Organized in 1988, the MTSU Holocaust Studies Program's original mission was to encourage the study of the Holocaust at Middle Tennessee State University and in the mid-South. Since that time the committee's mission has evolved to:

• disseminate greater understanding of and knowledge about the Holocaust from an interdisciplinary and diverse perspective;
• serve as a bulwark against the spread of denial and antisemitism, as well against racial, religious and ethnic hatred;
• memorialize the lives and suffering of all people persecuted during the Holocaust. These include but are not limited to Jews, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, Hitler's political opponents, people of African descent, Slavs, Jehovah's Witnesses and other religious groups, and persons with physical or mental disabilities
• raise awareness in both the academic community and the general public that genocidal hate did not end in 1945 by disseminating information about other genocides, past and present.

The Middle Tennessee State University Holocaust Studies Committee encourages interdisciplinary study, teaching and scholarship in the areas of and genocide studies as well as sponsoring lectures, exhibits, seminars, and performances related to these fields. It also organizes a bi-annual international conference.