Samford University Political Science chair Fred Shepherd presented a paper by invitation at the "Resisting the Path to Genocide" conference at the University of California-Los Angeles May 5-7.

The conference brought together a group of scholars from the Middle East, South Africa, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and the United States to examine themes, cases and issues related to genocide and the attempts to deter it.

Shepherd, who specializes in genocide research, spoke about how external actors such as the United States government and, especially, transnational human rights activists either bolstered or constrained the Guatemalan government as it attempted to perpetrate genocide in the late 20th century.

Shepherd said the conference is expected to produce a published volume of essays.