Overview
The Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies (HGS) at Keene State houses the only four-year BA degree of its kind in the United States with both a major and a minor. It is also the home of the MA in Genocide Prevention and Human Security (GPHS) program as well as the graduate-level Certificate in Atrocity Prevention.
The undergraduate program prepares you to analyze contemporary political situations, think critically about ethical responsibility, and respond actively to injustice. As an interdisciplinary department, you take courses from core faculty with training in history, peace studies, political psychology, education, and modern languages; as well as courses from affiliated faculty trained in sociology, music, literature, philosophy, film studies, women and gender studies, and American studies.
During your years at Keene State, you will hone critical thinking skills, develop a sense of global and local awareness, study conflict resolution, and begin a lifelong commitment to civic engagement. Our HGS majors have gone on to internationally renowned graduate programs, including Georgetown University, Queen’s University-Belfast, Northeastern University, Utrecht University, and the University of Haifa. Others have forged outstanding career paths, including work in government positions, non-governmental organizations, law, public history, teaching, counseling, journalism, human rights advocacy, and more.
Studying Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State is not limited to the classroom. You are encouraged to spend a semester abroad, with many choosing to study in Krakow, Poland at the Centre for European Studies at Jagiellonian University. A number of opportunities are available for summer or semester-long internships. In the past, our students have interned at the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, and the Borgen Project.
Additionally, Keene State is home to the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, one of the nation’s oldest Holocaust resource centers. The Center regularly attracts internationally renowned scholars who deliver public lectures and visit our classes.
All Holocaust and Genocide Studies majors are eligible for a Degree in Three. Additionally, students who major in Holocaust and Genocide Studies – and are a resident of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, or Vermont – are eligible for a reduced tuition through the New England Regional Student Program.
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Career and Other Opportunities
Graduates in Holocaust and genocide studies are prepared to make a difference in:
- graduate school (particularly in history and Holocaust and genocide studies)
- law
- education
- public and social policy
- social justice
- public service
Outcomes
The Holocaust and Genocide Studies program directs undergraduates in a broad area of study linking history, literature, film, philosophy, psychology, women’s studies, religious studies, sociology, and more. With an understanding of such issues as prejudice, discrimination, and racism, you’ll be equipped to analyze contemporary political situations, think critically about ethical responsibility, and respond actively to injustice.
Whether I’m reading from a microfilm of documents from the 1930s/40s or a newspaper article from last week, being able to analyze the greater, or lesser, implications of those documents is an important skill. The Holocaust and Genocide Studies major also prepared me to be able to emotionally deal with working with traumatic subject matter on a pretty regular basis.
–Emily Leffingwell Robinson, Contractor, University Programs Division, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
