23 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS COMPLETE ZORYAN INSTITUTE GENOCIDE AND HUMAN RIGHTS UNIVERSITY PROGRAM

Toronto, Canada - Twenty-three students from around the world, completed the Zoryan Institute's Genocide and Human Rights University Program, which ran August 5-15 in Toronto. This intensive, two-week, 65-hour course analyzed the act of genocide, starting from the theorization, to the implementation, to the aftermath of genocide, including denial. The course uses the tools of such disciplines as history, sociology, political science, law and psychiatry to compare a number of case studies, including the Armenian Genocide. The aim of the program is to provide students with the intellectual framework for understanding the numerous, complex issues related to genocide as a universal human experience.

The students had diverse backgrounds, which, they noted, enriched the learning experience, as each shared his or her perspective. They came from Austria, Canada, Germany, Holland, Lebanon, the United States and Uruguay and were of Armenian, English, Croatian, Jewish, and Turkish ethnicities. Half the students were Armenian, half non-Armenian. Six are currently studying for their PhD, seven for their Master's degrees.

"Meeting so many people interested in the field was a unique experience. Dialogue with Turkish students was completely new and extremely beneficial on a personal level. It changed my experience of Genocide and its memory, it helped change significantly my understanding of the Turkish narrative greatly," said one of the Armenian students in a written evaluation at the end of the course.

"My…project deals with the role of the discourse about institutional mass destruction of the Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire, so that I will be continuing in this field. What I liked most was the cross-cultural contact with Armenian people. I have the feeling that there was important exchanges and better understanding," wrote one of the Turkish students.

Another student explained the impact of the course on him as follows. "The experience was an immense one. Student discussions beyond the classroom inspired me a great deal. Emotionally and intellectually, I am leaving this course with more drive….You can not learn about genocide and leave it be; at least I feel as though this is something I must continue-a responsibility of some sort to use my knowledge."

One student summed up the whole experience by saying, "I learned a hell of a lot here, but like I said, I think I could have learned more… But could I have? Well, in all honesty, I think the WHOLE experience was what the point was. Lord knows we've gone through a lot together over these two weeks and for that I'm extremely grateful. We are all taking something away from this class, knowledge, friends, and memories... I 'hope' that we all hold on to these things and remember the lessons."

The faculty of twelve included some of the foremost experts on genocide and related fields, among whom were Rouben Adalian, Director of the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC, Taner Akçam, Visiting Professor at the History Dept. of the University of Minnesota, Yair Auron, Senior Lecturer at the Open University of Israel, Frank Chalk, Director of the Montreal Institute of Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Richard Hovannisian, holder of the Chair Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jacques Kornberg, Prof. Emeritus of the History Dept. at the University of Toronto, Robert Melson, of the Dept. of Political Science at Purdue University, and Khachig Tölölyan, Prof. of English at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

"The purpose of training and developing young individuals and scholars is more than just to document cases of victimization," stated K.M. Greg Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute. "It is important for us to understand the factors that lead to genocide, generally, and led to the Armenian Genocide in particular. It is essential to understand the causes of genocide if we wish ever to be able to prevent its recurrence. On a personal note, it is critical to study our modern history, particularly the impact of the Genocide on us, in order to comprehend its meaning for our nation today, and its implications as we strive to forge our future."

Roger Smith, Professor Emeritus of Government at the College of William and Mary, serves as the program's director. He described the importance of the course with the following words. "We are living in an age of rights, but as globalization brings people into ever closer contact with each other, these rights are constantly challenged, and the potential for violence between peoples increases. It is very important, therefore, that we give young scholars an appreciation of what human rights are, that we train them through this kind of course to understand the causes and effects of genocide on victims and their descendents, and even the perpetrators, to recognize the tell-tale signs of impending genocide, and to motivate them to teach the world how to prevent it. I am very proud of these talented young men and women, many of whom have come from far away, undergone this rigorous course of study, and demonstrated their commitment to these goals."

Registration for summer 2004 will begin in November of this year. More information about this year's course, including the entire syllabus, can be found at the web site, www.zoryaninstitute.org

The Zoryan Institute is the first diasporan center devoted to the research and documentation of contemporary issues related to the history, politics, society, and culture of Armenia, the Diaspora and the Armenian Genocide, with offices in Cambridge, MA and Toronto, Canada.