Genocide Classroom Presentations

1. The Human Problem of Genocide                             

April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month in the State of NH. What is required to recognize, deter and prevent genocide? What is genocide? When do processes become part of a genocidal momentum? How do we identify moments in the process where intervention (any type) can change the momentum?

2. Bosnia-Hercegovina: Remembering Genocide 

Yugoslavia was a federation of multiethnic and diverse Republics, Bosnia moreso. As the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, Yugoslavia also unraveled. Multi-party elections fueled nationalism and nationalistic leaders in Serbia and Croatia who fueled war and "ethnic cleansing" and violence that would escalate to genocide against the Bosniak Muslims. What role did the United States, the United Nations, and the European Community play? How did the Dayton Peace Accords stop the fighting, but solidify divisions and corruption?

3. Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979)

Examining the risk factors for violent and genocidal violence we examine the collapse of Prince Sihanouk’s Cambodia in the context of the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. How did governmental corruption, class warfare, and the violence of war contribute to the rise of the Khmer Rouge? Who were the Khmer Rouge and how did they conduct genocide? What are genocide’s early warning signs and how do we make a transition to peace in a post genocidal society?

4. Guatemalan (Mayan) Genocide 

The Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996) created an escalating military response to insurgency that would evolve into the genocide of the indigenous Mayan population. This presentation explores the influence of U.S. interests during the Cold War (including the United Fruit Company, the CIA, the School of the Americas) in undermining democracy by supporting military dictators in their fight against Communism. How did this genocide occur in plain site? How does escalating violence and human rights violations lead to mass atrocity? What were the accelerants leading to mass atrocity and eventually genocide? How and why was the U.S. complicit and what lessons were learned? How can U.S. support of democracy and justice help Guatemala confront not only its past but its chaotic and violent “post” genocide society?