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 www.genocidestudies.org. Registration for summer 2005 will begin later this year.