Genocide Research and Study Opportunities

Thousands of study and academic opportunities in Genocide are available internationally. Conferences and summer schools in Genocide are organized regularly in the best academic centers of the world. The majority of universities and many foundations also offer BA, MA, and Ph.D. programs in Genocide as wells as postdoctoral research grants, awards, and fellowships. Below you will find the updated list of international opportunities available in Genocide.

Genocide Studies Fellowships and Scholarships

Twitter Accounts on Genocide

@UNOSAPG

@RwandaRemembers

@genocide_watch

@chgsumn

@GenArchiveRw

@EndGenocideDan

@GenocideReport

@HinduGenocide_

@CPG_USHMM

@TAGAdvocacy

Related Genocide Prevention Associations

Genocide Studies Summer Schools and Short Courses

Genocide: Main Interpretations

Prior to 1944, the term "genocide" did not exist. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, created the word to describe Nazi programs of systematic murder during the Holocaust, which included the extermination of European Jews. He coined the term genocide by combining the Greek word geno-, which means race or tribe, with the Latin word -cide, which means killing.

On December 9, 1948, the United Nations ratified the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (an official international agreement). This agreement declared genocide to be an international crime that signatory countries must "prevent and punish." Preventing genocide, the convention's other key commitment continues to be a challenge for governments, institutions, and individuals.

Genocide: The Timeline

1900 - Raphael Lemkin

According to Raphael Lemkin's memoirs, early exposure to Ottoman atrocities against Armenians, antisemitic pogroms, and other instances of group-targeted violence shaped his thoughts about the necessity for legal protection of groups.

1933 - Rise of Adolf Hitler

1941 - A Crime Without a Name

Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. SS, police, and military officers carried out mass shootings of Jewish men, women, children, and other perceived opponents as the German forces marched further towards the east. Intercepted radio conversations made the British aware of the crimes. They prompted Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, to declare in August 1941, "We are in the presence of a crime without a name."

1944 - Genocide Coined

The Nazi leadership used a range of population strategies, including mass murder, to forcefully restructure Europe's ethnic mix.

1945 - 1946 - International Military Tribunal

In Nuremberg, the International Military Tribunal prosecuted 22 key Nazi German officials between November 20, 1945, and October 1, 1946, on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to conduct each of these crimes.

1947 - 1948 - Creating an International Convention on Genocide

1950 - 1987 - Cold War

In the years following WWII and throughout the Cold War, massive atrocities against civilians were all common.

1988 - The United States Signs the Genocide Convention

US President Ronald Reagan signed the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide on November 4, 1988. The Convention had many supporters, but it also had many detractors who claimed it would impinge on US sovereignty.

1991 - 1995 - Wars of the Former Yugoslavia

1993 - Resolution 827

1994 - Genocide in Rwanda

1998 - First Conviction for Genocide

2004 - Genocide in Darfur

March 17, 2016 - Genocide in Iraq, Syria

Why study Genocide?

Genocide and mass crimes are frequently shown in such a way that violence appears unexplainable and so inevitable. Similarly, perpetrators are seen as individuals driven exclusively by irrational hatred. Nonetheless, genocide is a recurring and continuing historical challenge. How can we account for this disparity? Genocide studies use an interdisciplinary, scholarly approach to studying genocide and mass atrocities, with the goal of demystifying genocide.

Despite the fact that the twentieth century was termed "the century of genocide," genocide has continued well through the new millennium. This field of study requires you to consider why genocides occur and how people become involved in mass violence.

The main learning objectives of Genocide studies include but are not limited to the following:

  • Analyzing genocide on a local, national, and international level in terms of its historical, political, cultural, social, and economic components.
  • Engaging in intercultural research by adopting methodologies and methodological frameworks.
  • Through autonomously developed, engaged, and ethical products, demonstrating critical problem-solving and research-led analytical skills.
  • Orally and in writing, effectively expressing the outcomes of their own study.
  • Adopting and following academic best practices, such as ethical behavior and correct reference.

What are the Genocide Study Opportunities?

While so many institutions can boast about having Genocide Studies majors, here are the Universities that have some of the bests departments and majors in this discipline:

Yale University

The Genocide Studies Program at Yale's MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies was founded in January 1998 to expand the work of Yale University's Cambodian Genocide Program, which began in 1994. It conducts research, holds seminars, and holds conferences on comparative, multidisciplinary, and policy topics related to genocide, and has trained scholars from affected areas.

Drew University

The Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study in the Drew University was founded in 1992 thanks to a significant grant from the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. It organizes and sponsors a wide range of activities. Annual programs commemorating Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass; November) and Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day; April/May) are just two examples. They also host lectures, performances, videos, seminars, conversations, and other events related to the Holocaust as well as genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur, and Rwanda.

University of Leicester

The Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies, in collaboration with the  University of Leicester, was established in 1990 and re-established in 1993 under the Burton Trusts' auspices under its current name. In 2011, the name was changed to "Genocide Studies." The Centre does not have any direct employees. Its income, which is earned from the Burton Trusts' original capital grant, is used solely for the purposes stated above.

What comes to the courses, students pursuing their degree in Genocide Studies will deepen their knowledge in the following main areas: 

  • The Holocaust
  • International Human Rights
  • Global Ethnic Politics
  • Representations of Genocide
  • The Shoah (Holocaust) in Literature and the Arts
  • Remembering Loss, Writing a Memory
  • Terror and Resistance in Literature and the Media
  • Culture of Genocide
  • The Holocaust in 20th Century Europe
  • Life and Death in Nazi Germany
  • Religions and Political Violence
  • The Armenian Heritage: History, Arts, and Culture
  • Resistance to Genocide
  • Comparative Genocide

After studying Genocide, you will have the opportunity to work in various spheres and sectors, such as education, government, humanitarian organizations, law and justice, media and research, museum and memorial conservation, etc.