ZORYAN INSTITUTE OF CANADA, INC.
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail:
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT:
George Shirinian
DATE: January 11, 2004
Tel:416-250-9807
Dr. Roger W. Smith Elected Academic Chair of Zoryan Institute
Dr. Roger W. Smith, internationally renowned genocide scholar, has
been elected chairman of the Zoryan Institute’s Academic Board of
Directors, namely, Professors Stephan Astourian, Yair Auron, Levon
Chorbajian, Vahakn Dadrian, Eliz Sanasarian, Lisa Siraganian, and
Khachig Tölölyan. Their responsibility is to recommend and approve
new scholarly projects, and to oversee and ensure the overall quality
of academic programs undertaken by the Zoryan Institute and its
subsidiary, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
Studies.
New Chairman’s Vision
Regarding his election as chairman, Smith says, “I have very much
enjoyed working with the outstanding scholars on the Zoryan Board over
the years. It is a challenge and honor to assume the responsibilities
of Chair of the Academic Board of Directors. In the term ahead, I hope
to continue to encourage activities that Zoryan has excelled at for
many years — sponsorship of conferences and lectures on the Armenian
Genocide, support for research and publication on the Armenian
Genocide and Diaspora Studies, and, above all, the Genocide and Human
Rights University Program (GHRUP). But I also see Zoryan
collaborating more with our colleagues at universities in Europe and
North America to offer courses based on the GHRUP model, as we have
already done with the University of Minnesota. I wish to encourage
students of all nationalities to engage in the study of other
genocides in comparison with the Armenian Genocide as a point of
reference. In this respect, Zoryan is initiating in 2005 a program
providing dissertation fellowships to Ph.D candidates. I think it is
also very important that Zoryan continue to reach out to the Armenian
community at many levels with lectures and educational programs, and
also encourage all Armenian and non-Armenian organizations and
individuals to support the Zoryan Institute, morally and financially,
in its endeavors to fulfill its mission.”
Background
A pioneer and major authority on the subject of genocide, Smith has
written widely on its nature, history, and prevention, and, in
particular, on denial of the Armenian Genocide. Educated at Harvard
and the University of California, Berkeley, Roger W. Smith is
Professor Emeritus of Government at the College of William and Mary in
Virginia. There he taught political philosophy and the comparative
study of genocide for twenty years. Dr. Smith taught his first course
on genocide, entitled “Human Destructiveness and Politics” in 1982. To
his dismay, he found that material on the Armenian Genocide was
extremely scarce, and due to the Turkish government’s tremendous
efforts to deny the event, few people outside the Armenian community
had even heard of the Genocide.
Describing how he came to his field of specialization, he stated, “My
interest in genocide, the ultimate denial of equality, is rooted in my
childhood. A moral commitment to equality was entrenched in me while
growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. It came partly out of a love for my
parents, who were strong and inspiring, despite the hierarchies and
valuations imposed on them by society, and partly from witnessing the
various socially sanctioned indignities inflicted on black people in a
deeply segregated south.”
Early Involvement with Zoryan
Recalling how he first got involved with Zoryan, Smith related that he
had been invited to attend its one-day conference on “Genocide and
Denial” in May 1986. He gave a very well received talk on the
psychological roots of denial, which he subsequently expanded and
published in 1990 as “Genocide and Denial: The Armenian Case and its
Implications.” As a result, he was invited to participate in many
scholarly and memorial forums thereafter. He began to focus his
research and teaching on Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. A
groundbreaking 1995 article co-authored by Smith, Robert Jay Lifton
and Eric Markusen, entitled “Professional Ethics and the Denial of the
Armenian Genocide,” exposed the secretive process by which the Turkish
government funds academics to discredit scholarship on the Armenian
Genocide. The article fueled a major protest by over one hundred
prominent scholars and intellectuals against the corruption of
American universities by the Turkish government.
Dr. Smith joined the Zoryan Board of Directors in 1988. “I was aware
of the institute’s Open University Program, Oral History Program,
research projects, and publications, including Hitler and the Armenian
Genocide, A Crime of Silence: The Armenian Genocide, and The Karabagh
File. As a non-Armenian, my understanding from the beginning was that
the Armenian Genocide was a crime committed not only against the
Armenian people, but also against all of humanity. I found the work on
the board that first year exciting, and my understanding of the
Armenian Genocide was confirmed, as the experience deepened my
knowledge, and perhaps made me even more of an activist on issues of
human rights and genocide.”
GHRUP
One of the experiences at Zoryan that has become exceptionally
engaging for Smith is the Genocide and Human Rights University
Program, run annually by the International Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute). He believes
strongly that the form of education necessary to prevent further
occurrences of genocide is one that promotes “tolerance, respect for
individuals, and a more humanistic view of the world.” His vision made
him an ideal choice in 2003 for Director of the GHRUP, which explores
the major genocides of the 20th century from historical, political,
sociological, legal, and human rights perspectives.
Many graduates of the program cite Dr. Smith as an inspiring teacher
and mentor. Smith is equally impressed with the students’ drive and
motivation to make a difference in the world. “Twenty years ago, there
were only a handful of us interested in the subject,” he recalls. “The
success of the GHRUP has made me feel overwhelmingly optimistic for
the future of genocide studies. The course plants a seed of knowledge
in every student who attends. Whether they use this knowledge to
become a human rights activist, a genocide scholar, or simply a person
who can influence others through informed dialogue, each and every one
of them now has the tools needed to spread awareness about genocide,
the world’s worst violation of human rights.”
The Zoryan Institute is the first international center in the Diaspora
devoted to the research and documentation of contemporary issues
related to the history, politics, society, and culture of Armenia,
Armenians around the world, and the Armenian Genocide, and in
conceptualizing Armenia’s place within a universal context. It
maintains offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Toronto, Canada.