UA Professor Helps Create Unique 'Encyclopedia Of Genocide'

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Samuel Totten, professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education and Health Professions, has recently teamed up with Holocaust and genocide experts around the world to create a one-of-a-kind encyclopedia to serve as a major source of information on genocide.

"The Encyclopedia of Genocide," published by ABC-CLIO Press and due out later this month, is the first encyclopedic work to address the theory and history of genocide. Edited by Israel W. Charny, the executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, the book has forewords from both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Simon Wiesenthal. Totten was one of four associate editor experts chosen to assist in determining and creating entries for the encyclopedia.

"The impact of Dr. Totten's scholarship in the area of the Holocaust and genocide can hardly be underestimated," said Charles Stegman, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions. "He's a remarkable individual with a great deal of knowledge and expertise to give - this is but one of many accomplishments we're proud to share with him."

"The Encyclopedia of Genocide" covers a variety of topics including the perpetrators and victims of many known genocides, the treatment of survivors, and the bewildering variety of definitions of genocide. It also explores the detection, investigation and prevention of genocide, its psychology and ideology, the often contentious literature on the subject, as well as the scholars and organizations associated with its study. The encyclopedia also covers issues concerning genocide denial and early warning symptoms, the international community's varied responses to it, and developments in law to prosecute perpetrators. It features more than 200 entries from nearly 100 scholarly contributors from around the world.

Totten was specifically responsible for 11 entries to the encyclopedia, including:

• first-person accounts of genocide

• genocide in Guatemala

• frivolous use of the term genocide

• Holocaust education

• genocide education

• literary accounts of genocide

• films on genocide

• films on biological and chemical warfare

• the arrest of Chilean dictator Pinochet

• literary accounts of the Holocaust

• and organizations that address the issue of genocide

"Our work on behalf of genocide studies is extremely important to me and to the others who have worked so hard on this two-volume set," Totten said. "Basically, we're trying to educate the general public, policymakers, and educators about genocide and the need to address incipient deprivations of human rights early on and not wait until genocide has reared its ugly face yet again."

"Genocide has been a recurring theme in human history from antiquity to the present," ABC-CLIO Press said in a prepared release. "Recent events in Kosovo, Rwanda and East Timor have served as a grim reminder that this dreadful phenomenon knows no boundaries of time or place."

"The Encyclopedia of Genocide," a two-volume set, is available from ABC-CLIO Press for $157.50. Please contact the publisher by phone (800-368-6868) or by email (sales@abc-clio.com) for more information.