(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)October 1, 2019

MAHWAH, N.J. – The topic of “ethnic cleansing” will be explored during a presentation on Friday, November 1 at 1:45 p.m. in the Alumni Lounges of the Robert A. Scott Student Center at Ramapo College. Dr. Laura B. Cohen, executive director of the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, will analyze the phenomenon’s connection to genocide. “Ethnic Cleansing: When Does it Become Genocide” will be presented under the auspices of the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Cohen will raise issues that have vexed experts and laypeople for years, namely,  the connection between “ethnic cleansing” (the process of removing a group or groups from specific geographic or political areas based on race, ethnicity, religion and/or other criteria) and genocide, as defined in the 1948 U.N. Convention. Her presentation will examine the topic against the backdrop of the hostilities that followed the breakup of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Dr. Cohen received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University’s Division of Global Affairs in 2018. Her dissertation, “Conflicted Walls, Mixed Messages: Untangling Transitional Justice and Traumatic Memories at the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial in Bosnia,” builds upon the extensive fieldwork she has conducted across that country since 2010 as well as at additional atrocity site memorials in Germany, Poland, Cambodia and Rwanda. Her chapter about the Srebrenica Memorial was published in the edited volume, Understanding Atrocities: Remembering, Representing and Teaching Genocide. Dr. Cohen also holds an M.S. from New York University’s Center of Global Affairs and an M.A. in media studies from The New School. She previously spent 14 years in the corporate sector, including at Ogilvy and Mather and at Viacom Media.

For information or to request disability-related accommodations for this event, please contact holgen@ramapo.edu or call 201-684-7409.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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