Tag Archives: genocide

Scholars’ Circle – Determining genocide and other human rights violations of the law ; Dark side of democracy – April 21, 2024

April 22, 2024 host

April is Genocide Awareness month. Two of the worst genocides in history, the Hutu killing of Tutsis in Rwanda and the Ottoman genocide against Armenians, began in April. We explore genocide with two specific questions: Who internationally makes a determination that violence and atrocities are in fact genocide? And what if anything changes when there is a finding that atrocities are genocide?

We explore whether a legal approach is the best way to determine whether political violence and atrocities are genocide or is a political or social approach more effective. And does discourse on genocide crowd out discussions of other crimes, such as war crimes? We draw insights from history and contemporary issues. [ dur: 42mins. ]

Keith David Watenpaugh is Professor and Director of Human Rights Studies at the University of California at Davis. He is the author of Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class and the award-winning Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism. He is a recipient of Human Rights Educator USA award for implementing Article 26 Backpack for Refugees.
Mark Drumbl is Professor at Washington and Lee University, School of Law, and Director of the University’s Transnational Law Institute. He is the author of Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law , Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy and he is the co-editor of Sights, Sounds and Sensibilities of Atrocity Prosecution with Caroline Fournet.

When does democracy have a dark side? Our guest says that majorities can and do oppress minorities in the name of majoritarian democracy. [ dur: 16mins. ]

Michael Mann is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is the author of the four volume The Sources of Social Power, Fascists and The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – First 100 days of US President Biden in office and Official Acknowledgement of Armenian Genocide by USA – May 2, 2021

May 1, 2021 host

Presidents are often historically judged based on the accomplishments of their first 100 days in office. US President Joe Biden just passed his 100 day mark. How does his record compare to historical records? How likely are President Biden’s proposals to be adopted? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and Foreign Policy Breakthroughs: Cases in Successful Diplomacy

Last week, to commemorate the start of the Ottoman genocide against Armenians, US President Joe Biden officially acknowledged the genocide. He was the first US President to do so. Typically cited as the reason why US Presidents were reluctant to acknowledge the genocide is that future of US/Turkish relations, as Turkey continues to deny the genocide. We explore why a nation denies committing genocides and mass atrocities, and what forms this denial takes. What is the implications of President Biden’s acknowledgment for US-Turkish relations? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 31mins. ]

Fatma Müge Göçek is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at University of Michigan. Her publications include Social Constructions of Nationalism in the Middle East, The Transformation of Turkey: Redefining State and Society from the Ottoman Empire to the Modern Era, and her latest book Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present, and Collective Violence against the Armenians, 1789-2009

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Acknowledgement and commemoration mean for Genocide Survivors – April 25, 2021

April 25, 2021 host

After the genocide event, there are voices of remembrance by generations of past survivor. The victims live with trauma of the experience which is passed on to following generations of survivors. In this hour we discuss with scholars how these events affect individuals, groups, nation states and all of humanity. What does acknowledgement and commemoration mean for Genocide Awareness and Justice? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Dr. Stephen D. Smith, Finci-Viterbi Endowed Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, is committed to making the testimony of survivors of the Holocaust and of other crimes against humanity a compelling voice for education and action. He has authored many articles including The Memory Generation: Sidney Bernstein is the reason we know what the Nazi concentration camps looked like. He is the producer of Shoah Foundation’s podcast called the Memory Generation.

Maria Armoudian is Senior Lecturer on Political Science at University of Auckland. She is the author of Reporting from the Danger Zone: Frontline Journalists, Their Jobs, and an Increasingly Perilous Future and Kill the Messenger : The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. Her recent article The big lie about the Armenian Genocide published by New Zealand Herald.

Dovile Budryte, Ph.D, is a professor of political science at Georgia Gwinnett College. Her areas of interest include gender studies, trauma and memory in international relations and nationalism. She is the author of Taming Nationalism? Political Community Building in the Post-Soviet Baltic States and co-editor of Memory and Trauma in International Relations: Theories, Cases and Debates.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars’ Circle -Discerning facts from fiction on the internet; Forces and means of preventing Genocide – April 11, 2021

April 10, 2021 host

The great promise of the internet to provide interconnectedness and the spread of great ideas has brought great challenges in discerning facts from fiction. Our guest discusses ways we can identify misinformation and disinformation. [ dur: 26 mins. ]

Damaso Reyes is a freelance journalist and a researcher, speaker and trainer in the field of media and information literacy.

Then, April is a notorious month for genocide and mass human rights abuses. We will analyze the forces of genocide and the means of preventing genocide. [ dur: 32mins. ]

Ben Kiernan is Whitney Griswold Professor of History and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. He is the author of, Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, and The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79.
Alex Hinton is Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights, and Professor of Anthropology and Global Affairs at Rutgers University. He is the co-author of, Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide, and is the editor of Genocide: Truth, Memory, and Representation (The Cultures and Practice of Violence), and Annihilating Difference: The Anthropology of Genocide.
Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author of, Zero Degrees of Empathy, and he is the editor of Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from developmental social neuroscience, and The Maladapted Mind: Classic Readings in Evolutionary Psychopathology.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars’ Circle – Armenian Genocide by Young Turks, 1915 – April 28, 2019

April 27, 2019 host

First, we look at history of Armenians living in Turkey and systematic ways they became victims of genocide. [ dur: 17 mins. ]

Peter Balakian is a professor of humanities. He is a noted poet, his books include “Black Dog of Fate: A Memoir” and “The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response“

Then, exposing how the Young Turks codified and hid the systematic effort at brutal genocide of the Armenian population in 1915. [ dur: 40 mins. ]

Altuğ Taner Akçam is Professor of History, Clark University. Scholar of Turkish-German history and sociologist. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide, and is recognized as a “leading international authority” on the subject. He is the author of many books including, Killing Orders: Talat Pasha’s Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide (Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide), The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire (Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity Book 17) and A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Tag Archives: genocide

Scholars’ Circle – Determining genocide and other human rights violations of the law ; Dark side of democracy – April 21, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – First 100 days of US President Biden in office and Official Acknowledgement of Armenian Genocide by USA – May 2, 2021

Scholars’ Circle – Acknowledgement and commemoration mean for Genocide Survivors – April 25, 2021

Scholars’ Circle -Discerning facts from fiction on the internet; Forces and means of preventing Genocide – April 11, 2021

Scholars’ Circle – Armenian Genocide by Young Turks, 1915 – April 28, 2019

By Maria Armoudian