanders, Rescuers or Perpetrators? The Neutrals and the Shoah - Facts, Myths and Countermyths, will be held at Centro Sefarad-Israel in Madrid, Spain.

This conference is supported by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and sponsored by Centro Sefarad Israel - Madrid; Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies- University of Minnesota; Mémorial de la Shoah - Paris; History Unit of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland - Berne; Topography of Terror Foundation - Berlin; Living History Forum - Stockholm; Memoshoá/Association for the Education and Remembrance of the Holocaust - Lisbon and Tarih Vakfı/History Foundation - Istanbul.

The conveners are calling for scholarly papers on the policies of the neutral countries during the Holocaust and the public debate on them in these countries.

The conference will thus aim at addressing the following issues:

•The neutral countries' reactions to Nazi anti-Jewish policies and their own policies on Jewish refugees;
•Their response to the German ultimatum of 1943 to either repatriate Jews with citizenship from their respective countries who lived in Nazi-occupied Europe or to allow their deportation;
•The genesis and long-lasting effects of "rescue myths", the current state of the discussion regarding the neutral countries' positions during the Holocaust;
•The dealing with the history of the Jewish persecution in state fact-finding commissions and committees of historians;
•Approaches to Holocaust education in neutral countries.
•Holocaust public memory (ceremonies, memorials, museums) and memory politics in neutral countries.

Please send your proposals (up to 350 words) and brief CVs no later than May 25, 2014 to: conference2014@sefarad-israel.es

For more information, please view Call for Papers Bystanders.doc

Call for Papers:Genocide and its Aftermaths: Lessons from Rwanda

Undergraduate Students Conference
April 17, 2014

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Human Rights Program and the Institute for Global Studies are hosting three days of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. The events will include a public conference (April 16th), a student conference (April 17th) and a K-12 teacher workshop (April 19th). The objectives of the commemorative events are to promote public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, analyze the immediate responses by the international community, and discuss the long-term implications for international policy and actions to prevent and respond to genocide.

The students' conference seeks to bring together undergraduate students (preferably advanced undergraduates) from different disciplines that are working on the Rwandan Genocide or other episodes of genocide and mass violence. To this end, we are seeking a broad range of papers that examine but are not limited to the following topics:


The Rwandan Genocide: Historical and socio-political paths leading to the genocide; the role of the international community, including the ICTR; the gacaca courts; testimonials of survivors; public memory; etc.

Genocide and the international community: Intervention or lack thereof in genocides and large-scale political violence; potential responses to genocide and mass violence; the role of neighboring countries, the UN and other countries.

Genocide and the media: International and local media coverage of genocide; hate media and genocide incitement; representations of mass violence and its (cognitive and ethical) limits.

Rape as genocide: Rape and other forms of gendered victimization during or in the aftermath of mass violence; women-headed households; medical care; children of rape.

Justice and politics of reconciliation after genocide: The role and effectiveness of judicial processes and transitional justice mechanisms such as the ICTR, truth commissions and reparations.

Genocide and public memory: Memorials, museums and commemoration days/weeks; the politics of commemoration; the use of human remains in memorials and related issues.

Genocide and education. Teaching about genocide and mass atrocities; the representation of genocide in history and other textbooks.

Abstracts not exceeding 250 words and a 2 page CV should be sent to Wahutu j. Siguru Siguru@umn.edu by the 28th of February 2014. For more information, please visit the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Symposia & Conference page.

The organizers will provide supporting funds to defray the costs of the participants whose paper are accepted for presentation. Out of state student presenters will be awarded up to $500 and in state student presenters will be awarded up to $200.

The conference was made possible by funding from the Ohanessian Endowment Fund for Justice and Peace Studies at The Minneapolis Foundation and is sponsored by The Institute for Global Studies, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota.