A. Dirk Moses is Professor of Modern History at the University of Sydney. 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). Before coming to Sydney in 2000, he was a research fellow at the University of Freiburg, Germany. From January 2011 to December 2015, he held the Chair of Global and Colonial History at the European University Institute, Florence. As of July, 2020, he is Frank Porter Graham Distinguished Professor in Global Human Rights History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His 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, memory, 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 was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. for his project on the "diplomacy of genocide," a study of genocide claims in postcolonial secessionist civil wars in the 1960s and early 1970s. For his critical intellectual history of the genocide concept, The Problems of Genocide (appearing with Cambridge University Press in 2020), he was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow at the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam. He is a senior fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, University of Göttingen from October 2019 to February 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, 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
"'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.
"The Long First World War," Sydney Review of Books, 10 February 2017.
"The Ultimate Price: Can Military Sacrifice Trump Race?" ABC Religion and Ethics, 16 August 2016.
"Fear or Racism? Sonia Kruger and the Problem of Safety Politics," ABC Religion and Ethics, 26 July 2016.
"Partitions and the Sisyphean Making of Peoples," Transit, 19 July 2016.
"Popularizing the History of International Criminal Law," Lawfare, 2 June 2016.
"Human Rights and Genocide: A Global Historical Perspective," 6th Gerald Stourzh Lecture on the History of Human Rights, 21 May 2014.
His 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, memory, 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 was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. for his project on the "diplomacy of genocide," a study of genocide claims in postcolonial secessionist civil wars in the 1960s and early 1970s. For his critical intellectual history of the genocide concept, The Problems of Genocide (appearing with Cambridge University Press in 2020), he was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow at the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam. He is a senior fellow at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, University of Göttingen from October 2019 to February 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, 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
"'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.
"The Long First World War," Sydney Review of Books, 10 February 2017.
"The Ultimate Price: Can Military Sacrifice Trump Race?" ABC Religion and Ethics, 16 August 2016.
"Fear or Racism? Sonia Kruger and the Problem of Safety Politics," ABC Religion and Ethics, 26 July 2016.
"Partitions and the Sisyphean Making of Peoples," Transit, 19 July 2016.
"Popularizing the History of International Criminal Law," Lawfare, 2 June 2016.
"Human Rights and Genocide: A Global Historical Perspective," 6th Gerald Stourzh Lecture on the History of Human Rights, 21 May 2014.
