Center for Advanced Genocide Research

Research Focus: Indigenous Peoples

The USC Center for Advanced Genocide Research fosters and features groundbreaking research on mass violence and genocide against Indigenous peoples, the long-lasting impacts until today, and the resistance, agency, and survivance of Indigenous peoples. Explore some highlights.

Upcoming conference (Fall 2026)

Mass Violence, Genocide, and Their Lasting Impact on Indigenous Peoples: The Americas and Australia/Pacific Region

November 23-25, 2026
Universidad Nacional de Río Negro
Bariloche, Argentina on Mapuche-Tehuelche ancestral land

Call for Papers in English

Convocatoria en español aquí

Submission deadline: 15 March 2026

Learn more here. / Obtenga más información aquí.

A “Conflict”? Genocide and Resistance in Guatemala (2016)

Mass Violence and Its Lasting Impact on Indigenous Peoples (2022)

Read more here.

INoGS 9th International Conference – Genocide and Survivor Communities (2024)

Read more here.

Marvyn Perez and Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez sit at a conference table and smile at each other.

A Conflict? Genocide and Resistance in Guatemala (Summary)

Cropped flyer for the

Center Shares Videos from “Mass Violence and Its Lasting Impact on Indigenous Peoples” Conference

INoGS 9th International Conference on Genocide

A small boy, possibly Oscar Ramirez, stands amidst pigeons in a plaza, clutching a bag of bird feed. He looks at the camera.

Finding Oscar

Welcome Remarks – Saludos and Fredy Peccerelli

Studying Perpetrators – Estudiando a los Victimarios

Repression and Resistance – Represion y Resistencia

Racist Discourse and Genocide – Discursos Racistas y Genocidio

Keynote and Roundtable – Presentación y mesa redonda

Transnational Impacts of Genocide – Los Impactos Transnacionales Del Genocidio

International Solidarity and Demanding Justice – Solidaridad Internacional Y La Demanda De Justicia

Post-Genocide Justice – Justicia Después Del Genocidio

Personal Reflections On Resistance – Reflexiones Personales Sobre La Resistencia

Evening Event – Evento Nocturno

Genocide Denial In Guatemala – Negación Del Genocidio En Guatemala

Memory Politics and Cultural Resistance – Memoria Política Y Resistencia Cultural

Concluding Discussion – Clausura

Opening Community Event: Conversation and Knowledge Sharing with Indigenous Elders

Welcome and Introductions

Mapping Indigenous LA

Conference Keynote: Benjamin Madley

Legal and Theoretical Perspectives

Forced Sterilization

The Dakota Genocide: Impact, Memory, and Resilience

Roundtable on the Destruction of Indigenous Languages

Boarding Schools

Forcible Adoption and Transfer of Children

Incarceration and Its Impacts

Roundtable on Repatriation of Indigenous Ancestral Remains and Objects

Cropped movie poster. Awash in purple and pink, two Indigenous women's faces are overlapped each another. One looks at the viewer.

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

Indigenous Women’s Survival and Security in Northern Turtle Island, Canada

Climate and Environmental Issues

Genocide Memory and Genocide Denial

Conference Keynote: Kim TallBear

Lido Pimienta in Concert and Conversation

Land Rights and Land Claims – Forced Migration and Displacement

Resistance, Education, and Representations in Literature and Arts

Explore our YouTube channel here.

Center Research Fellow Victoria Sanford presents on forced disappearances during the Guatemalan genocide

Victoria Sanford Awarded 2024-2025 Center Research Fellowship

Parker Hatley Awarded 2024-2025 USC Shoah Foundation Katz Research Fellowship in Genocide Studies

Center Research Fellow Pilar Pérez presents on Indigenous territory and displacement in Guatemalan genocide survivor testimony

Interview with 2023-2024 Center Research Fellow Pilar Pérez

Indigenous Genocide and the Ways We Portray History – Pilar Pérez

Pilar Pérez Awarded 2023-2024 Center Research Fellowship

Lev Student Research Fellow Vaclav Masek presents on collective memory and Indigenous resistance in Guatemala

Cropped headshots of Vaclav Masek and Emily Geminder.

Two USC Students Will Share the 2022 Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship

Virginia Bullington lectures in front of a powerpoint slide. She gestures a hand, staring out at the audience. Her slides read,

Virginia Bullington lectures about discussions of sexual violence in female survivor testimonies

Vanessa Belén Dorda Meneses poses for a picture, smiling, in front of a black and white backdrop.

First Genocide Prevention Research Fellow Studies Sexual Violence During Guatemalan Genocide

Paula Cuellar Cuellar lectures in front of a white board. She has one hand up, gesturing. The audience is visible, sitting around two wooden conference tables.

Paula Cuellar Cuellar presents on scorched earth operations in El Salvador and Guatemala

Paula Cuellar Cuellar Awarded 2016-17 Center Graduate Research Fellowship

Wolf Gruner Publishes New Books on the German Reich and Indigenous People of Bolivia

A landscape photo of Pambach village, at Santa Cruz Verapaz township, in Alta Verapaz department, Guatemala, taken June 2, 2014. This was the site where 82 people vanished in 1982. The photo is labeled,

Giving Voice to Guatemalan Survivors: Cesilia Tujt’s Story by: Sandra Gruner-Domic

Learn more here.

Lorena Sekwan Fontaine speaks at her lecture from behind a podium. She has one hand face up, gesturing.

Lorena Sekwan Fontaine Lectures About Linguistic and Cultural Genocide and Redress in Canada

Screenshot of Benjamin Madley presenting at his lecture. He stands to the left by his slides. A historical photograph from 1923 labeled

Benjamin Madley presents on the genocide of California Indians from 1846 to 1873

Joanna Kidman and Vincent O’Malley present research on colonial violence in New Zealand

Leo Spitzer and Marianne Hirsch stand and speak in Doheny library.

Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer lecture about school photos in concentrationary sites

Upcoming Lecture (Spring 2026)

Together We Fight: Surviving Peru’s Campaign of Coercive Sterilizations

March 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM
More information coming soon

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