EPIIC 2020 Overview

The 2019-20 Sherman Teichman EPIIC Colloquium

PREVENTING GENOCIDE AND MASS ATROCITIES

EXP 0079 XF • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:00-5:00pm
Dr. Abi Williams
Director, Institute for Global Leadership
All interested students must come to the first class on Tuesday,
September 3, 3:00pm, Lane 100

EPIIC is a yearlong course worth four SHUs per semester. “Preventing Genocide and Mass Atrocities” has been approved by the International Relations Faculty Board as a History and a Social Science requirement for students in the International Security Concentration. Students can also receive credit for EPIIC as part of the Peace and Justice Studies Minor.

Over 100 million people were victims of genocide and mass killings in the 20th century.

Since the Holocaust, we have often repeated “never again”, but too often the world has failed to prevent genocidal violence, making “never again” an empty slogan. The ongoing conflicts in Syria and Myanmar have ensured that genocide and mass atrocities are once again headline news.

Why do people commit genocide and kill in large numbers? How do they commit mass atrocities? What can be done to prevent and halt such conscience-shocking atrocities?

The 2019-2020 EPIIC Colloquium will examine the historical, political, economic and social causes of genocide and mass killings. It will consider several empirical cases, including in North America, South West Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Myanmar. The course will assess how the international community can prevent genocide and mass atrocities by analyzing the role of international courts and ad hoc tribunals; the development of norms such as the Responsibility to Protect; the role of the United Nations; and the responses of regional institutions such as the European Union and the African Union.