You can choose from a wide range of electives such as:

Mass Violence in the Middle East 
The Middle East is often portrayed as synonymous with violence. Media representation and popular imagination tend to converge on the ahistorical notion that Middle Eastern states and societies are inherently violent. This course approaches mass violence as a historical and sociological problem relating to processes of state building and nation-building in the postcolonial era that have caused strong changes in countries such as Syria and Iraq. How and why did Syria and Iraq become such violent societies? This course takes a panoramic and in-depth look into the rise of the Baathist regimes in Damascus and Baghdad, and the limitless violence they visited upon their societies in the past half century. It uses secondary literature, primary sources, oral histories, and social media content to examine the causes, courses, and consequences of mass political violence in the region. 

Mass Violence in Africa 
This course approaches mass atrocity violence (i.e., genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression, ethnic cleansing) in Africa as a complex historical and contemporary phenomenon related to colonialism, state building, identity, resources, and climate change. Through a historical, comparative and interdisciplinary approach, we will thematically explore both the parallels and variations between mass atrocities in a broad variety of African countries since 1885. This course will address: colonial violence in Congo Free State, Namibia and Algeria; genocidal violence in the Great Lakes Region and Sudan; Cold War violence in Angola, Chad and Libya; political violence in South Africa, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire; ethnic violence in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ethiopia; and sectarian violence in Somalia, Mali and Central African Republic. It uses primary sources, oral histories and literature to examine, understand and explain the causes, courses and consequences of mass violence on a diverse continent. 

Many of our students do internships at NIOD or externally. For more information about available internships and the experiences of other student interns, please follow the link below.

We organise a large number of extracurricular activities, including a ‘genocide walk’ through Amsterdam, meetings with experts in the field of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, guest lectures as well as film and documentary screenings. We also visit sites that are related to our field of study, such as former transit camp Westerbork and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Our faculty is responsible for two major annual lectures: the Auschwitz Never Again lecture, and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies lectures. Our students have the unique opportunity to have ‘meet and greet’ sessions with these speakers. In the past, these have included prof. Philippe Sands, prof. Christopher Browning and Lt Gen Roméo Dallaire.

The programme is a collaboration between the University of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies. This integration of the programme with a well-established (more than 70 years old) research and archival centre makes the programme unique.