3947 - Graduate Diploma in Holocaust and Genocide Studies

The aim of the graduate diploma is to provide students with expert knowledge about the causes of genocide and international efforts to prevent crimes against humanity. It covers a wide range of themes, with a focus on the Holocaust as a paradigmatic case of genocide from which lessons can be learned about other instances of mass killing. Students completing this program will have advanced knowledge on the United Nations Conventions relating to Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity and on the way scholarly communities have addressed the perennial problem of genocide prevention and resolution of violent conflict. The program emphasises the possibilities for averting violent conflict through humanitarian intervention and individual acts of conscience. The units offered cover particular instances of genocidal conflict, the gender politics of violence, a consideration of the treatment of Australia's indigenous population, and the themes of memory, trauma, testimony, and reconciliation. The program highlights the importance of oral testimony and the act of witnessing, drawing on Monash's acquisition of the Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive. Students completing this program will be equipped to contribute to government and non-governmental organisations dealing with conflict resolution, and to work with international systems of justice established for the purposes of genocide prevention and prosecution.

Upon completion of this course, students will have:

• an understanding of the United Nations genocide convention and its effectiveness as a description of the social reality of mass killing
• knowledge of the origins and history of the Holocaust and its application as a paradigmatic case of genocide
• an understanding of theoretical approaches to the problem of human violence from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, ethnography, sociology and politics;4. an appreciation of the experience of Australia's indigenous population in relation to the UN definition of genocide
• an ability to identify the factors that radicalise conflict into genocidal situations
• an appreciation of the possibilities for humanitarian intervention and acts of individual conscience and rescue in situations of genocide
• an appreciation of the role of scholarly communities in defining genocide and identifying the complex web of factors that lead to genocidal situations
• an understanding of the role of the law and international systems of criminal justice for preventing genocide and dealing with post-genocidal societies
• an understanding of the ethics of testimony and the themes of trauma, memory, mourning as they relate to genocide.

Students undertake selected electives. All units are six points unless otherwise indicated.

Students complete 48 points selected from the following:*

• HYM4290Holocaust memories: Landscape, mourning, identity
• HYM4440 Genocidal thought
• HYM4470 Genocide and colonialism
• HYM4490 Fascism, Nazism and racial and social utopias
• HYM4570Theories of violence: Genocide, war and terror
• HYM5410A Research project in Holocaust and genocide studies (12 points)
• HYM5420 Placement for Holocaust and genocide studies (12 points)
• ITM4010 Global justice: Civil and human rights after 1945
• LAW7026 Overview of international human rights law
• LAW4199 International humanitarian law
• LAW7218 International criminal justice

* Not all units are offered in the same year.

Students who complete the graduate diploma with a minimum credit average, may apply to enter a relevant masters degree.

Students who have completed 24 points of the Graduate Diploma in Holocaust and Genocide Studies may apply to exit with a Graduate Certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Graduate Diploma in Holocaust and Genocide Studies

* Where more than one award is listed, or in the case of double degrees, where more than one award is listed for one or both components of the double degree, the actual award/s conferred may depend on units/majors/streams/specialisations studied, the level of academic merit achieved (eg in the case of 'with honours' programs), or other factors relevant to the individual student's program of study.