S P S G H

S ociety for the P hiloSoPhic

S tudy of G enocide

and the h olocauS t

Founded 1978

The following pages contain the informa-

tion found on the SPSGH website hosted

by Loyola University.

The website address is

www.loyno.edu/~spsgh

President

Vice-President

James R. Watson, Professor Emeritus

SPEP Division

APA Division

Department of Philosophy

Erik M. Vogt

André Mineau

Loyola University

Dept. of Philosophy

Université du Québec à Rimouski

New Orleans, La 70118

Trinity College

300 allée des Ursulines

Tele: (504)-865-3940

McCook 204A, 300 Summit St.

C. P. 3300, Rimouski (Québec)

Fax: (504)-865-3948

Hartford, CT 06106

Canada G5L 3A1

e-mail: watson@loyno.edu

E-mail: Erik.Vogt@trincoll.edu

E-mail: andre_mineau@uqar.qc.ca

profjrwatson@me.com

SPSGH

Historical Overview and Mission

Since 1978 the Society for the Philosophic Study of Genocide and the

Holocaust has been dedicated to exploring various kinds of philosophic

responses to the most pressing issues of our troubled times. Genocide has

become so commonplace that even the most graphic and moving depictions

do little to move us toward transformations of the way we think and act.

We have monuments, museums, and memorials but only the beginnings of

philosophic transformations.

The SPSGH was founded to promote a philosophic discussion of genocide

and the Holocaust in the belief that a completely open-ended and non-sectarian

approach to these issues is the best way to foster research and philosophical

studies for the required transformations of our murderous, business-as-usual

world.

Since its founding SPSGH national and international membership has

grown considerably. Professor emeritus James R. Watson is the editor of

the Holocaust and Genocide Studies series published by Rodopi . Papers

presented at any of the SPSGH conferences may be submitted for possible

publication in future volumes of this series.

The Society for the Philosophic Study

of Genocide and the Holocaust

SPSGH

Constitution

Article I / Purpose

The purpose of the Society (SPSGH) is to foster the philosophic study of issues relating to genocide and the Holocaust. The

means to this end shall include learned meetings to promote the scholarly exchange of views.

Article II / Membership

Any person may be admitted to membership subject to such stipulations as the Society may enact, provided that no stipulations

shall reflect ethnic, religious, political, sexual, or philosophically sectarian considerations. Membership shall carry certain

voting and petitioning rights hereinafter indicated, the right to be informed in advance of all learned meetings, and the duty

to pay annual dues.

Article III / Officers

A. The officers shall be a President and the APA and SPEP divisions shall have a Vice-President.

B. The term of every office shall be open.

C. The three officers of the Society shall constitute the Executive Board, which shall be responsible for conducting annual

elections when called for by the membership. Interim vacancies of all offices except that of President shall be filled by

majority decision of the Executive Board (Vice-Presidents) that is operative at the time a vacancy occurs.

D. The President shall have general charge of the affairs of the Society and may act with power on all matters not otherwise

specified in the constitution or legislation of the Society. The President shall normally preside at meetings of the Board

and at business sessions of the Society. The Vice-Presidents shall be the President’s deputy, and shall normally preside

at Board and business meetings in the President’s absence. If the office of President becomes vacant in the interval

between regular elections, the Vice-Presidents shall become President. The Vice-Presidents shall be in charge of all

Society information, including the roster of members, the records of meetings, the file of significant documents, and the

publication of a membership list. The Executive Board shall determine the composition of committees for programs,

for nominations, for publications and for research, except that it may delegate any such power to a subset of itself. The

Executive Board shall propose the amount of the annual dues fee and the due-date. The Executive Board shall be kept

informed concerning the work of all committees, shall have the final decision regarding slates prepared by a nomination

committee, and shall determine the formal agenda of the Society’s business meetings. It shall resolve tied elections. As

noted previously, the Executive Board shall fill interim vacancies (IIIC) and may temporarily augment itself (IIIA). The

Executive Board may decide to submit a matter of business which is not otherwise covered in this constitution to a poll

of the membership in the interval between learned meetings.

Article IV / The Conduct of Business

A. The learned meetings of the Society shall include a business session at which Society members shall decide by majority

vote matters presented by the Executive Board and from the floor, except for such matters as are reserved to the officers

(IIIC, IIID).

B. Election of officers shall be by ballot which has been prepared by and approved by the Executive Board and will take

place at a business meeting of the Eastern Division annual meeting. A majority of votes of those members of the Society

attending the meeting shall be conclusive. Tie votes shall be resolved by the Executive Board. Write-in votes shall be

valid. Nominations to the Executive Board from members normally shall be accepted at any time in advance of each

business meeting.

Basic policy issues, including conditions of membership and constitutional amendments, shall be referred

by the Executive Board to the entire membership at the next meeting. A majority of votes of those members of the Society

attending the meeting shall be conclusive. Tie votes shall be resolved by the Executive Board.

C. The Executive Board shall meet at the time of learned meetings, and additionally either by its own decision or upon

presidential invitation. It may substitute another form of communication for any meeting. At Executive Board meetings

a majority of members shall be a quorum; in other cases the quorum shall be responses from a majority of members,

received within an announced period of time designated by the President. The Executive Board’s decisions shall be by

majority vote of the quorum.

D. Any ten (10) percent of the members of the Society may direct the Executive Board to consider any may demonstrably

within the purview of the Society and to report its conclusions to a business session. Any fifty (50) members may direct

the Executive Board to consider such a matter and to report promptly to the entire membership by mail.

E. This Constitution and its By-Laws supersedes the Constitution of December 29, 1988 and shall be effective as of January

1, 2008 and was adopted on November 8, 2007 at the business session of SPEP meeting of the SPSGH.

By-Laws

The annual dues shall be ten U.S. dollars, or the equivalent thereof, if it is possible to convert the payer’s currency into

dollars. If this is not possible, membership is free. Other exceptions may be made by the Executive Board for students,

beginning teachers, and emeriti. The imposition of these dues will begin in January of 1994.

Submitted by James R. Watson, President of The Society for the Philosophic Study of Genocide and the

Holocaust at the business session of the SPEP meeting of the SPSGH, November 8, 2007.

SPSGH

Conferences and Publications

The SPSGH meets annually in association with The Society for Phenom-

enology and Existential Philosophy ( SPEP) . These meetings are in Octo-

ber or November of each year. We also meeting every year in association

with the American Philosophical Association (APA) in the spring of the

following year. Programs for both meetings usually consists of a panel of 4

to 5 presenters on a theme decided in advance of the meetings. Specific in-

formation is available from the Vice-Presidents of each division—Erik Vogt

and André Mineau, respectively.

Several published volumes resulting from these conferences have been

published. In 2000 Prometheus published Contemporary Portrayals of

Auschwitz . Rodopi (www.rodopi.nl) is publishing Metacide: Genocide in

the Pursuit of Excellence in 2009 as another in its series Holocaust and

Genocide Studies , edited by James R. Watson. HGS is a special series in

the Value Inquiry Book Series . Over 100 volumes have been published in

VIBS . Four of these are in HGS : Theoretical Interpretations of the Holo-

caust , ed. Dan Stone; The Making of the Holocaust , André Mineau; Post-

modernism and the Holocaust , eds. Alan Milchman and Alan Rosenberg;

Between Auschwitz and Tradition , James R. Watson. Proposals for the HGS

series should be submitted to James R. Watson.

Suggestions for future conference themes and papers are encouraged and

should be sent to the respective Vice-Presidents.