PRESS RELEASE
March 10, 2006
Armenian Genocide Resource Center
5400 McBryde Ave
Richmond, CA 94805
Contact: Richard Kloian
Email: [email protected]
Tel/Fax (510) 965-0152
Armenian Genocide Documentary to be Honored
at 2006 Midwest Journalism Conference in April
The Armenian Genocide: 90 Years Later, a 2005 Regional Emmy nominee,
will be honored at the 2006 Midwest Journalism Conference in
Bloomington, Minnesota, on Saturday, April 1.
ABC News chief investigative journalist Brian Ross, who reports
extensively for 20/20, Primetime, Nightline, World News Tonight, and
Good Morning America, will be the Keynote speaker.
The event is sponsored by the Northwest Broadcast News Association in
memory of journalist Eric Sevareid. The Armenian Genocide: 90 Years
Later was one of two winners in the Talk and Public Affairs category.
The Midwest Journalism Conference is jointly sponsored by the
Associated Press, Association of Electronic Journalists, Minnesota
Journalism Center, National Press Photographers Association, National
Television Academy, Northwest Broadcast News Association, Society of
Professional Journalists, and the University of Minnesota School of
Journalism and Mass Communication.
The documentary is a co-production of Twin Cities Public Television
and the University of Minnesota Center for Holocaust and Genocide
Studies, (CHGS) and is distributed by the Armenian Genocide Resource
Center in Richmond California through a special arrangement with CHGS.
The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Minnesota has been at
the forefront of education on the Armenian Genocide for many years.
It was established within the College of Liberal Arts as an
Independent Center with its main administrative relationship with the
Department of History. CHGS is also affiliated with The Institute for
Global Studies, The Humanities Institute, Department of German, Dutch
and Scandinavian Languages, The Human Rights Program at the University
of Minnesota School of Law and The Center for European Studies.
It’s director Dr Stephen Feinstein has been at the helm of the Center
since its creation in1997 and has expanded its website to include
eyewitness survivor testimonies, documents, teaching guides, online
streaming video and audio and other materials on the Armenian
Genocide, some of which were provided to the Center over the years by
the Armenian Genocide Resource Center (AGRC), including an expanded
reference guide for teachers and students which is currently on the
web site.
The Armenian Genocide: 90 Years Later is part of an ongoing series by
CHGS about genocide and its lingering effects and was aired on public
television in Minnesota last April and was nominated for the 2005
Regional EMMY® in the category of `Best News Special.’
The documentary discusses events that led to the genocide, issues
related to genocide recognition, how that affects Turkish democracy,
and how the question of how historical writing takes place when a
regime decrees an official history about certain issues in its society
and brings criminal prosecution against scholars, writers and others
who attempt to bring truths about the past into the present.
The program discusses this phenomenon and raises questions about how
the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide fits into the
context of understanding the current status of Turkish democracy,
academic freedom in universities and issues involving language and
identity for minorities. Most poignant in the program is the
testimony related by those whose family members survived the genocide
and lived to tell about it. Many remember their parents telling of the
horrors and of leaving their homes and hiding from Turkish gendarmes,
and they discuss how remembrance of the events of1915 is now embedded
in Armenian identity.
Program discussants include Taner Akçam, Stephen Feinstein, and Eric
Weitz, from the University of Minnesota, as well as descendants of
survivors, and members of the community who explore issues related to
the genocide. The educational program would greatly benefit students,
teachers and the general public alike. The DVD is available from
AGRC. For information on how to obtain a copy please send SASE to
AGRC, 5400 McBryde Avenue, Richmond, CA 94805 or call the number
above.
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