James Waller

Dr. James Waller is the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice and Director of the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs for the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. In addition, he is a Visiting Scholar at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast and serves as Director of Academic Programs for the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, an international NGO devoted to atrocity prevention.

He is the author of seven books, most notably his award-winning "Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing" (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2007), "Confronting Evil: Engaging Our Responsibility to Prevent Genocide" (Oxford University Press, 2016), and "A Troubled Sleep: Risk and Resilience in Contemporary Northern Ireland" (Oxford University Press, 2021). In 2017, Waller was the inaugural recipient of the Engaged Scholarship Prize from the International Association of Genocide Scholars in recognition of his exemplary engagement in advancing genocide awareness and prevention. Waller has written for The Washington Post, The Irish News, and The Conversation and is frequently interviewed by broadcast and print media, including PBS, CNN, CBC, the Los Angeles Times, Salon, National Geographic, and The New York Times.