Undergraduate - UnitATS2057 - Genocide

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation
Offered	Caulfield Second semester 2014 (Day) Clayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Noah Shenker

Synopsis

This unit examines the phenomenon of genocide and mass killing in history. The twentieth century has been called 'the century of genocide' but genocidal violence has continued unabated into the new millenium. This unit will ask why genocide takes place and how people come to participate in mass violence. It will focus on case studies of genocide including Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and the elimination of indigenous populations in the Americas and Australia. The unit will study how the field of genocide studies came to be constituted beginning with the writings of Raphael Lemkin in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Students will research the causes of genocide and reflect on models of genocide prevention.

Outcomes

To understand the origins of the concept of genocide and the social, analytical and ethical issues concerning its usage.
To be familiar with the writings of Raphael Lemkin and other contemporary theoreticians of genocide
To understand how the field of genocide studies came to be constituted as an academic discipline
To be familiar with the historical details of specific cases of genocide from the nineteenth century to the present
To engage with debates about the uniqueness of the Holocaust and its relationship with the concept of genocide
To be familiar with the kinds of archives that enable researchers to study the phenomenon of genocide
To appreciate the development of the international discourse around human rights and genocide prevention
To understand how oral history and testimony can aid our understanding of genocide