Bachelor of Arts in Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies

The major in Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Studies offers students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the causes and consequences of past acts of genocide and human rights violations and to consider human rights law as a means of violence prevention. Students will learn to probe and evaluate moral, spiritual, and ethical issues that are central to learning about, and from, genocides and human rights violations.

The study of government-sponsored crimes against humanity, the perpetrator state, the impact of extreme nationalism and the use of the media in spreading racism and prejudice, requires a multidisciplinary approach. The major accordingly draws on faculty trained in different disciplines and fields of expertise, including the history of the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, African history, law, literature and film of the Holocaust and other genocides, political science, and religion.

The major also introduces students to the various institutional means available for the prevention of genocide and other crimes against humanity, for the cultivation of good relations among ethnic, racial, national, and religious groups and the effective management of tensions among them, and for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Learning Outcomes
Students will acquire the intellectual tools to analyze the multifaceted social, economic, cultural, civil, and political components of society under genocidal regimes, under repressive governments with poor human rights records, and the closely interconnected domestic and international environments in which such regimes operate. They will develop proficiency in analyzing government-citizen relations, including the extent to which individuals, societies, and domestic and international NGOs can intervene to promote and protect human rights and prevent genocide.
Students will learn to probe and evaluate moral, spiritual, and ethical issues that are central to learning about, and from, genocides and human rights violations. These include questions about the prevalence of dehumanization and its relationship to prejudice, the complicity of ordinary people regarding mass violence and genocide, and the role of other nations in condemning or ignoring genocide.