Senior Hanna Kobs refined her presentation on cultural genocide in China to be shared at the International Association of Genocide Scholars conference in South Africa in October. Photo courtesy of Hanna Kobs ’26
Hanna Kobs had made this presentation before at the 2024 Eckerd College Research Symposium.
A senior political science student from Cairo, Egypt, Hanna had explored the topic of cultural genocide in China. Her focus had been that while cultural genocide is something easily brushed aside by governments, its effects can be profound and even deadly.
Cultural genocide, Hanna explains, is not the destruction of a group of people through physical means. “Cultural genocide targets a group’s culture—their religion, art, education, traditions and language. A big part of what needs to be pointed out is that cultural genocide is often overlooked. And that destroying culture is extremely harmful to people.”
Her next presentation came on a different stage a year later and half a world away. Hanna had been selected to be a panelist at the International Association of Genocide Scholars in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 20–24. The conference is part of a global, interdisciplinary, nonpartisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes and consequences of genocide—and advance policy studies on genocide prevention.
“I was looking at local conferences just for fun, and this conference in Johannesburg popped up,” Hanna says. “My professors told me I should totally do that. I got the email that I was accepted while I was working the show at the Palladium.” That show was Sparrow’s Dream, a modern opera that was part of the Palladium Creative Fellowship Festival. The opera included an Eckerd cohort, including Hanna as a member of the backstage crew. “That was a really great night,” she adds.
Using grants from Eckerd College and other sources, she came up with the $3,000 needed for five days in Johannesburg. A Johnston-Ford Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Hanna estimates she was one of only a handful of undergraduates who participated. And she is certain her experience at the Eckerd Research Symposium came in handy. “I added a couple of new things,” she says, “but it definitely helped having talked about this last year. I was really nervous this time, but everyone there was really encouraging and supportive. And the feedback was great.
“The biggest impact for me was just being able to see what other people are doing, to see the different possibilities. I got the feeling I can do whatever I want with my research,” she says.
“It gave me the ability to expand my thinking past just writing a paper. The conference helped me narrow my focus a little more and maybe move more into the storytelling aspect.”
She is well on her way. Hanna had been recognized last year by the Society of Professional Journalists for her work at The Current, Eckerd’s student newspaper. Her award-winning story was titled “Eckerd College students want more safe spaces to discuss Israel-Hamas war.” It was a finalist in the in-depth reporting category for small colleges.
Hanna is currently looking at graduate school programs. “But I plan to take some time off to decompress and reflect on everything,” she says. “I met people from Canada, Europe, Africa … so I have connections to so many people in different parts of the world. Connections I will definitely try to keep.”
