PRESS RELEASE
The Genocide Education Project
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 264-4203
[email protected]
www.GenocideEd ucation.org
Contact: Raffi Momjian – [email protected]
THE GENOCIDE EDUCATION PROJECT VISITS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM INSTITUTE
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YEREVAN, ARMENIA – On May 7, Sara Cohan, Education Director of The
Genocide Education Project met with the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute (AGMI) director and staff about the principles of
genocide education in the United States. The meeting took place at the
museum’s subterranean building under the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian
Genocide memorial complex in Yerevan, Armenia. Cohan detailed the work
of The Genocide Education Project in the U.S., which develops secondary
school resources and lesson plans on genocide and provides teaching
workshops. She also discussed effective approaches to teaching high
school students about the Armenian Genocide. Cohan and the museum staff
exchanged ideas on ways to integrate more educational opportunities for
school children into the museum’s tour experience.
The museum staff who participated in the meeting are experts on various
aspects of genocide studies, including the psychological and political
facets of genocide. They expressed the need to establish genocide
education programs in Armenia. Suren Manukyan, the museum’s Deputy
Director said that genocide education needed to be expanded in Armenia,
not just for students to learn the history truth, but because Armenia
still faced a real threat of genocide from its neighbors.
Cohan described the meeting as the highlight of her visit to Armenia.
She said it was an important first step in what she hopes will develop
into a productive relationship between the two organizations. She said
it also served to broaden her personal perspective on this subject. "I
had tended to think of the Armenian Genocide as part of our past," said
Cohan, an Armenian-American. "But visiting the museum was a sobering
reminder that Armenians could again be victims of mass violence. After
the massacres of Armenians in Azerbaijan in the late 1980’s,
understanding the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is even more crucial for
young people in Armenia. They need to understand the warning signs of
genocide, because of the precarious position of Armenia, and they need
to be able to identify such signs in other countries."
The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute conducts ongoing research and
exhibits. Since its establishment in 1995, the institution has
increasingly become an important resource for scholars, the
international community, and members of the public seeking to expand
their understanding of the Armenian Genocide. For more information on
the museum’s work, visit
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The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights and
genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing and
distributing instructional materials, providing access to teaching
resources and organizing educational workshops.