“While the GHRUP is a mature program, now in its fifth year, we are continually looking for ways to improve it, and there are some important innovations for 2006,” commented Prof. Roger W. Smith, Director of the IIGHRS. “For example,” he continued, “we have added a unit on theories of genocide and another on international law and genocide. This has given us the opportunity to invite some new and very talented scholars to the faculty, which now numbers twelve. It is interesting how the program has evolved to run the gamut of subjects, from the theoretical to the practical, from theories of genocide to genocide as a crime in international law,” he remarked.

This 2-week, fully accredited course features world-renowned genocide scholars and provides a structured forum for analyzing universal questions related to genocide, such as:
What is genocide and why does it take place?
What is the relation between genocide and human rights?
Why does genocide denial occur?
How does geo-politics impact human rights and can even lead to genocide?
Why should you study human rights and the prevention of genocide?

The mission of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program is to help develop a new generation of scholars to engage in research and publication in the field of genocide and human rights studies. This goal is achieved through a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of such cases of genocide as the Jewish Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide, among others, using the Armenian Genocide, the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century, as a point of reference.

The program also seeks to help develop an academic-level educational support system for those who wish to work toward the prevention of genocide.

The program strives to show, through the study and sharing of the genocidal traumas of many peoples, that genocide and the gross violation of human rights is a universal human experience and that, as such, it must be the concern of all individuals and institutions.

The program will appeal to a wide variety of students interested in various cases of genocide and the broader issues of human rights. Applicants must be current university students with three years or more of undergraduate experience.

Scholarships are available for qualified students. Please inquire.

Details and registration information are available on the program’s web site, www.genocidestudies.org.