Religion, Holocaust, and Genocide Unit
- We invite proposals that consider of how the accusations of genocide in Gaza are impacting interreligious dialogue in the United States and elsewhere. Topics may include, but are not limited to: how the accusation of genocide in Gaza impacts specific interreligious dialogue initiatives among faith communities; how the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism may or may not impede academic or religious freedom.
- Co-sponsored with the Teaching Religion Unit, we seek proposals for a session that addresses the challenges associated with teaching religion and genocide in the current political climate. Topics may include, but are not limited to: diverging scholarly, political, and popular uses of the term “genocide” (as applicable in the classroom); teaching genocide in politically polarized classrooms; the challenges and opportunities of teaching genocide prevention in partnership with community organizations or nonprofits.
- We invite proposals that consider the politics of comparison related to genocide. In public discourse, the Holocaust has been many times cited (often controversially) in relation to other historical or contemporary phenomena, but we also encourage reflection on the politics of comparison concerning other genocides. Proposals might address the motivation and reception of comparisons, and questions of how to critically weigh up the (in)appropriateness of such comparison-making. The intersections between debates on comparison, notions of historical uniqueness, and the ‘sacrality’ of remembering in particular ways may be considered in this regard.
- We invite proposals that explore the potential status of genocide survivors as sacred persons, and their testimonies as sacred texts. Proposals might consider the ethical questions of how we critically assess their contributions to public discourse about the memory of genocides, their representation in museum and educational contexts, and responses to situations (e.g. with the Holocaust) in which they are increasingly unable to speak in person about their experiences.
The term “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1944, and in 1948 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In this context, our Unit treats prominent atrocities of the twentieth century, but topics of interest extend before and after this period as well beyond the legal definition of genocide. This Unit addresses religious aspects of genocidal conflicts, other mass atrocities, and human rights abuses that have made a deep and lasting impact on society, politics, and international affairs. Unit interests also include instructive lessons and reflections that Holocaust and Genocide Studies can lend to illuminating other human rights violations and instances of mass violence and the construal of genocide within a human rights violation spectrum that allows for the study of neglected or ignored conflicts that include a salient religious element. Our work is interdisciplinary and includes scholars from fields including History, Ethics, Theology, Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Church History, Anthropology, Political Science, Gender Studies, and regional area studies of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
| Chair | Dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Sax | bsax@icjs.org | - | View |
| David Tollerton | d.c.tollerton@exeter.ac… | - | View |