Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation Genocide Awareness Week 2026
Monday, April 13 - Thursday, April 16, 2026
The theme of GAW 2026 is to examine some of the ways in which the global retreat from democracy and new authoritarianism connect with historic and contemporary cases of genocide. In the present era, the world is experiencing a resurgence in extremism, exclusionary nationalism, and authoritarianism. At the same time, democracies, even longstanding, stable ones, have experienced erosion and backsliding in democratic processes, practices, and institutions. These trends are highly concerning given that authoritarian states are particularly prone to genocide and mass violence.
Schedule
Mon., April 13
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Jeffrey Cohen is the Dean of Humanities in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University. He’s the editor of “Monster Theory: Reading Culture” which helped establish the field of monster studies. His “Stone: An Ecology of the Inhuman” received the 2017 René Wellek Prize for best book in comparative literature from the American Comparative Literature Association.
Stanley Mirvis is the Director of Jewish Studies, the Harold and Jean Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies, and Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University. He is the author of “The Jews of Eighteenth-Century Jamaica: A Testamentary History of a Diaspora in Transition."
Tim Langille is an Associate Teaching Professor in the School of History, Philosophy and Religion at Arizona State University. He primarily teaches courses on genocide studies, Jewish history, and religion and violence. He completed his doctorate at the University of Toronto in the Study of Religion and Jewish Studies. His research focuses on genocide, religion and violence, trauma and memory.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Ken Duncan Sr. is a Native American, from the Apache Tribe, born on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona. He is an accomplished Native American Apache cultural teacher, singer, flute player, artist, and storyteller. He has lectured on American Indian culture across the United States and throughout the world including the United Nations in Geneva, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Lenka Bustikova teaches in the political science department at the University of Florida. She has also taught at the University of Oxford and at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on polarization, party politics and democratic erosion. Her book, “Extreme Reactions: Radical Right Mobilization in Eastern Europe,” received the Davis Center Book Prize in political and social studies.
Donald Fixico is Muscogee, Seminole, Shawnee and Sac & Fox. He is a Regents' and Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at ASU. Dr. Fixico is the author and editor of 20 books on American Indian History.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Sabro Bengaro is an Assyrian scholar born in Nsibin (Tur Abdin), Turkey. He studied economics at the University of Gothenburg and holds master’s degrees in Human Rights and Genocide Studies as well as History from universities in London, Siena, Warsaw, and Massachusetts. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Texas at Dallas, focusing on the role of Islam, jihad, and Kurdish participation in the Assyrian Genocide. Bengaro is the founder and director of the Seyfo Center and an active member of International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Steven Jacobs, DHL, DD, is Professor of Religious Studies and Emeritus Aronov Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He is the author, co-author, editor, and translator of more than twenty-five books, as well as more than fifty articles and book reviews in both academic and popular publications.
Karmella Borashan is an Assyrian-American human rights advocate and healthcare professional. She has served as Outreach and Advocacy Director and Board Member of the Assyrian Aid Society of America, as well as the Susek Evangelistic Association (Assyrian Project). In 2025, she co-founded the Assyrian International Council, a global coalition uniting Assyrians worldwide. She also serves as a Board Member of the Assyrian Parliament.
Location: Armstrong Hall; 1100 S McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the lecture: How do we even begin to understand what is happening in the U.S. right now? Every day a new attack on the Constitution. People are routinely abducted by masked men and stuffed into vans. The military has been deployed against protesters. Universities and law firms are punished for not toeing the line and every day there is a new assertion of unitary presidential power. And yet the daily headlines barely make a dent in our consciousness. Are we ill-equipped to understand what is playing out before our eyes? How far has the U.S. shifted to authoritarianism and is there any way back?
This program is brought to you by the ASU School of Social Transformation.
About the Speakers:
Jason Stanley is a philosopher, and the Bissell-Heyd-Associates Chair in American Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of New York Times best sellers "Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future;" "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them;" and, "How Propaganda Works."
Tues., April 14
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Holocaust survivor Kathy Gross (Katalin Steiner) was born June 5, 1938 in Budapest. As a young child, Kathy remembers a happy life; visits to the park & spending time with relatives. That all changed with the traumatic German occupation of Hungary in 1944. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution she immigrated to England and then became a proud citizen of the United States in 1962.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Alex Alvarez is a Professor and Co-Chair in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. His books include “Governments, Citizens, and Genocide, Genocidal Crimes, Native America and the Question of Genocide, Unstable Ground: Climate Change, Conflict, and Genocide,” and “Lethal Elites: The Institutions and Professionals That Made the Holocaust Possible.” He is an editor for “Genocide Studies International.” He is also the Vice-Chair of the Academic Advisory Board and Course Director of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the Zoryan Institute.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Please Note: This session will not be available on Zoom.
About the Speakers:
Chris Holman, Teaching Professor in the School of Social Transformation (SST), teaches courses in Justice and Social Inquiry. Holman developed and facilitated SST’s Graduate Teaching Development Program from 2014–19 and was nominated for both the ASU Centennial Professor Award and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Outstanding Lecturer/Instructor Award three times. Currently, Holman is working on an interactive, edited book on the subject of "ethics and alternative tourism."
Students who have survived genocide or are the descendants of genocide survivors
For student panel participants and audience members from the student panel program.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Steve Remy is a Professor of History at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center. A scholar of modern European and German history, he is the author of “The Heidelberg Myth: The Nazification and Denazification of a German University” (Harvard, 2003), “The Malmedy Massacre: The War Crimes Trial Controversy” (Harvard, 2017), and “War Crimes: Law, Politics, & Armed Conflict in the Modern World” (Routledge, 2023).
Meghan Riley received her PhD in modern European history from Indiana University in May 2025. She studies the intersection of Holocaust studies and global humanitarianism. Her current book project explores the work of American relief organizations in French internment camps from 1939 to 1942. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Kate Temoney, PhD, is an Associate Professor, Chair of the Department of Religion, and Special Advisor to the Provost on Interdisciplinary Initiatives at Montclair State University. She is a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Religion and the Holocaust and an Editor for “Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal.” Her scholarship examines the intersections of religion, human rights, genocide, and theory of history.
Kyle Jantzen is the Dean of Arts & Science at Ambrose University in Calgary, Canada. He is Professor of History, specializing in the relationship between church and state in Nazi Germany. His research extends to Christian responses to the Holocaust and the wider subject of religion and nationalism.
Location: Mirabella; 65 E University Dr, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Steve Remy is a Professor of History at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center. A scholar of modern European and German history, he is the author of “The Heidelberg Myth: The Nazification and Denazification of a German University” (Harvard, 2003), “The Malmedy Massacre: The War Crimes Trial Controversy” (Harvard, 2017), and “War Crimes: Law, Politics, & Armed Conflict in the Modern World” (Routledge, 2023).
Hannah Creviston is Clinical Professor at Arizona State University where she is Keyboard Area Coordinator, Director of Piano Pedagogy and the ASU Community Music School, and Coordinator for Class Piano. As the Creviston Duo, she and her husband, saxophonist Christopher Creviston, have recorded “Snell Sessions” and “Columbia Sessions,” (Albany Records); “Sunday Afternoon” and “Breaking” (CD Baby); and “Phoenix Rising” and “Reminiscences” (Blue Griffin).
Wed., April 15
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Tarteel Alimam is a Sudanese humanitarian advocate, writer, digital storyteller and community organizer dedicated to amplifying voices impacted by war and displacement. Born in Omdurman, she uses storytelling and grassroots advocacy to shed light on Sudan’s ongoing genocide and the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Maureen Hiebert, PhD, is Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director and Research Fellow at the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. She is the chair of the Academic Board at the Zoryan Institute and has been a long-standing faculty member with the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at Zoryan. Her publications include “Constructing Genocide and Mass Violence: Society, Crises, Identity” along with several articles and book chapters on the causes, processes and prevention of genocide.
Location: Ross-Blakley Hall, Room 196; 1102 S McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287
Please Note: This session will not be available on Zoom.
About the Speakers:
International artist Antoinette Cauley was born in Phoenix, Arizona and draws her inspiration from the grittiness and beauty within her place of birth. Her work is heavily influenced by Black American hood culture with a feminist undertone and an overall focus of Black empowerment. Cauley is most known for her nine-story-tall mural of Civil Rights activist, James Baldwin, in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Cauley has won several awards including first place at the Artlink 19th Annual Juried Exhibition in 2019. Cauley has been featured on various television and print publications including PBS, NPR, “JAVA Magazine” (cover), “Forbes” and was named one of “Phoenix Magazine”’s “Great 48: 48 Most Influential people in the state of Arizona” in 2019.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
International artist Antoinette Cauley was born in Phoenix, Arizona and draws her inspiration from the grittiness and beauty within her place of birth. Her work is heavily influenced by Black American hood culture with a feminist undertone and an overall focus of Black empowerment. Cauley is most known for her nine-story-tall mural of Civil Rights activist, James Baldwin, in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Cauley has won several awards including first place at the Artlink 19th Annual Juried Exhibition in 2019. Cauley has been featured on various television and print publications including PBS, NPR, “JAVA Magazine” (cover), “Forbes” and was named one of “Phoenix Magazine”’s “Great 48: 48 Most Influential people in the state of Arizona” in 2019.
Jessica Salow is the Assistant Archivist of Black Collections at Arizona State University Library. Her current work focuses on specialized reference, instruction and curation of a robust community-based collection of primary and secondary resources that document the lived experiences of Black people living and thriving in the state of Arizona. She is an American Library Association’s Emerged Leader Class of 2024 and is currently the President of the Arizona Library Association (AzLA).
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Please Note: This session will not be available on Zoom.
About the Speakers:
Alex Alvarez is a Professor and Co-Chair in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. His books include “Governments, Citizens, and Genocide, Genocidal Crimes, Native America and the Question of Genocide, Unstable Ground: Climate Change, Conflict, and Genocide,” and “Lethal Elites: The Institutions and Professionals That Made the Holocaust Possible.” He is an editor for “Genocide Studies International.” He is also the Vice-Chair of the Academic Advisory Board and Course Director of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the Zoryan Institute.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
James Waller is the acting Director for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut and is a Professor of Literatures, Cultures, Languages, and Human Rights. In addition, he is a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. He 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). He is also a faculty member with the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the Zoryan Institute.
Thurs., April 16
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Nejra Sumic is a former refugee who was forced to flee from her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a long and dangerous journey, Sumic and her family were finally granted asylum as refugees in the United States where they faced the adversity of adapting to a new culture.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Henry Theriault is Associate Provost at Worcester State University in Massachusetts, where he previously taught in the Philosophy Department 1998–2017. His research and teaching specialization is Genocide Studies, specifically denial, reparations, victim-perpetrator relations, prevention, and mass violence against women and girls. He has spoken and published widely on these topics. He is also an editor of “Genocide Studies International” and a faculty member with the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the Zoryan Institute.
Amy Sodaro is Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York/Borough of Manhattan Community College. Her research focuses on memorialization of past violence in memorial museums. She is the author of “Lifting the Shadow: Reshaping Memory, Race and Slavery in US Museums” (2025) and “Exhibiting Atrocity: Memorial Museums and the Politics of Past Violence” (2018), and co-editor of “Museums and Sites of Persuasion: Politics, Memory and Human Rights” (2019) and “Museums and Mass Violence” (2025). She is a faculty member with the Genocide and Human Rights University Program at the Zoryan Institute.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
Please note: This lecture will not be available on Zoom.
Lunch is for student panel participants and audience members participating in this program.
About the Speakers:
Stanley Mirvis is the director of Jewish Studies, the Harold and Jean Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies, and Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University. He is the author of “The Jews of Eighteenth-Century Jamaica: A Testamentary History of a Diaspora in Transition” (Yale 2020).
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
Barlow Der Mugrdechian is the Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno. He teaches a variety of courses on Armenian language, history, art, and literature. He is the President of the Society for Armenian Studies and is the General Editor of the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno.
Bedross Der Matossian is Professor of Modern Middle East History and Hymen Rosenberg Professor in Judaic Studies at the Department of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of nine books, including “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early Twentieth Century” (Stanford University Press, 2022). He is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board at the Zoryan Institute.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
David Michael Crane was the founding chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, 2002–2005 and Under Secretary General of the United Nations. Dr. Crane is assisting the international community in the creation of a Special Tribunal for Ukraine on the Crime of Aggression. He was a leading force for seeking justice for the people of Syria through the Syrian Accountability Project and the famous “Ceasar Report” which captured direct evidence of crimes against humanity being committed by President Assad. Dr. Crane founded the Global Accountability Network in 2017.
Location: Lattie F. Coor Hall, Room 4403; 976 S Forest Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281
About the Speakers:
A. Dirk Moses is the Spitzer Professor of International Relations at the City College of New York. He is the author and editor of publications in Genocide Studies, Memory Studies, and Intellectual History. His latest book is “The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression.” He edits the “Journal of Genocide Research.”
Additional Events
Location: The Recital Hall, ASU School of Music, Dance and Theater; 50 E Gammage Pkwy, Tempe
About the Lecture: As part of Arizona State University’s Genocide Awareness Week 2026, we’re inviting you to a live concert experience that brings the week’s programming into the room through music. Join us for a special performance by Yasmeen, with a guest performance by ASU’s Hannah Creviston. This evening is for students, faculty, and community members who want to attend in person, support the week’s programming, and experience it through music.
About the Speakers:
Yasmeen, Assyrian-American Singer-Songwriter
Register RSVP Deadline: Sunday, April 12
Sponsors: Arizona Chapters of Seyfo Center, Assyrian American Cultural Organization and Assyrian Student Association
Location: Scottsdale Community College (specific directions will be emailed to those who sign up one week prior)
About the Lecture: In person only. Participants are welcome to attend a brief ceremony at the Armenian Memorial on campus at 5:30 pm. The film screening will begin at 6:00 pm with Q & A to follow. Food, drinks, and dessert will be served. Directions will be emailed a week prior. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
About the Speakers:
Emily Mkrtichian is a filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist from a displaced, diasporic family who explores alternative archives and visionary futures of the SWANA region. Her films include the first Armenian sci-fi film, Transmission, which premiered at the BFI Flare Film Festival, and the feature documentary "THERE WAS, THERE WAS NOT," which premiered at True/False and won several awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize at the Golden Apricot Film Festival and the Audience Award and Jury Award at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival. In addition to her films, Emily's multimedia installation Luys i Luso, created in collaboration with Tigran Hamasyan, has been exhibited in museums, concert halls, and public spaces around the globe.
Register RSVP Deadline: Sunday, April 10
Sponsors: Scottsdale Community College, St. Apkar Armenian Church, and Center for Armenian Studies Fresno State University
Additional Information
Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation Genocide Awareness Week (GAW) is a week-long event seeking to address how we, as a global society, confront violent actions and current and ongoing threats of genocide and related mass atrocity crimes, throughout the world, while also looking to the past for guidance and to honor those affected by genocide.
Closest Parking to Coor Hall, ASU Tempe Campus:
Myrtle Avenue Garage; 901 S. Myrtle Ave., Tempe
Mill Avenue Parking Structure, 951 S Mill Ave., Tempe
Lot 9; 19 E 10th St, Tempe
Closest Parking to Mirabella, ASU Tempe:
Myrtle Avenue Garage; 901 S. Myrtle Ave., Tempe
Lot 9; 19 E 10th St, Tempe
Closest Parking to Ross-Blakely Hall, ASU Tempe Campus:
Lot 41; 651 E Orange St, Tempe
Rural Rd. Parking Structure; 1100 S. Rural Rd, Tempe
For any media inquiries, please contact Kiersten Edgett at [email protected] or 480-965-5104.
This conference would not be possible without our sponsors:
This event is also presented by the following Arizona State University units and initiatives:
Center for Jewish Studies
School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies
School of Social Transformation