James Waller, Ph.D.
Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice | University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT, UNITED STATES
Dr. Waller is an expert in Holocaust and genocide studies, perpetrator behavior, and genocide awareness and prevention
Biography
James Waller, Ph.D., is the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice and director of the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. In addition to his faculty appointment in the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages.
Waller is the author of six books, most notably his award-winning Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2007), Confronting Evil: Engaging Our Responsibility to Prevent Genocide (Oxford University Press, 2016), and A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press, 2021). In addition, he has published more than thirty articles in peer-reviewed professional journals, contributed over twenty chapters in edited books, and is a co-editor of Historical Dialogue and the Prevention of Mass Atrocities (Routledge, 2020).
Waller also is active in teacher training in Holocaust and genocide studies, has consulted on exhibition development for several museums around the world, and has developed and led seminars to introduce government officials and security sector personnel from around the world to issues of genocide warning and prevention. His fieldwork has included research in Germany, Israel, Northern Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Guatemala.
Waller is an active member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars as well as the International Network of Genocide Scholars. He also is a member of the International Expert Team of the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada and sits on several advisory boards, including World Without Genocide, the Eastern European Holocaust Studies journal of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, the Board of Scholars for Facing History & Ourselves, and the Journal of Perpetrator Research.
In 2017, Waller was the inaugural recipient of the Engaged Scholarship Prize from the International Association of Genocide Scholars in recognition of his exemplary engagement in advancing genocide awareness and prevention. Waller has written for The Washington Post, The Irish News, and The Conversation and is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including PBS, CNN, CBC, Al Jazeera, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, National Geographic, and The New York Times.
Areas of Expertise (7)
Social Psychology
Genocide and Genocide Prevention
Human Rights
Genocide Studies
Holocaust Studies
Public Policy
Perpetrator Behavior
Education (3)
University of Kentucky: Ph.D., Social Psychology
University of Colorado: M.S.
Asbury University: B.S.
Affiliations (11)
- International Network of Genocide Scholars
- International Association of Genocide Scholars
- Institute for Research of Genocide Canada : International Expert Team
- World Without Genocide
- Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center : Eastern European Holocaust Studies Journal
- Facing History & Ourselves : Board of Scholars
- Journal of Perpetrator Research
- Journal for the Study of Antisemitism
- Routledge Studies in Genocide and Crimes against Humanity
- Genocide Watch
- Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention, Binghamton University
Accomplishments (5)
Engaged Scholarship Prize (professional)
2017 International Association of Genocide Scholars
Centennial Global Ethics Fellow (professional)
2013-2014 Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Institutional Nominee for Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize (professional)
2012 Brandeis University
California Senate Resolution Honoree (professional)
2011 State of California
Carl Wilkins Fellow (professional)
2009 Genocide Intervention Network
Links (6)
Media
Publications:
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Media Appearances (8)
50 Years Post-Khmer Rouge: Time to Lead on Regional Atrocity Prevention
Cambodianess online
2025-04-17
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the takeover by the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia from April 1975 to January 1979 that brought the country to one of its darkest periods in recent history – unleashing a reign of terror and horrified mass atrocities. As Cambodians remember soberly this nightmare of human suffering, we should know that mass atrocities characterized by the horrifying crimes are still occurring all over the world. Accordingly, a renowned human rights expert, James Waller famously stated that “no country is immune to the potential for atrocity crimes and that this awareness can facilitate atrocity prevention.”
‘With My Own Eyes’: A first-hand recollection by survivors of genocide
The Daily Campus online
2025-04-07
The Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice and the Director of the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs James Waller opened the event by explaining the meaning behind “never again” — a phrase which has been echoed for decades since it first appeared in April 1945 on a sign in a liberated German concentration camp.
Dodd Center panel examines strategies for peace in Israel, Gaza
The Daily Campus online
2023-12-04
The event was moderated by James Waller, the Director of Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs. “We come today in the spirit of dialogue rather than debate,” Waller opened, “A shared connection to human rights should be embodied in how we interact with each other, respond to each other and particularly how we disagree with each other.”
UConn human rights center honors holocaust memorial center in Kyiv, site of Nazi massacre
Hartford Courant print
2023-10-27
One panel discussion about the U.S. noted public opinion polls show many people feel the nation’s own democracy is under attack from political polarization. “Unfortunately the summit remains much more timely than we wish it was, but certainly wasn’t something we saw in the planning,” said James Waller, director of the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs for UConn’s Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Renowned Holocaust Scholar Named To Position At UConn's Dodd Center
Patch online
2023-07-13
A renowned Holocaust scholar has been appointed to a key position at the University of Connecticut's Dodd Center for Human Rights. That the Board of Trustees recently made the appointment of Professor James Waller to the Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice in the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Genocide Expert Speaks on Ukraine
Erie News Now tv
2023-03-24
Dr. James Waller, professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies talks to students at Gannon University about genocide and the current situation in Ukraine.
Exploring Evil with Dr. James Waller
The Comparative Jurist online
2023-02-22
In October 2022, The Comparative Jurist sat down with Dr. James Waller, Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire and Director of Academic Programs at the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), an international non-governmental organization dedicated to genocide and mass atrocity prevention. Dr. Waller, a trained social psychologist, visited William & Mary Law School to present the research behind his book Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing.
The Escalating Risk of Mass Violence
PBS - The Open Mind online
2022-01-11
Keene State Holocaust and Genocide Studies scholar Jim Waller discusses the rise of identity-driven violence in the United States.
Articles (7)
Comments on the Awarding of the 10th Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights
Eastern European Holocaust Studies2023 The University of Connecticut awards the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights biennially to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of international justice and global human rights. The Prize commemorates the distinguished public service career of Thomas J. Dodd, who served as Executive Trial Counsel at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, as U.S. Representative from 1953 to 1957 and as Connecticut’s Senator from 1959 to 1971. Thomas Dodd dedicated his entire public life to fighting against the violation and suppression of human rights in the United States and abroad.
Crime and No Punishment? China’s Abuses Against the Uyghurs
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs2021 The nominally autonomous region of Xinjiang, located in northwestern China, is home to about 11 million Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim Turkic ethnic group making up about 45 percent of the region’s population. In recent years, the Chinese government has escalated its repression of Uyghurs, alleging that these communities hold extremist and separatist views. Since 2017, numerous reports have emerged, stating that more than one million Uyghurs, as well as members from other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, have been forcibly transferred to “re-education camps” and subjected to arbitrary detention, forced birth control and sterilization, religious restrictions, sexual abuse, torture, family separation, and forced labor, among other abuses.
Dr James Waller: British government's proposed Troubles amnesty is spectacularly misguided
The Irish News2021-08-16
To remember is not to forget. And, in Northern Ireland, as I found during my time in 2017 as an honorary visiting research professor at the Mitchell Institute at Queen’s University Belfast, you remember very well. In fact, things are never forgotten because they are always being remembered – in landscapes and soundscapes, murals and memorials, commemorations and parades, songs and poetry, neighborhoods and rituals, food and humor, sport and folklore, and in the everyday rhythm of life.
Northern Ireland, born of strife 100 years ago, again erupts in political violence
The Conversation2021-04-12
Sectarian rioting has returned to the streets of Northern Ireland, just weeks shy of its 100th anniversary as a territory of the United Kingdom. For several nights, young protesters loyal to British rule – fueled by anger over Brexit, policing and a sense of alienation from the U.K. – set fires across the capital of Belfast and clashed with police. Scores have been injured. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, calling for calm, said “the way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality.” But Northern Ireland was born of violence.
“I didn’t know if I was going to be seen again:” The escalating risk of mass violence in the United States.
Stanley Center for Peace and Security2021 The United States is at a crossroads in its history. The level of political violence already observed in the country this year raises serious red flags about the erosion of democratic norms and the growing distrust of peaceful political processes. While predictions of mass violence associated with the United States may sound far-fetched to some, astute watchers of political violence around the globe are sounding the alarm bells. However, risks are not determinative. Regardless of election outcomes, bold leadership and decisive action is needed to prevent the accumulation of risk factors for mass violence leading to a loss of life and harm to US democracy.
“Genocide Is Worth It": Broadening the Logic of Atrocity Prevention for State Actors
Genocide Studies and Prevention2019 Of particular focus in this piece is the communication of the logic of atrocity prevention to State actors. As genocide studies has developed as a field, we also have become more insular; professionalizing how we operate in such a way that it has pulled us away from those very venues in which we should be applying our work. From the sure footing of the outside, we often criticize State actors, particularly policymakers, for their impotent actions in the face of escalating risks or, even, genocidal violence. But we seldom speak with them or push ourselves to find ways to bridge what we know with how they work. Scholars and State actors occupy separate intellectual and institutional universes, to the impoverishment of both communities. Recognizing that reality, this paper will examine how genocide studies scholars might be more productive and influential voices in deliberations on atrocity prevention, particularly in engagement with State actors.
It can happen here: Assessing the risk of genocide in the US.
Center for Development of International Law and the Institute for Global Policy2017 Could a long, slow attrition of civil and human rights bring our country [the United States] again to the point where genocide – at home or abroad – stands justified as sound political, social, national, and economic strategy? If so, could we recognize the warning signs in that process and have the collective resolve to resist and mitigate them? The purpose of this paper is to offer a sober real-time analysis of those warning signs and assess the degree of risk for genocide in the US.
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