TORONTO, ON, November 1, 2025 — The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (IIGHRS) is pleased to announce that registration for the 2026 Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) is now open. The program will take place from July 27 to August 8, 2026, and applications are being accepted through the IIGHRS website (www.genocidestudies.org) until February 14, 2026.
Now in its 24th year, the GHRUP is a unique intensive 65-hour, two-week graduate-level course hosted at the University of Toronto dedicated to the study of genocide and human rights in order to fill a gap in the traditional university curriculum. This is achieved through a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of such cases of genocide as the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandan Genocide, among others, using the Armenian Genocide as a point of reference.
The program seeks to help develop an academic support system for those who work toward the prevention of genocide. By studying the genocidal trauma of many different groups of people, the GHRUP strives to show that genocide is a shared human experience and, as such, must be the concern of all individuals and institutions.
Under the direction of Program Director, Dr. Joyce Apsel, and Course Director, Dr. Alex Alvarez, the 2026 program will feature two new faculty members. Dr. Nisrin Elamin (University of Toronto) will teach Genocide by Attrition: Darfur, and Dr. Omer Bartov (Brown University) will lead a session on Occupation and Genocide in Gaza. For more information on additional faculty and their backgrounds, please visit https://www.genocidestudies.org/2026-program.
