For this international workshop, which will take place at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on October 11th, 2015, scholars will convene to present papers focused on the general question: “What role does music play for individuals or groups of people to effectively resist and prevent genocide or other forms of mass violence?”  The workshop is a part of a series of public programs focused on this theme, including film screenings and musical performances.

The USC Thornton School of Music is one of the premiere music schools in the United States and has been at the forefront of Holocaust education for many years.  It was the first music school in the United States to offer courses in music related to the Holocaust and other genocides, and it was represented on the California Legislature citizens committee that helped draft successful legislation mandating the teaching of genocide awareness in California schools.

The University of Southern California provides unique research resources: the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive with nearly 52,000 interviews from survivors and eyewitnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides, The Lion Feuchtwanger collection, a new Holocaust and Genocide studies collection, and private papers of persecuted musicians such as the Hanns Eisler papers.