People gather around a hole being dug in search of water in Darfur, Sudan, in 2004. Image: The Conversation.
Mass atrocities in places such as Syria, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen, students are able to better connect to the material.
People gather around a hole being dug in search of water in Darfur, Sudan, in 2004. Image: The Conversation.
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.
Title of course:
“Introduction to Genocide Studies”
Many genocide classes take a historical view, spending a lot of time on the Holocaust or Cambodia’s Killing Fields. As a scholar-practitioner in the field of atrocities prevention and human rights, I wanted something that would make clear to students that mass atrocities – genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing – are not just in the past, but are very much happening in the present.
By exploring recent and ongoing mass atrocities in places such as Syria, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen, students are able to better connect to the material once they realize that these issues have happened during their lifetimes, not decades or centuries ago.
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Between exploring recent mass atrocities and focusing on U.S. foreign policy, I try to keep the course grounded in a way that makes some of these abstract concepts much more tangible.
The course starts off by exploring the definitions of mass atrocities and the associated crimes, how their definitions are similar and different from one another, and constraints within international law.
We review several case studies of mass atrocities. Students also learn about successes and failures of different intervention tactics, everything from peacekeeping to sanctions to military intervention. And we discuss efforts to seek justice, including international tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, national court systems and the International Criminal Court.
We then explore the ethical principle called “responsibility to protect,” committed to in a United Nations agreement in 2015, including its first test with the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Individual governments are responsible for preventing their citizens from experiencing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. However, if a government is unable or unwilling to protect its people, then the international community must do so.
We also look at the modern-day global anti-genocide movement and efforts to prevent mass atrocities, including by sanctions – though there is little evidence to suggest they work – and military intervention, which is quite rare.
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Then we discuss U.S. foreign policy efforts, including the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018, which made it the policy of the United States to “regard the prevention of atrocities as in its national interest.” We also discuss the development of a governmentwide strategy to prevent and respond to mass atrocities around the world.
I’ve found that students appreciate learning about what the U.S. government is and is not doing to confront mass atrocities.
The course culminates with a group presentation and individual research into an ongoing mass atrocity situation. After they complete their projects, students often make comments like “I had no idea this was happening” or “I can’t believe I never heard about this before.”
Unfortunately, this course will likely be relevant for years to come as mass atrocities continue to occur in several places around the world. The ongoing atrocities in Ukraine and genocide against the Uyghurs in China show how intractable these issues are when a powerful nation is the one committing atrocities.
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The United States has been accused of complicity in the commission of war crimes in Yemen through its continued support of violence committed by Saudi Arabia and allied forces. This provides an example of how the U.S. does not always play a positive role on the international stage.
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I believe the course provides my students with tangible ways they can get more involved in atrocities prevention advocacy and programs.
They also learn how to research U.S. legislation that is relevant to genocide, contact members of Congress, write op-eds and create fact sheets.
By giving assignments like this, in addition to more traditional papers, my students learn how to effectively engage in human rights advocacy, even in a small way.
Article by: Mike Brand. Adjunct Professor of Genocide Studies and Human Rights, University of Connecticut
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.