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  • #11
    Intervening In Genocide Case: The Massachussettes Case

    INTERVENING IN GENOCIDE CASE: THE MASSACHUSSETTES CASE
    By Christopher Loh/ Staff Writer

    Watertown TAB & Press, MA
    Jan 13 2006

    A concerned group of Armenian-Americans has filed a motion to intervene
    in a lawsuit concerning the state's curriculum and teaching of the
    1915 deportation and murder of 1.5 million Armenians from Turkey
    during World War I.

    Controversy swirls around the event as people argue whether or not
    it constitutes genocide.

    The maternal 98-year-old grandmother of Geri Lyn Ajemian, director of
    Instructional Services at Marlborough Public Schools, is a descendant
    of the killings.

    "I have a special interest and training in history and history
    education," said Ajemian, who holds a doctoral degree from Harvard
    University on the philosophical foundations of history. "In my
    doctoral dissertation, I focused on the habits of mind, the methods
    of inquiry and the central concepts that structure history as an
    academic subject. These same guiding principles 'frame' the state
    curriculum frameworks."

    Ajemian said she felt "compelled" to lend her experience in curriculum
    development and her understanding of the frameworks to the intervening
    motion.

    The group filing for intervention includes Boston University President
    emeritus Dr. Aram Chobanian, Geri Lynn Ajemian, Zori Babroudi a
    student at Lincoln-Sudbury High School, Armine Dedkian, Loretta
    Gelenian, survivor John Kasparian, Shaunt Keshishian, a student
    at Lincoln-Sudbury High School, Heather Krafian and the Armenian
    American Assembly.

    The lawsuit filed by Lincoln-Sudbury High School history teacher
    Bill Schechter and senior Ted Griswold against the state regards
    the Department of Education's curriculum guide concerning inclusion
    of the Turkish perspective in the teaching of the 1915 slayings of
    approximately 1.5 million Armenians during their deportation from
    Turkey.

    Griswold, founder of the high school's American Civil Liberties Union
    chapter, and Schechter argue the Turkish perspective should be included
    in teachings.

    Malick Ghachem, lawyer for Griswold and Schechter, said he has filed
    a complaint against the group's motion to intervene.

    Arnold Rosenfeld, a lawyer representing the intervening group, said
    they will respond to Griswold's and Schechter's objection, at which
    point the judge should respond.

    "The judge can schedule an oral argument," Griswold said. "But that
    is not required, but it's up to him."

    "Under the rules of the court and case law, somebody who has an
    interest in the case can file a motion to intervene, you have to show
    certain requirements to intervene," Rosenfeld said.

    These requirements include the ability to not impede in the case's
    progress as well as present the interests of another party not
    already represented. In other words the interests of the state do not
    necessarily represent the interests of the Rosenfeld's group and the
    Armenian American Assembly.

    Rosenfeld said that the group he represents, along with the Armenian
    American Assembly, all have an interest in the case.

    "Because the Armenian Genocide, that's required to be taught under
    state law, shouldn't be taught improperly," he said.

    Rosenfeld said along with the motion to intervene, the group, in
    conjunction with the attorney general's office, has filed a motion
    of dismissal.

    "We're preparing our response by Feb. 6," Ghachem said. "There will
    most certainly be an oral argument on the motion to dismiss."

    "The plaintiffs [Griswold and Schechter] are suggesting in their
    claim that the state has to include the Turkish point of view, which
    is that it [the Armenian genocide] didn't happen," Rosenfeld said,
    "which we think doesn't make any sense."

    Rosenfeld said the group's argument to dismiss the case is well
    founded.

    "Essentially there is no First Amendment right on their part,"
    Rosenfeld said of Griswold and Schechter. "They've manufactured a
    case where one doesn't exist. We're very confident that the motion
    to dismiss will be successful. We have an excellent legal argument,
    and so does the attorney general's office. I don't think they have a
    legal argument at all. I think it's manufactured. It's based on what
    they'd like the law to be, but it isn't."

    "Inclusion of Turkish denials of the Armenian Genocide within state
    curriculum guides would not, as the plaintiffs claim, provide a more
    objective foundation for the teaching and learning of history within
    our school classrooms," Ajemian said. "Instead, it would present a
    distorted view of the nature of historical inquiry and the factual
    record of events in 1915."

    Comment


    • #12
      Genocide in Sudan: What the University of California can do

      US SANTA CRUZ CURRENTS
      January 16, 2006
      Vol. 10, No. 20

      Genocide in Sudan: What the University of California can do
      By Adam Rosenthal, Jason Miller, and Adam Sterling

      In 1944, Polish lawyer Raphel Lemkin, in response to the Holocaust
      that took the lives of 49 family members, coined the term genocide to
      describe a crime against humanity so horrific that it needed its own
      definition and code of governing laws.

      While Lemkin's efforts led directly to increased awareness about the
      crime, scarcely a decade has since passed without the perpetration of
      a major genocide. Today, genocide is once again occurring before our
      very eyes, in the Darfur region of Sudan, and once again, we are
      looking the other way.

      Since early 2003, Sudanese troops and government-sponsored militias
      have carried out the coordinated and targeted killing of the black
      African population in Sudan's Darfur region. For the first time in
      history, the U.S. Congress, State Department, and Executive Branch
      have all declared that an ongoing massacre amounts to genocide and
      that the Sudanese government is directly responsible.

      To date, 400,000 people have been slaughtered, 2.5 million more have
      been driven from their homes, and 70 percent of all Darfurian villages
      have been destroyed. Furthermore, a systematic policy of rape has
      maimed and humiliated scores of Darfurian women, while the
      government's blockade of humanitarian aid to the displaced has left
      over 3 million in danger of starvation.Why should the students of UCSC
      care about the genocide in Darfur in a world where billions are
      afflicted by disease, poverty, and conflict? New York Times columnist
      Nicholas Kristof explains, "=80¦there is something special about
      genocide. When humans deliberately wipe out others because of their
      tribe or skin color, when babies succumb not to diarrhea but to
      bayonets and bonfires, that is not just one more tragedy. It is a
      monstrosity that demands a response from other humans. We demean our
      own humanity, and that of the victims, when we avertour eyes."

      Today, the University of California is in a unique position to
      influence the course of this crime. As a result of the combined
      efforts of thousands of UC students, the UC Board of Regents will meet
      at UC San Diego on January 19 to consider a process known as
      divestment, which would entail the removal of over $100 million of
      foreign investments tied up in companies that directly or indirectly
      facilitate government-sponsored genocide in Sudan.As the students of
      the University of California, it is our responsibility to ensure that
      our university does not continue to passively condone
      genocide. `Silence in the face of atrocity is not neutrality; silence
      in the face of atrocity is acquiescence," explains Pulitzer Prize
      winning author and Harvard professor Samantha Power.

      On Thursday, January 19, the over 188,000 students of the University
      of California must come together and provide a voice to the millions
      of Darfurians who have lost theirs. Join the thousands of students,
      faculty, and staff that have expressed their concern by signing the
      _petition for divestment. (http://www.ucdivestsudan.com/%20) And if
      you are inspired to join us in San Diego this Thursday, please contact
      student organizers for the divestment campaign at
      [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) .

      Adam Rosenthal, a law student at the UC Davis is the student Regent
      for the University of California. Jason Miller, a medical and
      doctoral student at UC San Francisco, and Adam Sterling, a African
      American Studies major at the University of California Los Angeles,
      are the cochairs of the University of California _Sudan Divestment
      Taskforce._ (http://www.ucdivestsudan.com/)

      Comment


      • #13
        The Armenian Assembly Has Put Together An Outstanding Legal Team To Protect "the Arme

        THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY HAS PUT TOGETHER AN OUTSTANDING LEGAL TEAM TO PROTECT "THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CASE"

        Arminfo
        16 Jan 06

        Washington, DC - The Armenian Assembly, having filed a motion in
        December to intervene in the pending Massachusetts lawsuit brought
        by the Assembly of American Turkish Associations (ATAA), firmly
        responded to those seeking to deny and rewrite history in Massachusetts
        classrooms, by filing a motion to dismiss in the matter of Griswold
        v. Driscoll ("the Armenian Genocide case").

        "The Armenian Assembly has put together an outstanding legal team to
        confront the challenge in this case, as well as any others that may
        be brought in the future," stated Assembly Board of Trustees Vice
        President and Counselor Robert A. Kaloosdian, who along with Board
        of Trustees President Carolyn Mugar, are co-chairing the Assembly
        committee managing this legal initiative. "We have dedicated ourselves
        to the study, research and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide,
        not only in Massachusetts, but across the country, as evidenced by
        the creation of the Armenian National Institute (ANI). The Assembly
        helped publish a comprehensive guide on the Armenian Genocide in
        the U.S. Archives thoroughly documenting with official testimony the
        1915 atrocities. Together with ANI, the Assembly continues to actively
        promote Genocide education and curriculum, including most recently, the
        new Genocide curriculum adopted in New Jersey," Kaloosdian continued.

        Comment


        • #14
          Armenian Genocide and Holocaust survivor descendants for genocide education in schools

          In the face of repeated acts of genocides well into the twenty-first century, the descendents of the first and second large scale genocides of the twentieth century, the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust have teamed in Ottawa, Canada to promote the genocide education in the schools of Ottawa.

          GENA (Genocide Education Never Again, for more information visit www.GENA.ca) is an initiative of Mr. Ze’ev Kalin, previous chairman of the Holocaust committee in Ottawa. In 2005, Mr. Ze’ev Kalin and Mr. Vahe Balabanian, the president of ACFO (Armenian Cultural Foundation of Ottawa, for more information visit http://welcome.to/acao ) met each other at a rally on the Rwandan genocide and since, they became friends.

          This year in commemoration of the 61st anniversary of Auschwitz, GENA held a performance of “And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank “ by the Students of Ashbury College in Ottawa. The performance ran from January 18 to January 26. On the nights of January 19, 20 and 21 both the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide books were on display side by side. At the end of the play Mr. Ze’ev Kalin announced the striking similarities between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust and invited the audience to look at the books on both the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide on display.

          The Armenian Genocide display was organized by the Armenian Students Association of Ottawa (for more information see www.asaottawa.ca), who earlier in the week under the leadership of Victoria Cop, the president of ASA, had won the second prize, for their display on “Focus Armenia” in the “International Week 2006” at the University of Ottawa (for more information see www.uottawa.ca/international/week.html). Members of the ASA, Maria Vardanyan, Mihran Egavian and Tikran Nadjarian were at hand to distribute information on the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide and GENA to the audience. The ASA members together with Mr. Vahe Balabanian were at hand to answer questions by the audience on the Armenian Genocide. They were encouraged by the audience to pursue the just cause of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey.

          Comment


          • #15
            Turkish Historian for Teaching Armenian Genocide History at US Schools


            PanArmenian.Net/ The Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) announced today that it plans to file a friend of the court brief in response to a lawsuit filed by two public high school teachers, one student and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations challenging a Massachusetts statute allowing for the teaching of the Armenian Genocide. The AAA formed a legal commission to that end. "We devoted ourselves to studying the Armenian Genocide and efforts to prove the fact not only in Massachusetts, but also throughout the nation," Assembly Board of Trustees Vice President Robert A. Kaloosdian said. The AAA has provided a reference book on the Genocide, based on documents and official evidences, to the US archives. The AAA continues struggling for the genocide history to be taught at state schools. A decision to do that was passed by the authorities of New Jersey state. The Turkish party insists that school children, according to the principle of freedom of speech, should also be provided with reference books on the Armenian Genocide denial policy. In the opinion of Turkish historian of Michigan University, ethnic Turkish Fatima Muge Gocek, who sent a letter to the Wall Street Journal over the trial in Massachusetts, "the suit resulted from the efforts of the Turkish state on behalf of organizations and several persons." «I do not accept this move, as when teaching there is no need to present all viewpoints over a historical event. The pupils has to decide on his viewpoint himself. Historical facts should be presented at school,» Gocek said. «We should not only teach children at school, but also teach them how to become a good person. We should do it by means of historical facts, including by studying the Armenian Genocide,» she added, reported RFE/RL.

            Comment


            • #16
              The Genocide Education Project Reaches Out To California Students And Teachers

              PRESS RELEASE


              The Genocide Education Project
              51 Commonwealth Avenue
              San Francisco, CA 94118
              (415) 264-4203
              [email protected]



              Contact: Raffi Momjian - [email protected]


              THE GENOCIDE EDUCATION PROJECT REACHES OUT TO CALIFORNIA STUDENTS AND TEACHERS



              SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Genocide Education Project concluded a series of
              workshops over the last two months targeting junior high and high school
              students and teachers throughout California. Developed by a team of educators,
              Sara Cohan, Armen Sedrakian, and Hasmig Tatiossian, the interactive workshops
              provided a vehicle for students and teachers to learn about the Armenian
              Genocide in more depth, and also how it relates to current human rights issues.


              At John Muir Middle School in Burbank, Hasmig Tatiossian, Southern California
              Regional Assistant Coordinator for The Genocide Education Project, conducted
              workshops throughout April for over 600 students, engaging them in discussions
              about the problem of genocide. She presented a comparative perspective to the
              Armenian Genocide, and together with the students, explored actions they can
              take in response to modern-day genocides.

              John Muir social sciences teacher, Glenn Jaffe, was very satisfied with the
              workshop for his students, saying the "same presentation should be done yearly
              at Muir." Mim Oettinger, Assistant Principal of Instruction at Muir, found
              most beneficial ‘the fact that other genocides, both past and current, were
              discussed and students were informed that they were responsible to take action
              to prevent genocides.’

              In San Francisco, The Genocide Education Project presented two workshops to
              high school students at the Holocaust Center of Northern California, during its
              "Day of Learning" program on April 30th. Hasmig Tatiossian conducted one of
              the first workshops focused on the Armenian Genocide and the Rape of Nanking
              which was part of the "Generation to Generation" theme. The second workshop,
              conducted by Armen Sedrakian, focused on armed resistance during the Armenian
              Genocide with a particular focus on Musa Dagh.

              In Fresno on May 13th, The Genocide Education Project held a joint seminar on
              genocide for more than 100 high school students, with Dr. Matthew A. Jendian,
              Professor of Sociology at Fresno State University. The three-hour seminar
              included discussions about the Armenian, Cambodian, Rwandan and Darfurian
              genocides. It also contained crucial lessons regarding the responsibility of
              individuals when genocide occurs. The seminar was organized by the Fresno
              Chapter of the Armenian National Committee and funded by the Bertha and John
              Garabedian Foundation.

              Earlier this spring, The Genocide Education Project conducted several
              successful workshops in San Diego, Los Angeles and Glendale, California
              targeting educators. Positive feedback included comments like those of
              teacher Karen Bennett, "Please keep up the work you are doing! This
              information needs to be kept alive in our schools!!" and teacher/curriculum
              coach Nancy Witt, "A very worthwhile day – I have already thought of a way to
              incorporate this in class."

              "Genocide education is imperative, especially at a time when such a crime is
              not just a historical reality, but is part of our contemporary reality as seen
              in Darfur," said Raffi Momjian, the Executive Director of the organization.
              "The opportunity to work directly with students and teachers over the last few
              months was truly rewarding, as their passion for the subject was palpable in
              all the workshops."


              #####


              The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
              organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
              genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and distributing
              instructional materials, providing access to teaching resources and organizing
              educational workshops.




              ----
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              To be added to our E-news list:
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              Comment


              • #17
                Winning Collaboration On Armenian Genocide Teacher-training

                PRESS RELEASE

                The Genocide Education Project
                51 Commonwealth Avenue
                San Francisco, CA 94118
                (415) 264-4203
                [email protected]



                Contact: Raffi Momjian ([email protected])


                WINNING COLLABORATION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TEACHER-TRAINING


                San Francisco, CA - The Genocide Education Project and Facing History and
                Ourselves continue to build a strong partnership in training U.S. teachers
                about the Armenian Genocide. During the past school year the two organizations
                assisted each other with four workshops located between Detroit, Michigan and
                San Francisco, California. Plans are in the works for at least three workshops
                this fall.

                The latest event in San Francisco was hosted by Facing History and Ourselves
                and served approximately twenty teachers from all over California. The
                participants attended a week long institute on the Armenian Genocide on the KZV
                Armenian School campus, where they had an opportunity to learn effective
                teaching strategies and hear from lecturers including world renowned scholar
                Dr. Richard Hovannisian. The Genocide Education Project provided a two hour
                seminar on geopolitical conditions in the 1800s that fueled the Genocide and
                also hosted a viewing of the documentary "The Genocide in Me" by Araz Artinian.

                This institute followed two all-day workshops organized by the Genocide
                Education Project and sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District,
                during which Facing History and Ourselves provided a session on moral decision
                making and genocide. The workshops in Los Angeles will continue on a
                semi-annual basis for two more years.

                Coming up in December, The Genocide Education Project will offer a lecture
                titled "Teaching about Genocide in the Age of Genocide" at the National Council
                for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference in Washington D.C. This clinic was
                developed in collaboration with Facing History and Oursleves, the U.S.
                Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the educational organization, Choices, at Brown
                University.

                The director of the Northern California office for Facing History and
                Ourselves, Jack Weinstein, a member of the advisory board for The Genocide
                Education Project noted, "I've been working with The Genocide Education Project
                for over ten years now, and look forward to our continued collaboration through
                this relationship." Weinstein continues to stress that "together, we can reach
                out to more schools, teachers, and students, further ensuring that the history
                and lessons of the Armenian Genocide will be a part of social studies courses
                across the country."

                For more information about The Genocide Education Project's upcoming events
                with Facing History and Ourselves please visit:
                www.teachgenocide.org/workshops_events.


                ####


                The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
                organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
                genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and distributing
                instructional materials, providing access to teaching resources and organizing
                educational workshops.






                ----
                Please feel free to forward this e-mail to anyone interested in this topic.

                To be added to our E-news list:
                E-mail [email protected] and list the e-mail account(s) to add
                or go to http://www.genocideeducation.org/registration.htm

                To be removed from our E-news list:
                Reply to this e-mail with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject field.

                Comment


                • #18
                  Bringing the dangers of the Holocaust, genocides to youth

                  Bringing the dangers of the Holocaust, genocides to youth

                  By Harpreet Dipak
                  Western News (London, Ontario)
                  Aug 17th, 2006

                  Imagine being a high school teacher having to speak to your students about
                  the atrocities of the Holocaust, or the Armenian and Rwandan genocides. It's
                  a tremendously overwhelming experience since the magnitude of such events
                  can't be easy to explain.

                  This past week, 40 teachers from across Canada have been taking part in the
                  third annual General Roméo Dallaire Genocide Institute at Western, sponsored
                  by the Holocaust Literature Research Institute at Western. Through forums,
                  guest speakers and special sessions, educators hope to gain valuable
                  teaching techniques they can bring to their classrooms.

                  For General Dallaire, the Force Commander of UN Assistance for Mission
                  Rwanda, the Institute carries an ambition aimed at helping teachers apply
                  certain methodologies and ways of teaching.

                  "We want to awaken students to how the international community and, on the
                  other side, extremism, can lead to crimes against humanity of horrendous
                  levels," Dallaire explains. He portrays the institute as an information tool
                  that is part of a larger ideology of respect for others and avoidance of
                  conflict.

                  Recognizing the complexities of the content being brought to students in
                  today's classrooms, Dallaire says for teachers, the five-day institute
                  offers time for discussion, questions and plenty of reflection. Participants
                  have an opportunity to develop their current skills and learn new methods
                  through classroom-based activities.

                  Mike Farley, a Grade 12 World Issues teacher at Western Tech in Toronto,
                  says this past year his students have been learning about the atrocities of
                  genocide.

                  "We looked at the genocide in Rwanda and that had a very powerful affect on
                  me and the students, so I thought I'd like to learn more about genocide in
                  general...the institute seemed like a good fit," says Farley.

                  To teach his class, he used tools from a resource kit including an online
                  simulation called PAX Warrior. This model recreates the environment during
                  the genocide and students make various decisions, ironically, as General
                  Dallaire. Farley also showed the Dallaire documentary Shake Hands with the
                  Devil to help his students understand the scale of events.

                  Once the intensive one-week training is complete, the challenge will be for
                  the teachers to applying these new methods when they return to their
                  classrooms in the fall. Farley already anticipates alternative ways he will
                  approach his curriculum.

                  "When I've been teaching about Rwanda, I kind of went into it completely
                  blind. It was very interesting, but I didn't really have any background in
                  studying it at all," he says. "Here I am sitting through this week with some
                  of the foremost experts in genocide, including General Dallaire."

                  Although initially overwhelming, Farley has found the forums engaging and
                  has gained more confidence with his own knowledge and approach.

                  Aris Babikian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of
                  Canada, has been working with the Armenian community to reach out and
                  sensitize the public to such tragedies. He credits the institute with
                  providing necessary training for high school teachers in accomplishing this.

                  "If teachers are not aware about the details, about the psychological,
                  social, collective and individual effects of these events on humans and
                  society, students won't be able to learn about this," says Babikian. He
                  hopes the program will expand in the future to reach a larger number of
                  teachers across the country.

                  Dallaire is hopeful the five-day training session, which wraps up August 18,
                  will allow the teachers to convey his own experiences of humanity,
                  consequence and strength to students across Canada for years to come.

                  "I think we're breaking new ground here in providing this capability...what
                  we hope is to be able to move it now to the next step, formalize our
                  structure and make it that much more available across the country," he says.



                  The most trusted news source for the Western University’s faculty and staff.

                  Comment


                  • #19
                    ANCC Participates in Gen. Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute Sessions

                    Armenian National Committee of Canada
                    130 Albert St., Suite 1007
                    Ottawa, ON
                    KIP 5G4
                    Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622
                    E-mail:[email protected]

                    PRESS RELEASE
                    August 18, 2006

                    ANCC Participates in Gen. Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute Sessions

                    Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian

                    (613) 235-2622





                    Ottawa, August 18-The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC)
                    participated in Gen. Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute's 2006 teachers
                    genocide training sessions held between August 14 to 18 at the University of
                    Western Ontario in London, Ont.

                    The aim of the institute's annual sessions is to train teachers about the
                    moral lessons learned from the Holocaust, the Armenian, and the Rwandan
                    Genocides. This year the institute hosted 40 teachers from various Canadian
                    provinces.

                    On the first day of the weeklong sessions, Prof. Frank Chalk of Concordia
                    University of Montreal, Que., one of the pioneers on genocide studies,
                    looked at genocides from a historical perspective and addressed their
                    social, political and economic roots. During his presentation, Prof. Chalk
                    screened a documentary of which 20 minutes were devoted to the Armenian
                    Genocide of 1915 to 1921.

                    The rest of the week was devoted to the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust,
                    and the Rwandan Genocide. Morning sessions focused on building historical
                    framework of genocides while afternoon gatherings stressed classroom
                    application. There were four special sessions: genocide intervention, which
                    was facilitated by Gen. Romeo Dallaire; a session with a survivor of the
                    Holocaust; a session with a survivor of the Rwandan Genocide; and a session
                    on the Darfur calamity.

                    On Tuesday, August 15, Prof. Lorne Shirinian from the Royal Military College
                    in Kingston, Ont. presented the historical background of the Armenian Cause
                    and the Armenian Genocide, starting at the Congress of Berlin (1878), the
                    Hamidian Massacres of Armenians (1894 to 1896), the reform movement, the
                    Young Turks' coup d'etat, the Genocide of 1915, the Allied Powers' promises
                    and betrayal, and finally the Turkish Government's denial policy.

                    In the afternoon Dr. Sima Aprahamian, also from Concordia, lectured on the
                    pedagogy of teaching the Armenian Genocide and the applicability of its
                    lessons to today's genocides. Dr. Aprahamian screened a documentary on the
                    Georgetown Boys, a state of California prepared classroom documentary on the
                    Armenian Genocide and finally, Araz Artinian's "The Genocide in Me"
                    documentary which address the psychological effect of the genocide denial on
                    Canadian-born Armenians.




                    Pamphlets and literature related to the Armenian Genocide, among them a
                    special resources book prepared by "Facing History and Ourselves" were
                    distributed to the teachers.

                    During a reception on August 13, Aris Babikian of the ANCC (a partner of the
                    institute), welcomed the teachers and emphasized the importance of their
                    "noble mission to carry out the lessons learned from various genocides and
                    to spread the message of hope, tolerance and respect to human being,
                    regardless of their religion, race, or colour." Babikian, ANCC's executive
                    director, said that he was confident that the teachers would be the torch
                    carriers who would stamp out future genocides and "help avert other nations
                    from suffering racism, hatred, and xenophobia that the Armenians, Jews, and
                    Rwandans experienced."

                    In addressing the other partners of the institute, Babikian said ANCC was
                    delighted to "see so many genocide victim organizations joining together and
                    cooperating to make Gen. Romeo Dallaire Institute such a success." He said
                    that it is "imperative that various victims of genocides stand together in
                    solidarity, to support each other and to send a clear message to the rest of
                    the world that the victim nations are standing on guard, and that they will
                    not stand by and let other nations fall victim to mankind's most heinous
                    crime."

                    It is vital that victim nations stand together and fight against the last
                    act of all genocides: the denial aspect, said Babikian. "Victim nations
                    should also be alert to notions of dividing the victims and of creating a
                    hierarchy of suffering among them thus shattering the solidarity of the
                    victims," the ANCC representative concluded.

                    -30-



                    Regional Chapters

                    Montréal - Laval - Ottawa - Toronto - Hamilton - Cambridge - St.
                    Catharines - Windsor - Vancouver

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                    • #20
                      First Web Class On The Armenian Genocide Launched

                      PRESS RELEASE

                      The Genocide Education Project
                      51 Commonwealth Avenue
                      San Francisco, CA 94118
                      (415) 264-4203
                      [email protected]




                      Contact: Sara Cohan - [email protected]



                      FIRST WEB CLASS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAUNCHED: WWW.LEARNGENOCIDE.COM



                      San Francisco, CA, January 10, 2007 - The Genocide Education Project has
                      launched Genocide and the Human Voice: Nicole’s Journey, the first
                      online classroom about the Armenian Genocide.


                      Genocide and the Human Voice: Nicole's Journey uses contemporary
                      learning technology and methodologies to provide a stand-alone lesson
                      students attend online. Recognizing the limited amount of class-time
                      school teachers have compared to the many important and required topics
                      they must address, The Genocide Education Project created an opportunity
                      for high school teachers to introduce their students to the history of
                      the Armenian Genocide, without having to devote full class time to it.
                      This Internet lesson fulfills the World History curriculum requirements
                      of the 11 U.S. states which currently require instruction on this
                      important history. The online class is also designed to be used as
                      supplemental coursework for curriculum on Armenian Genocide.


                      "This online lesson brings the first genocide of the 20th century into
                      the education system of the 21st century," stated Sara Cohan, Education
                      Director with The Genocide Education Project. "We believe that the more
                      we make up-to-date, quality educational options available to teachers,
                      the more they will choose to include the Armenian Genocide in their
                      course curriculum."


                      Through the voice of Dr. Nicole Vartanian, Genocide and the Human Voice:
                      Nicole's Journey provides a background to the history of the Armenian
                      Genocide and the effects genocide denial on subsequent generations.
                      Based on Nicole's real life journey to her grandmother's village in
                      Eastern Turkey, the lesson illustrates the continued pain that genocide
                      brings and the fortitude of those searching for truth. After an
                      introduction to the history of the Armenian Genocide and Nicole's
                      grandmother's moving story of survival, the lesson walks students
                      through a series of emails that Nicole sent her mother describing her
                      many observations and thoughts as she undertook her journey.


                      The plan concludes with "The Eight Stages of Genocide," created by Dr.
                      Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, a non-profit organization
                      committed to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms
                      of mass murder. Using the events of the Armenian Genocide as a case
                      study, students learn the common stages of all genocides, providing a
                      global perspective on the subject.


                      Teachers use the website www.learngenocide.com to create an online
                      classroom, assigning students a private log-in name and password to
                      access the lesson plan section of the site. Once students have
                      completed the assignments, they are stored online for teachers to access
                      at a later date.


                      The readings and assignments are geared toward high school students and
                      mature middle school students. Each section includes an assignment
                      composed of short answer questions and a writing component. Students
                      read and listen to historical text, survivor testimony and a variety of
                      other material, giving them a better understanding of genocide and its
                      impact on a nation of people and its future.


                      Created by the award-winning web design company, Infivia Communication
                      Visuelle, of Montreal, Canada, the lesson employs the latest interactive
                      web features, including segments in which Nicole is heard reading her
                      emails to her mother, cell phone conversations, and other material,
                      engaging and suitable for high school students.



                      The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
                      organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
                      genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and
                      distributing instructional materials, providing access to teaching
                      resources and organizing educational workshops.

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