HIST-3320H: History Comparative Genocide

Instructor: Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez (acazorla@trentu.ca)

Course Code: HIST-3320

When Taken: Fall 2022

Major Essay: The Social Implications of Forced Marriage in Cambodia

Major Presentation: Pamela Palmater – Genocide, Indian Policy, and legisaltive Elimination of Indians in Canada

This was a third year seminar course which discussed both specific examples of genocides, as well as how they fit into the overall field of comparative genocide studies. As such, we looked at each example of a proposed genocide to determine if it aligned with the United Nations (UN) definition of genocide, and how it aligned with the stages of genocide. The message in this course was that genocides tend to follow similar patterns of progression, and once in motion they tend not to be stopped by the international community for various geopolitical or practical reasons. While the specifics in each case of genocide differed, the larger themes stayed the same in each example. This was a fascinating introduction to both the specific examples of genocide, but also the field of comparative history as a whole.