The emotions and ethics of teaching mass atrocities using archives

• In Event: Atrocity Crimes: New Approaches in the Analysis and Teaching of Atrocity Crimes (ECACTJ)

Abstract

This paper explores the interplay between ethics and emotions in teaching and studying atrocity crimes through a mixed-method study on the experiences of students and teaching staff on a senior undergraduate course, Criminologies of Atrocity. The students are presented with the general study of atrocity crimes, perpetrators and victims, and the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s which act as a case study. The students are given the opportunity to conduct criminological archival research by using court transcripts and exhibits from the ICTY web-archive. The sensitive nature of the material with which the students work for their final assessment (a research report) demands reflection on the ethical and emotional dimensions of working in the field of atrocity criminology. Supported by literature on research ethics and the scholarship of teaching and learning sensitive of difficult topics, the study combines focus groups with the students enrolled in the course, survey data collected covering 4 instances of delivery (2020-2023), and reflective conversations between teaching staff. We propose implications for pedagogical practice in teaching atrocity through the archives and preparing students to conduct independent research on the topic.

Authors

• Andy Aydın-Aitchison, University of Edinburgh

• Annalisa Battista, University of Edinburgh