In 2005, Dr. Hirsch joined the Zoryan Institute’s Genocide and Human Rights University Program faculty. He taught various subjects, including the Holocaust, and Bosnia and Kosovo. Since 2008, he was solely responsible for teaching genocide prevention, a subject about which he was deeply passionate. He actively encouraged students to think critically about governments and policies, and how they can be improved to support genocide prevention. He helped organize Zoryan conferences on the official US Genocide Prevention Task Force Report and on the relationship between climate change and genocide. In honor of Dr. Hirsch’s contributions to the Genocide and Human Rights University Program, as well as his lifelong dedication to Genocide Studies and genocide prevention, the Prof. Herbert Hirsch Memorial Fellowship will be awarded annually to one student attendee of the GHRUP.

Dr. Hirsch once stated in a Zoryan Institute interview regarding genocide prevention:

“I always tell people ‘small steps’. You do what you can… Within your own community, and you pressure your governments to put genocide on the agenda, to create policy interest in genocide, and in supporting human rights.”

The Zoryan Institute hopes that this scholarship will encourage the longevity of Dr. Hirsch’s belief in being active, speaking truth to power, and holding government accountable. Every forthcoming year, this scholarship will enable a student to take one small step towards genocide education and prevention.