The Department of French Studies, the Department of German Studies and the School of Law were key participants in a recent two-day conference which served to inaugurate a joint Monash-Warwick project named the Holocaust, Genocide and Aftermath Studies Research Collaboration (HARC).

Speakers from both universities debated key issues such as judgment and forgiveness, wartime mass violence and visual representations of destruction, the use of creative writing and representations of witnessing, competing narratives of victimhood and the Cambodian genocide tribunal.

The launch took place on 19 and 20 March 2013 at Palazzo Pesaro-Papafava, the Warwick in Venice site.

HARC’s director, Professor Seán Hand, explained:

In bringing together the expertise and complementary strengths of academics in Warwick’s Faculties of Arts, and Social Sciences, and the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation (ACJC) at Monash University, HARC intends to develop a global and transdisciplinary understanding of ‘Aftermath’ phenomena across a wide range of ethical, political and cultural contexts. The conference helped to introduce colleagues to one another, encourage new collective thinking, and develop a common strategic framework for future activities."