“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.
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BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University's 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.
Dr. 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, 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.
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 the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Government and Justice Studies, Department of History, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Department of Psychology, Department of Sociology and Department of Sustainable Development, “Becoming Evil” is free and open to the public. For a disability accommodation, visit odr.appstate.edu.
In addition to the evening presentation, Waller will give a lunch colloquium for App State students and academics titled “Challenges to Democracy at Home and Abroad” from 12-1:30 p.m. at the Center, located in Anne Belk Hall Suite 250. Space is limited, so pre-registration here is required.
For more information about the colloquium and lecture, visit holocaust.appstate.edu/events/becoming-evil-dr-james-waller. Questions can be directed to Dr. Davis Hankins, the director of CJHPS, by email at hankinscd@appstate.edu or by phone at (828) 262-6610.
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About the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies
Appalachian State University’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies was founded in 2002 to develop new educational opportunities for students, teachers and the community. Located administratively within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center seeks to strengthen tolerance, understanding and remembrance by increasing the knowledge of Jewish culture and history, teaching the history and meaning of the Holocaust, and utilizing these experiences to explore peaceful avenues for human improvement and the prevention of further genocides. The Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies is an associate institutional member of the Association of Jewish Studies, a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations and a member of the North Carolina Consortium of Jewish Studies. Learn more at holocaust.appstate.edu.
Dr. James Waller is the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice at the University of Connecticut. Photo courtesy of the University of Connecticut.
Dr. James Waller is the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice at the University of Connecticut. Photo courtesy of the University of Connecticut.