Research
The Institute’s research programs and centers are dedicated to realizing the power of testimony to deepen our understanding of the origins of genocide, the development of empathy through education, the conditions that enable people to resist mass violence and identity-based hatred.
The Center for Advanced Genocide Research

Founded in 2014, the Center organizes a rich academic program consisting of international fellowships and annual conferences, a lecture series and unique research opportunities such as the Interdisciplinary Research Week and the graduate student research workshop with Yad Vashem.

The Center advances interdisciplinary research by supporting the most innovative fellows, conference presenters, guest speakers, workshop and Research Week participants, as well as visiting scholars.

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Featured Lecture
Survivor Activism in the Aftermath of Historical Genocides and Contemporary Mass Shootings

In this lecture, 2019 Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellow Anna Lee discusses the commonalities she discovered in narratives that span decades and continents, as survivors talk about the trauma inflicted on them and the intrusion and violation of safe, protected spaces.

August 10, 2020
Women's resistance in Nanjing: Reflections from 2020 Lev Student Research Fellow Lucy Sun
From visiting family in China during summer breaks growing up, I became acutely aware of the devastation and suffering that occurred during the Japanese occupation of our hometown of Nanjing.
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April 1, 2020
What testimonies teach us: Reflections from 2019-2020 Shapiro Scholar Peter Hayes
I much enjoyed my stay at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research in early March, just before the pandemic turned all of our lives upside down.
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April 1, 2020
“People were dying like flies”: A reflection on COVID-19 and epidemics during the Holocaust
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January 30, 2020
Bodies and the Memory of Emotions in Testimony
During my dissertation research on the history of fear in the Weimar Republic, 1919-1933, a Corrie ten Boom fellowship provided the opportunity for me to visit the USC Shoah Foundation to explore the visual testimonies of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive.
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Advancing new areas of interdisciplinary research

Keep up with recent developments from the academic unit of USC Shoah Foundation.

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By the numbers
53
Academic Disciplines
41
Research and Teaching Fellows
39
Institutional Partners
48
Lectures and Screenings
Aiming for Impact
The Center, with its innovative research program and affiliated faculty of excellence, aims to establish an intellectual hub in Los Angeles for scholars from all over the world and across disciplines to advance research on genocide and mass violence.
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The Center, with its innovative research program and affiliated faculty of excellence, aims to establish an intellectual hub in Los Angeles for scholars from all over the world.
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