Spielberg Helps USC Open Genocide Study Center

USC center devoted to genocide founded by Steven Spielberg will "provide a "a beacon of hope.""

A new USC center devoted to genocide will study how and why mass killings occur, their impact — and how to stop them.

The University of Southern California and director Steven Spielberg on Friday announced creation of the Center for Advanced Genocide Research.

It's an expansion of the USC Shoah Foundation, which was founded by Spielberg 20 years ago after the release of his Holocaust film, "Schindler's List."

The foundation has collected more than 50,000 testimonies from witnesses to the Holocaust and Rape of Nanking in World War II and the 1994 Rwanda massacres.

Spielberg, who's a Shoah Foundation trustee, says the research will provide a "a beacon of hope in breaking the cycle that leads to mass violence."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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