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ZORYAN HOSTS 22 STUDENTS TO STUDY GENOCIDE
http://asbarez.com/113353/zoryan-hosts-22-students-to-study-genocide/
Thursday, August 29th, 2013
GHRUP students attend a lecture
TORONTO-The Zoryan Institute's twelfth annual Genocide and Human
Rights University Program (GHRUP) commences at a fitting time as
atrocities and human rights violations unfold in Syria, Egypt, and
several countries in the Middle East and Africa.
This year, 22 students from ten countries arrived in Toronto to
meet and study with ten distinguished genocide scholars. Many of
the students come from backgrounds where gross violations of human
rights and genocide are part of their national or personal experience,
such as Kurds, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Armenians, Jews, Muslims, and
Christians. There are several students who work to provide aid to
affected communities, like those of Guatemala and Sudan. Perhaps even
more remarkable is the number of students who do not have a direct
connection, yet are deeply motivated to understand human rights
violations and genocide and how to raise awareness to prevent them
around the world.
The Course Director, Prof. Joyce Apsel of New York University, noted,
"Several students who are teachers commented on how much they learned
from watching the pedagogy of different instructors, as well as from
the course content. Other students consulted me and other instructors
about which directions and schools to pursue for graduate education.
They proved to be an outstanding group of students, and it was a
privilege to have two weeks in and out of the classroom to exchange
ideas and interests."
Indeed, the students brought many diverse experiences to the
classroom. One student who is a journalist by trade, described to the
class, based on a personal visit to North Korea, the importance of
maintaining a critical perspective on decades-old yet still ongoing
human rights abuses there. Another student presented the current and
historical human rights abuses of disabled peoples affected by policies
of eugenics in the USA, a group she works with in her field of Social
Work and Disability Studies. Yet another brought the class to tears by
discussing her own family's history of having suffered chemical attacks
in the Halabja massacre of March 16, 1988. The GHRUP provides students
the opportunity to voice these stories, to analyze comparatively how
genocides unfold, their immediate and trans-generational effects on
people, and to explore how we can stop them.
"It was remarkable to see descendants of perpetrator and victim groups
in the Armenian Genocide-students of Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish
backgrounds-find common interests with each other, and within the
academic environment of the program and, based on historical facts,
explore issues of stereotypes, memory, denial and reconciliation
together, seeing each other through the prism of humanity," says a
statement from the Zoryan Institute.
One student from Pakistan, currently a member of the UNAMID effort
in Darfur, Sudan, brought to the course the perspective and the
dedication of those who work to prevent genocide in the field.
The sentiments of all the students who attended the course are perhaps
best captured in their own words. Explaining the programs strengths,
one student commented, "I think the GHRUP does an amazing job of
providing an incredibly comprehensive course in such a short period
of time. The quality of the scholars and students, and the incredible
range of experiences and backgrounds are unparalleled."
Another student wrote that "This program is life- and career-changing.
It focuses on the history of genocide, the patterns of genocide,
the denial and prevention of genocide."
The Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute
for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, is the first non-profit,
international center devoted to the research and documentation of
contemporary issues with a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.
From: Baghdasarian
http://asbarez.com/113353/zoryan-hosts-22-students-to-study-genocide/
Thursday, August 29th, 2013
GHRUP students attend a lecture
TORONTO-The Zoryan Institute's twelfth annual Genocide and Human
Rights University Program (GHRUP) commences at a fitting time as
atrocities and human rights violations unfold in Syria, Egypt, and
several countries in the Middle East and Africa.
This year, 22 students from ten countries arrived in Toronto to
meet and study with ten distinguished genocide scholars. Many of
the students come from backgrounds where gross violations of human
rights and genocide are part of their national or personal experience,
such as Kurds, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Armenians, Jews, Muslims, and
Christians. There are several students who work to provide aid to
affected communities, like those of Guatemala and Sudan. Perhaps even
more remarkable is the number of students who do not have a direct
connection, yet are deeply motivated to understand human rights
violations and genocide and how to raise awareness to prevent them
around the world.
The Course Director, Prof. Joyce Apsel of New York University, noted,
"Several students who are teachers commented on how much they learned
from watching the pedagogy of different instructors, as well as from
the course content. Other students consulted me and other instructors
about which directions and schools to pursue for graduate education.
They proved to be an outstanding group of students, and it was a
privilege to have two weeks in and out of the classroom to exchange
ideas and interests."
Indeed, the students brought many diverse experiences to the
classroom. One student who is a journalist by trade, described to the
class, based on a personal visit to North Korea, the importance of
maintaining a critical perspective on decades-old yet still ongoing
human rights abuses there. Another student presented the current and
historical human rights abuses of disabled peoples affected by policies
of eugenics in the USA, a group she works with in her field of Social
Work and Disability Studies. Yet another brought the class to tears by
discussing her own family's history of having suffered chemical attacks
in the Halabja massacre of March 16, 1988. The GHRUP provides students
the opportunity to voice these stories, to analyze comparatively how
genocides unfold, their immediate and trans-generational effects on
people, and to explore how we can stop them.
"It was remarkable to see descendants of perpetrator and victim groups
in the Armenian Genocide-students of Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish
backgrounds-find common interests with each other, and within the
academic environment of the program and, based on historical facts,
explore issues of stereotypes, memory, denial and reconciliation
together, seeing each other through the prism of humanity," says a
statement from the Zoryan Institute.
One student from Pakistan, currently a member of the UNAMID effort
in Darfur, Sudan, brought to the course the perspective and the
dedication of those who work to prevent genocide in the field.
The sentiments of all the students who attended the course are perhaps
best captured in their own words. Explaining the programs strengths,
one student commented, "I think the GHRUP does an amazing job of
providing an incredibly comprehensive course in such a short period
of time. The quality of the scholars and students, and the incredible
range of experiences and backgrounds are unparalleled."
Another student wrote that "This program is life- and career-changing.
It focuses on the history of genocide, the patterns of genocide,
the denial and prevention of genocide."
The Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute
for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, is the first non-profit,
international center devoted to the research and documentation of
contemporary issues with a focus on Genocide, Diaspora and Armenia.
From: Baghdasarian