aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

WWU's Ray Wolpow Institute co-sponsoring May 26 webinar, 'Implications of COVID-19 for Atrocity Prevention'

WWU's Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity is co-sponsoring the James Waller webinar "Implications of COVID-19 for Atrocity Prevention" from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26, hosted by the Holocaust Center for Humanity.

While COVID-19’s impact continues on a global scale – economically, socially, politically, and existentially – it will be particularly felt in deeply divided, fragile, conflict-prone, or at-risk societies.  In such societies, it is absolutely vital that policy measures be taken for preventive action before risk escalates to the point of mass atrocity.  This presentation will review some of those pressure points related to governance, economic conditions, and social fragmentation.  The pandemic, and its potential to serve as a trigger for mass violence, makes our shared work of atrocity prevention more urgent than ever.

Dr. James Waller is Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College.  He also serves as Director of Academic Programs for the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, a leading international NGO in the field.  He is the author of six books, most notably Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Atrocity (Oxford University Press, 2007). His newest book, due out later this year from Oxford University Press, is A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland.

Thank you to our community partners for this week's program:
The Henry M. Jackson Foundaton | The Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University | Washington State University History Department | Humanities Alliance at Everett Community College | Temple B'nai Torah | Temple De Hirsch Sinai | Temple Beth Shalom | Jconnect Seattle | Moishe House Seattle.

Find out more, including the Zoom and Facebook Live links to the event, here:

https://www.holocaustcenterseattle.org/programs-events/571-virtual-lunch-and-learn