INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
(A Division of the Zoryan Institute)
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: admin@genocidestudies.org
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: George Shirinian
DATE: August 31, 2004 Tel: 416-250-9807
40 STUDENTS IN US AND CANADA COMPLETE THIRD ANNUAL UNIVERSITY PROGRAM BY
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE & HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
Toronto, Canada – Forty international students attending university
campuses in Minneapolis and Toronto have successfully completed the
two-week, accredited Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP)
for the third year in a row. Operating under a partnership between the
University of Minnesota and the International Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (IIGHRS), the
program graduated a total of 40 participants this year. This year’s
students were of Armenian, Azeri, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, English,
Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Romanian, Scottish, Turkish, and Vietnamese
descent. Nearly 100 students from eighteen countries have completed the
program thus far.
The faculty, many of whom are foremost experts in their respective fields,
was expanded this year from 12 to 17 instructors between Toronto and
Minneapolis.
“We are very gratified with the results of the program in both cities,”
said Dr. Roger Smith, a Co-Director of the program. “This is a unique
experience for both the students and the faculty. Students have the
opportunity to learn from a number of renowned specialists, and faculty
have the opportunity to team teach and interact with serious students who
come from around the world,” he commented. “Being together in class seven
hours a day, for two weeks straight, makes for a very intense experience,
both intellectually and emotionally. I am pleased that the students in each
location were able to develop into cohesive groups,” he added.
Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the other Co-Director of the program, indicated that
the Minneapolis program, which has been conducted in other forms since
1997, was directed at teachers seeking renewal credits, as well as upper
division undergraduate and graduate students. Several of those in the
Minneapolis program were looking toward careers in human rights law,
political science, history and other subjects with an emphasis on the study
of genocide.
Taner Akçam, who represented the University of Minnesota as the professor
of record for accreditation purposes in Toronto, has been with the program
since its inception. He observed, “This is a comprehensive course that
explores the causes, methods, and effects of genocide through an
examination of four major case studies. It does so through a study of
genocide theory, history, sociology, political science, and even art and
literature. I am proud to see so many highly motivated students come from
far and wide to participate in this program. I admire their idealism and
their commitment. I wish that we could run this program in Turkey one day.”
Among the faculty was Major Brent Beardsley of the Canadian Forces. In
1994, during the genocide in Rwanda, Major Beardsley served as the Personal
Staff Officer to then Major-General Romeo Dallaire, the Force Commander of
the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Major Beardsley
was an eyewitness to the genocide in Rwanda and earlier this year testified
for the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in
Arusha, Tanzania. He had this to say about the program. “Once again the
students attending this course never fail to amaze me. Such a diverse group
from so many backgrounds and locations, but unique, smart, swift and thirsty.”
Participating for the first time this year was Prof. Eric Markusen, Senior
Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies,
Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He enthralled the students
with remarks on his recent trip to Chad, where he was conducting an
investigation on behalf of the American Government into the genocidal acts
in the Darfur region of Sudan. Commenting on his experience at the program,
he wrote the following.
I want to express my thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to
participate as a faculty in this year’s [program]. I thoroughly enjoyed
every minute of it and came away invigorated and encouraged. It was great
to see old friends and wonderful to meet the amazing students from all over
the world. I was very impressed with the range and depth of the material
dealt with, as well as the fine organization…. Now that I have actually
experienced one of your summer [programs], I am more interested than ever
in pursuing … the possibility of holding an Institute here in Copenhagen or
elsewhere in Europe.
It was noted by Program Coordinator Amanda Duncombe that it would be much
easier for students from Europe, the Middle East and the Former Soviet
Union to attend the program in Copenhagen or another city in Europe.
Joyce Apsel is Master Teacher in the General Studies Program at New York
University, where she teaches courses in Great Books and on Genocide and
Human Rights, and is the Past President of the International Association of
Genocide Scholars. She both participated in the course as a faculty member,
and observed it as an auditor. As part of her analysis of the program, she
wrote,
The superb facilitation by Roger Smith as well as Stephen Feinstein created
an extremely positive learning environment which balanced the seriousness
of the topics and detailed information with humor, insight and concern for
students and their particular needs. (Individual projects were an excellent
mechanism to do this). The classroom environment during the sessions I
attended encouraged student input and dialogue.
Many of the students shared their enthusiasm with the faculty, as expressed
in their comments.
“Though I have examined these issues at the graduate level, the in-depth
manner in which each topic was treated enhanced my knowledge greatly of the
finer details of many subjects.”
“Wonderful experience. Learned more in two weeks that I have in a long
time. Particularly benefited from the high quality of both professors and
students.”
“I would like to thank you for the amazing opportunity you gave me in
Toronto with the GHRUP symposium. I learned an incredible amount, met
amazing people, and had the privilege of sitting in on some profound
lectures. I truly appreciate the scholarship you gave me as it allowed me
to have this experience that I will never forget. Not only has my knowledge
base in the subject area of genocide increased, but the program has
inspired me to further pursue this interest of mine in Human Rights and
Genocide in my future academic career.”
K.M. (Greg) Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute, having seen the
reaction of the students, their interest, and the demand for such a course,
along with the increased requests from scholars to expand the program to
universities in other countries expressed the hope “that community leaders,
philanthropic organizations, and government agencies will respond to the
call for supporting the Genocide and Human Rights University Program and
its expansion to Europe.” He added, “To provide such a unique and
high-quality learning experience costs approximately $90,000 per campus,
yet every effort made to raise awareness and ultimately finding ways to
prevent gross human rights violations and the killing of masses of people
is worth every penny we invest.”
The GHRUP examines many facets of genocide, starting with a theoretical
approach to the definition of genocide, an analysis of the development of
the concept of human rights, and the relationship between the two. The
program then examines four cases of genocide, including the Jewish
Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandese Genocide. Using the
Armenian Genocide, the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century, as a point
of reference, these case studies, along with others, are analyzed in a
comparative manner. In addition, special themes, such as genocide denial;
women, children and genocide; genocide and its relation to Diasporas;
education and genocide; the possibility of reconciliation between victim
and perpetrator groups; and the prevention of genocide are all explored in
an interdisciplinary manner, using the approaches of history, sociology,
political science, anthropology, and law. The overall objectives of the
program are a) teach students how to define and predict the conditions in
which genocide occurs; b) to thereby make it possible to prevent genocide;
c) to promote reconciliation; and d) to help develop a new generation of
young scholars to pursue advanced studies in this subject. In the process,
the course provides participants with the intellectual framework for
understanding the numerous, complex, and often emotional issues related to
genocide as a universal human experience.
More information about this year’s course, including the entire syllabus,
can be found at Registration for summer 2005 will
begin later this year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress