"Was It Genocide? Does It Matter?"

Fall 2008 Speaker Series

International Cultural Studies Certificate Program & UHM American Studies Department present:

“Was it Genocide? Does it Matter?”

Dr. David Stannard
Dept. American Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa

It is commonly believed that the concept of “genocide” was created as a way to describe the horrors of the Nazi destruction of Jews (and, in some formulations, others) in the early 1940s. This is incorrect, although the word was coined during this time and the behavior so labeled was ruled a crime by the United Nations in 1948. But what of mass killings and instances of cultural obliteration that occurred before the word—and the crime—existed? Can they properly be called “genocide”? An outpouring of scholarship in recent years has debated both this question and the claim that the Nazi extermination campaign, widely known as the Holocaust, was “unique” in world history. At the same time, efforts to bring to justice perpetrators of genocides committed after the Holocaust have met with resistance and minimal success. In both instances disagreements over the meaning of “intent” have been central to discussion and debate. This talk will review some of the history of these confrontations and, in light of them, will question the efficacy of “genocide” as a word to describe events in the past or to prosecute perpetrators in the present and the future. Date: Wednesday, October 8th Time: 12 pm – 1:20pm Place: Burns Hall Room 2118

Sponsored by:
The UHM/EWC International Cultural Studies Program
Telephone: 808-944-7593
Email:culture@hawaii.edu
Web: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~culture

UHM American Studies Dept.
Telephone: 808-956-8570
Email: amstuh@hawaii.edu
Web: http://www.hawaii.edu/amst/index.htm

Event Sponsor
International Cultural Studies & American Studies Dept., Manoa Campus

More Information
Patty Harris: ICS Program Manager, 944-7593, culture@hawaii.edu, http://www2.hawaii.edu/~culture/

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