Program Overview

This two-week, 65-hour, accredited graduate course, run annually, is taught by leading experts in their fields and incorporates genocide theory, history, sociology, political science, international law, anthropology, and psychology. It provides participants with the intellectual framework for understanding the numerous, complex, and often emotional issues related to genocide. An examination of several major case studies of genocide provides the foundation for comparative analysis.

Students pursuing genocide studies, select national histories, and careers in human rights-related NGOs or international law come from all over the world to participate in this structured forum for analyzing universal questions relating to human rights and their gross violations. Questions include:

How are gross violations of human rights defined?
What is genocide, why does it occur and what are its causes?
What is the relationship between genocide and human rights?
What is the role of international law and international bodies such as the United Nations?
What is the genocidal experience of women and children?
Why does genocide denial occur?
How can geopolitics affect human rights and lead to genocide?
How can genocide be prevented?

Course Topics

Over the years, GHRUP course topics and themes have varied providing new opportunities to learn about current and past events of genocide and gross violations of human rights. Topics and themes covered in previous GHRUP include:

Development of Human Rights
Theories of Genocide
The Armenian Genocide
The Holocaust
Indigenous Peoples of North America
The Guatemalan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide
Cambodian Genocide
The Holodomor
The Uyghurs
Gender and Genocide
Destruction by Attrition
Legacies of Trauma
International Law
Psychology of Genocide
Genocide Prevention
Denial, Memory, Museum, & Representation
Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence, and Non-Conventional Warfare

Course Format

The seminar format encourages interaction between participants, professors and students alike. The following key points are used as a guide for the discussion of each case study to facilitate comparison:

Brief history of the perpetrator and victim groups
Causes of the conflict
Political and sociological climate before the genocide
Early warnings
Rationalization for genocide; methods of dehumanization
Planning and organization
Implementation of the genocide - timeframe, methods, etc.
International reaction and attempts at intervention (if any)
Denial
Judgment and punishment of perpetrators
Short-term aftermath
Long-term legacy

Community

This intensive course provides a unique learning experience that stretches beyond the classroom. Students spend quality time together outside the classroom and build lasting relationships over the two weeks. After-class activities are organized throughout the program to facilitate community. In previous years, these activities included visits to local museums and art galleries, walking tours, and a trip to Niagara Falls. During the 2021 and 2022 virtual programs, virtual social activities, such as wellness classes and dinner parties, were offered outside of class hours to promote community building amongst students and faculty.