A. Dirk Moses is Frank Porter Graham Distinguished Professor of Global Human Rights History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since July 2020.
Raised in Brisbane, Australia, he was educated at the Universities of Queensland (B.A. 1987), St. Andrews (M.Phil. 1990), Notre Dame (M.A. 1994), and California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 2000). From 2000-2010 and 2016-2020, he taught at the University of Sydney. Between 2011 and 2015, he held the Chair of Global and Colonial History at the European University Institute, Florence.
His first book, German Intellectuals and the Nazi Past (2007), was awarded the H-Sozu-Kult ‘'Historical Book of the Year'’ prize for contemporary history. Dirk has also written extensively about genocide and global history. Recent anthologies include Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970 (2018), The Holocaust in Greece (2018), and Decolonization, Self-Determination, and the Rise of Global Human Rights Politics (2020). Dirk's latest book, The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression appears in February 2021.
Dirk has held fellowships at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C; and at the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow. He was a visiting fellow at the WZB Center for Global Constitutionalism in Berlin in September-October 2019, and senior fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg in Göttingen, in the winter of 2019/2020.
Dirk has been senior editor of the Journal of Genocide Research since 2011, and co-edits the War and Genocide book series for Berghahn Books. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of African Military History, Journal of Perpetrator Research, Patterns of Prejudice, Memory Studies, Settler Colonial Studies, Journal of Mass Violence Research, borderland e-journal, and Monitor: Global Intelligence of Racism. He also serves on advisory board of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, the UCD Centre for War Studies, and the Memory Studies Association, and is a friend of the International State Crime Initiative.
Online Writings and Appearances
"Capital and Capitol Crimes," The Finch Podcast, 15 January 2021.
Interview podcast with Anselm Franke of Haus der Kulturen der Welt on "The White West: Whose Universal?" 16 December 2020.
"The Problems of Genocide," Law Log, WZB Center for Global Constitutionalism,June 2020.
"'White Genocide' and the Ethics of Public Analysis," Journal of Genocide Research, 21:2 (2019), 201-213.
“Simon Birmingham’s Intervention in Research Funding is Not Unprecedented, But Dangerous” (with Jon Piccini), The Conversation,
26 October 2018.
"Nazism, Socialism and the Falsification of History" (with Matthew Fitzpatrick), ABC Religion and Ethics, 19 August 2018.
"Western Civilization, the Media, and Political Irresponsibility," Online Opinion, 18 June 2018.
"Students of the West Leaving Cold War Warriors Behind," Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2018.
"Western Civilization and Conservative Hysteria, ABC Religion and Ethics, 7 June 2018.
"Flipping in the Classroom: Evaluating an Experiment in the Humanities," Teaching@Sydney, 19 October 2017.
"Who is Really Airbrushing the Past? Genocide, Slavery and the Return of the Colonial Repressed," ABC Religion and Ethics, 1 September 2017.
"Patronizing or Inciting? Debating Terrorism in an Age of Anger," ABC Religion and Ethics, 2 June 2017.
"How (Not) to Defend 'Christian Society': Why is the Murdoch Press Backing Authoritarian Ultra-Nationalists?" ABC Religion and Ethics, 6 April 2017.
"Free Press is Needed to Challenge Apologetic Arguments": Interview with the Turkish Platform for Independent Journalism, platform24.org, 30 March 2017.
"Juan Perón Shows How Trump Could Destroy Our Democracy Without Tearing it Down," Washington Post, 22 March 2017.
Raised in Brisbane, Australia, he was educated at the Universities of Queensland (B.A. 1987), St. Andrews (M.Phil. 1990), Notre Dame (M.A. 1994), and California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 2000). From 2000-2010 and 2016-2020, he taught at the University of Sydney. Between 2011 and 2015, he held the Chair of Global and Colonial History at the European University Institute, Florence.
His first book, German Intellectuals and the Nazi Past (2007), was awarded the H-Sozu-Kult ‘'Historical Book of the Year'’ prize for contemporary history. Dirk has also written extensively about genocide and global history. Recent anthologies include Postcolonial Conflict and the Question of Genocide: The Nigeria-Biafra War, 1967–1970 (2018), The Holocaust in Greece (2018), and Decolonization, Self-Determination, and the Rise of Global Human Rights Politics (2020). Dirk's latest book, The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression appears in February 2021.
Dirk has held fellowships at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C; and at the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow. He was a visiting fellow at the WZB Center for Global Constitutionalism in Berlin in September-October 2019, and senior fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg in Göttingen, in the winter of 2019/2020.
Dirk has been senior editor of the Journal of Genocide Research since 2011, and co-edits the War and Genocide book series for Berghahn Books. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of African Military History, Journal of Perpetrator Research, Patterns of Prejudice, Memory Studies, Settler Colonial Studies, Journal of Mass Violence Research, borderland e-journal, and Monitor: Global Intelligence of Racism. He also serves on advisory board of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, the UCD Centre for War Studies, and the Memory Studies Association, and is a friend of the International State Crime Initiative.
Online Writings and Appearances
"Capital and Capitol Crimes," The Finch Podcast, 15 January 2021.
Interview podcast with Anselm Franke of Haus der Kulturen der Welt on "The White West: Whose Universal?" 16 December 2020.
"The Problems of Genocide," Law Log, WZB Center for Global Constitutionalism,June 2020.
"'White Genocide' and the Ethics of Public Analysis," Journal of Genocide Research, 21:2 (2019), 201-213.
“Simon Birmingham’s Intervention in Research Funding is Not Unprecedented, But Dangerous” (with Jon Piccini), The Conversation,
26 October 2018.
"Nazism, Socialism and the Falsification of History" (with Matthew Fitzpatrick), ABC Religion and Ethics, 19 August 2018.
"Western Civilization, the Media, and Political Irresponsibility," Online Opinion, 18 June 2018.
"Students of the West Leaving Cold War Warriors Behind," Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2018.
"Western Civilization and Conservative Hysteria, ABC Religion and Ethics, 7 June 2018.
"Flipping in the Classroom: Evaluating an Experiment in the Humanities," Teaching@Sydney, 19 October 2017.
"Who is Really Airbrushing the Past? Genocide, Slavery and the Return of the Colonial Repressed," ABC Religion and Ethics, 1 September 2017.
"Patronizing or Inciting? Debating Terrorism in an Age of Anger," ABC Religion and Ethics, 2 June 2017.
"How (Not) to Defend 'Christian Society': Why is the Murdoch Press Backing Authoritarian Ultra-Nationalists?" ABC Religion and Ethics, 6 April 2017.
"Free Press is Needed to Challenge Apologetic Arguments": Interview with the Turkish Platform for Independent Journalism, platform24.org, 30 March 2017.
"Juan Perón Shows How Trump Could Destroy Our Democracy Without Tearing it Down," Washington Post, 22 March 2017.
