International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies Announces Faculty for 2005

Toronto, Canada - The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) is pleased to announce the fourth year of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program, to be held in Toronto, August 2-12, 2005.

Toronto, Canada - The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) is pleased to announce the faculty for the Genocide and Human Rights University Program, to be held in Toronto, August 2-12, 2005.

"We are fortunate there are so many fine scholars and teachers to draw on," commented Greg Sarkissian, President of the Institute. "We are very gratified that they are making themselves available in order to pass on their knowledge and wisdom to the next generation of scholars," he added.

The program is accredited through a partnership between the IIGHRS and the University of Minnesota. Students who successfully complete the two-week course have the option of receiving up to four semester credits, which are applicable to both undergraduate and graduate students.

"Students who attend this program have a unique experience," commented George Shirinian, Director of the Institute. "Not only do they get to participate in a fascinating seminar on human rights and the comparative study of genocide, but they will interact directly with some of the foremost experts in the field."

This year's faculty consists of the following experts:

Taner Akçam is a Turkish historian and author of numerous books and articles on the Armenian Genocide and dialogue and reconciliation. He is currently Visiting Associate Professor in the History Dept. of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Joyce Apsel, is an historian, attorney, and Master Teacher in the General Studies Program at New York University, where she teaches courses in Great Books and on Genocide and Human Rights.

Major Brent Beardsley served as Personal Staff Officer to Major-General Roméo Dallaire, the Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda. He is a is currently a research officer at the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute.

Vahakn N. Dadrian is the author of numerous books and articles on genocide and victimization of the Armenians, Jews, Rwandans, and Native Americans. He is the Zoryan Institute's Director of Genocide Research.

Herbert Hirsch is Professor of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He regularly offers a course on The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights at the Virginia Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Eric Markusen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of  International Studies, Dept. for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Copenhagen. His current work focuses on the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Roger W. Smith is Professor Emeritus of Government at the College of  William and Mary in Virginia, where he has taught political theory and the comparative study of genocide. He has written and lectured extensively on the topic of genocide. He is Chairman of the Academic Board of Directors of the Zoryan Institute.

Gregory Stanton is the James Farmer Professor of Human Rights at Mary  Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and is President of Genocide Watch and Director of the Cambodian Genocide Project. He was one of the authors of the United Nations resolutions that created the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Details and registration information, as well as the full faculty biographies, are available on the program's web site, www.genocidestudies.org.

For more information, contact the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, 416-250-9807, admin@genocidestudies.org.

The mission of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program is to help develop a new generation of scholars to engage in research and publication in the field of genocide and human rights studies. The program strives to show, through the study and sharing of the genocidal traumas of many peoples, that genocide is a universal human experience and that, as such, must be the concern of all individuals and institutions.