2027 Genocide Awareness Lecture: "Climate Change and the Future of Genocide"

The Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will host Prof. Alex Alvarez, a prominent scholar of genocide, as the 2027 Genocide Awareness Lecturer. His lecture, entitled "Climate Change and the Future of Genocide," will examine the ways in which climate change is increasingly impacting communities and nations around the world and challenging the ability of societies to cope and adapt. He argues that the challenges imposed by the impacts of climate change will increasingly heighten tensions between communities and nations and increase the risk for various forms of conflict, persecution, and violence, especially in regard to resources and population displacement. All of this will be occurring in a world that has seen a marked increase in authoritarianism and a retreat from democratic values and processes. History teaches us that authoritarianism poses particular risks for the implementation of extreme solutions including genocide. Alvarez also argues that the genocides of tomorrow will not look like those of the past, but will instead be accomplished through intentional and systematic neglect and attrition.

The webinar is free and open to everyone, but registration is required.

REGISTER HERE

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Speaker Biography :

Dr. Alex Alvarez is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University. He was the founding Director of the Martin-Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, Tolerance, and Humanitarian Values and has served as the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University. His books include Governments, Citizens, and Genocide , Murder American Style , Violence: The Enduring Problem , Genocidal Crimes , Native America and the Question of Genocide, and Unstable Ground: Climate Change, Conflict, and Genocide. His newest book is Lethal Elites: The Institutions and Professionals that Made the Holocaust Possible. He has also served as an editor for the journal Violence and Victims , was a founding co-editor of Genocide Studies and Prevention , and is an editor for Genocide Studies International. He is also the vice chair of the Academic Advisory Board for the Zoryan Institute, is the course manager for Zoryan’s two week Genocide and Human Rights Graduate Seminar at the University of Toronto, is a member of theGenocide Education Task Force for the state of Arizona which successfully worked to get genocide and Holocaust education mandated in the state. He has been invited to speak and present his research across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South America.

This year's Genocide Awareness Lecture is part of a 2026-2027 series on "Genocide and the Environment" being offered by the Cohen Institute. Speakers in this series represent a wide range of scholarly research and views; our guests' perspectives should not be taken as representative of the Cohen Institute or Keene State College as a whole.

This lecture is made possible through donor funding. If you would like to make a gift to support this lecture or other Institute offerings, please visit our website.

This event is part of the Cohen Institute calendar.