Evening Lecture
“Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Atrocity”
Presented by Dr. James Waller
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 7 - 9 p.m.
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts Room 1102 and via Zoom
To receive the Zoom link, please register by clicking here.
The Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (CJHPS) invites the public to a lecture by Dr. James Waller on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 7 - 9 p.m. in Turchin Center for the Visual Arts Room 1102 and via Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please register by clicking here.
While the macro-level mechanics and structures of genocide are most often our focus of study, at its heart, genocide happens because individual humans choose to kill other individual humans in large numbers and over an extended period of time. Who are the killers on the frontlines of genocide and how do they come to do such extraordinary evil? Based on interviews with over 225 rank-and-file perpetrators, Waller's presentation will focus on the ordinary origins of these killers and the processes by which they become capable of such atrocities. Understanding these processes can be vital to resolving current conflicts as well as preventing the future occurrence of genocide.
Sponsored by CJHPS and App State's Department of Philosophy and Religion, “Becoming Evil” is free and open to the public. For a disability accommodation, visit odr.appstate.edu.
Lunch Colloquium
“Global Challenges to Democracy and the Future of Genocide Prevention”
Presented by Dr. James Waller
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (Anne Belk Hall Suite 250)
In addition to the evening lecture, Waller will give a lunch colloquium titled “Global Challenges to Democracy and the Future of Genocide Prevention” from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at the Center, located in Anne Belk Hall Suite 250.
Using reading materials provided in advance, Waller will briefly discuss the global challenges to democracy and why that matters for genocide prevention. The colloquium will include a discussion of the present challenges in the U.S.
This is a lunch-and-learn program. CJHPS will provide drinks and desserts. Attendees should bring their own lunches. This event requires pre-registration, which is available by emailing Dr. Davis Hankins, the director of CJHPS, at hankinscd@appstate.edu. Upon completion of pre-registration, registrants will be sent reading materials from It Can Happen Here to review in advance of the colloquium.
The colloquium is free and open to students and academics. For a disability accommodation, visit odr.appstate.edu.
About Dr. James Waller
Dr. James Waller is the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice at the University of Connecticut (UConn). At UConn, he also directs the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and is a Professor of Literatures, Cultures, Languages and Human Rights. In addition, Dr. Waller is a Visiting Scholar at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast.
Waller has authored seven books, most notably his award-winning Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2007), Confronting Evil: Engaging Our Responsibility to Prevent Genocide (Oxford University Press, 2016) and A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2021). In 2017, Waller was the inaugural recipient of the Engaged Scholarship Prize from the International Association of Genocide Scholars in recognition of his exemplary engagement in advancing genocide awareness and prevention.
Waller has written for The Washington Post, The Irish News and The Conversation and is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including PBS, CNN, CBC, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, National Geographic, Scientific American and The New York Times.