Am I a murderer?

An insight into genocide

Date: Wednesday 10 September
Time: 6-7 pm
Venue:Monash University, Level 1, Building H, Caulfield campus

For

• Community
• Researchers
• Future research students

Format

Public lecture

Overview

Who are the people mobilised to commit mass murder?

Are there attributes that drive individuals to kill innocent civilians? Or does war transform ordinary people into perpetrators of extreme violence? Does each of us have a genocidal gene and are any of us immune?

What of the victims? Do victims in extreme situations respond to crisis according to culturally predetermined norms of behaviour, or do all people, when faced with their imminent murder, respond in uniform ways? What does research demonstrate about those who are prepared to risk their lives to save others? Can we predict heroic behaviour based on personality types?

Join Mark Baker as he considers how research has treated the subject of genocide by comparing perpetrator, bystander and victim behaviour during the Holocaust with the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and present day Darfur. The talk will focus on his research into the experience of victims of the Holocaust using the Shoah Visual History Archive and recent field work in Rwanda observing the gacaca system of local genocide trials.

Presented by

Associate Professor Mark Baker, Monash University

Mark Baker is Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation at Monash University. He is the author of the prize-winning book about Holocaust memory, The Fiftieth Gate (HarperCollins, 1995) and has taught widely in the area of genocide studies.

To book

Bookings are essential. Complete the registration form to reserve your space.