The Search for Humanity After Atrocity

FAIN: FS-272471-20

Kean University (Union, NJ 07083-7133)
Dennis B. Klein (Project Director: March 2020 to present)

A two-week seminar for 16 college and university faculty on survival from atrocity.

This two-week seminar will rethink the prolific field of atrocity studies by exploring it from the perspective of victims. Using the Holocaust era as a case study, it aspires to determining the emotional demands of survival. Though usually the province of psychological study, traumatic injuries occur in contexts that historians are equipped to evaluate for their influence on victims' internal dynamics and legacies.

Media Coverage

“Lest We Forget the Bystander" (Review)
Author(s): Dennis Klein
Publication: USA Today network
Date: 7/4/2021
Abstract: In light of the George Floyd incident, an analysis of the ensuring virality of video recordings of the incident.
URL: https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2021/07/01/george-floyd-video-where-would-without-bystander-footage/7824601002/

Associated Products

Post-seminar online meetings with participants (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Post-seminar online meetings with participants
Abstract: Seminar participants are meeting to plan conferences, symposia, conference panels, and other collaborative products.
Date Range: TBD
Location: Kean University is in the process of hosting a conference
Primary URL Description: A website is under construction.

Justice After Atrocity monthly e-newsletter (Web Resource)
Title: Justice After Atrocity monthly e-newsletter
Author: Dennis Klein, publisher
Abstract: Updates on global developments, call for papers, positions, etc.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://jaan.mailchimpsites.com/
Primary URL Description: Current and past e-newsletters

“Violence and Violations: Betrayal Narratives in Atrocity Accounts,” (Article)
Title: “Violence and Violations: Betrayal Narratives in Atrocity Accounts,”
Author: Dennis Klein
Abstract: An analysis of Holocaust survivors' accounts with attention to counter-narratives of betrayal by neighbors that had believed were trustworthy and reliable.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://https://www.routledge.com/Conceptualizing-Mass-Violence-Representations-Recollections-and-Reinterpretations/Aafreedi-Singh/p/book/9780367699970
Primary URL Description: A description of the volume that includes my article - Conceptualizing Mass Violence: Representations, Recollections, and Reinterpretations edited by Navras J. Aafreedi.
Access Model: The TOC is open access / the article by subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: NA
Publisher: Routledge

"Holocaust Memory and the Construction of the Complicit Bystander" (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: "Holocaust Memory and the Construction of the Complicit Bystander"
Author: Dennis Klein
Abstract: The role of the bystander during atrocity as seen by its victims.
Date: 01/08/2022
Primary URL: http://www.scethics.org/assets/2022/2022%20SCE%20PROGRAM%20AS%20OF%2011.2.21%20new.pdf
Primary URL Description: Conference program indicating time of Klein's presentation
Conference Name: Society of Jewish Ethics

“The Rise of the Bystander as Complicit Historical Actor" (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: “The Rise of the Bystander as Complicit Historical Actor"
Author: Dennis Klein
Abstract: The modern origins of bystander incrimination
Date: 06/08/2021
Primary URL: https://www2.hws.edu/alum/reunion/
Primary URL Description: The event when I will present this talk.
Conference Name: NA

“The Invisible Third" (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: “The Invisible Third"
Author: Dennis Klein
Abstract: How atrocity victims made invisible bystanders visible and complicit.
Date: 06/03/2022
Primary URL: https://www.historyofemotions.org.au/events/north-american-chapter-on-the-history-of-emotion-nache-conference-2022/
Primary URL Description: The website for the conference at which I will present this paper.
Conference Name: The North American Chapter for the History of Emotions

“Atrocity and the Construction of the Complicit Bystander" (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: “Atrocity and the Construction of the Complicit Bystander"
Author: Dennis Klein
Abstract: The trajectory of bystander incrimination, from the 1930s to the 1960s
Date: 12/10/2021
Primary URL: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7712929/narrating-holodomor-social-and-cultural-history
Primary URL Description: A description of the conference at which I presented my paper
Conference Name: Narrating the Holodomor: The Social and Cultural History of Collectivization and Famine in Soviet Ukraine

International Conference, The Search for Humanity After Atrocity (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: International Conference, The Search for Humanity After Atrocity
Author: Dennis Klein, Conference Director
Abstract: We just ended a two-day conference (October 16-17) at Kean University possessing the same title as the 2021 NEH Seminar that attracted a selective 50 participants, most junior scholars. Six NEH seminar participants constituted the conference program committee.
Date Range: The Conference took place on October 16-17, 2022
Location: Kean University
Primary URL: https://www.kean.edu/search-for-humanity
Primary URL Description: The Conference website

Scholar in Residence (Staff/Faculty/Fellow Position)
Name: Scholar in Residence
Abstract: Affiliation in 2023 with Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. Will include a course I will teach, Atrocity: Witnesses as Actors
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://carterschool.gmu.edu/
Primary URL Description: The website for the Carter Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University

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