HIST 262 - Genocide, Denial, Facing History and Reconciliation

After the term “Genocide” was coined for macro crimes in 1948 by the United Nations, the word not only became one of the most important legal, social and political terms, but also one of the important inter-disciplinary fields in the Social Sciences. The usage or non-usage of the term for certain macro crimes in recent years has become one of the important political problems of our time. Darfur and Rohingya (Myanmar) are only two recent examples.

We will start with the history of the emergence, definition and meaning of the term genocide. We will look especially at the development of the concept of genocide in International Law and how the term was created by Lemkin. Lemkin’s original concept of Genocide and its difference with U.N. Definition is one of the central topics of the course.

We will discuss different (sociological, psychological etc.) concepts of the genocide. Different theories to explain Genocide and mass atrocities is another central topic of the course.

We will especially dwell on the topics such as colonialism-settler colonialism and genocide. Holocaust, Native American, Australian and Israel-Palestine are the cases that we are going to discuss. The concept of modernity and its relation to genocide; gender and genocide; genocide denial; prevention of genocide, and the question why societies should deal with their past and the meaning of facing history (the different forms of dealing with past -amnesia, retributive justice, restorative justice, truth and reconciliation committees) are other topics that we are going to deal with.

This course will be a 14-week seminar, in which each student will choose a topic and lead the class in an in-depth exploration of its implications.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically