A public lecture at NUI Galway next week will be memorial to the Holocaust and tackle the lie of racial superiority that endures to this day.
Professor William A. Schabas, Emeritus Professor at NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights will deliver a lecture on the role that ideas of racial superiority played in the Holocaust.
This lecture in February will be titled “Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Lie of Racial Superiority.”
In his lecture Professor Schabas will discuss the efforts made on the world stage, including the idea of international law, to condemn notions of racial superiority.
He links the heritage of modern international law and condemnations of racial superiority closely to the Holocaust, but also to the slave trade and colonialism.
Professor Schabas will also talk briefly about his own family’s experiences with Nazi racism and genocide.
Professor Ray Murphy, Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway, said, “There are echoes of the narrative of racial superiority and hatred that preceded the Holocaust in much of the political discourse around the world today.”
“For this reason it is important to recall the language used by political leaders and the events that led to the Holocaust to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.”
The event will be introduced by Professor Siobhán Mullally, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and chaired by Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh, Registrar and Deputy President at NUI Galway.
The public lecture will take place on Wednesday, January 23 at 7pm in the Lecture Theatre, Ryan Institute Annexe, NUI Galway.
