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The Genocide Education Project
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Contact: Raffi Momjian: [email protected]
Dec. 13, 2013
`A PROBLEM FROM HELL’: GENED TRAINS TEACHERS AT NATIONAL HISTORY CONFERENCE
Seattle, WA – The Genocide Education Project presented a day-long
training workshop for high school history teachers at the National
Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Seattle, Washington
and distributed Armenian Genocide teaching materials to more than 300
educators during the series of conference events, November 15-18.
Borrowing a title from the 2007 book `A Problem from Hell,’ on the U.S.
response to genocides, beginning with the Armenian Genocide, the
in-depth, full-day workshop was led by GenEd education specialist, Sara
Cohan. Joining the workshop as co-presenters were Mary Johnson of Facing
History and Ourselves, Mimi Stephens of Choices, and Kelley Szany of the
Illinois Holocaust Museum.
`It was heartening to hear educators discuss the importance of including
the history of the Armenian Genocide in their classrooms,’ said Cohan.
Workshop participants studied the origin of the term `genocide,’ coined
by legal scholar, Raphael Lemkin, after learning about the systematic
annihilation of Armenians. Cohan shared Armenian Genocide survivor
testimonies, beginning her presentation with GenEd’s recently produced
12-minute documentary for use in schools, “The Armenian Journey: From
Despair to Hope in Rhode Island,” the story of Armenian Genocide
survivor Margaret Garabedian Der Manuelian, told through her
great-granddaughter, 21 year old Dalita Getzoyan.
Educators also heard case studies of 20th century genocides and
appropriate approaches to teaching the subject. They participated in
activities that can be replicated in their classrooms and were provided
lesson plans and other teaching materials from the presenting organizations.
The National Council for the Social Studies is the largest U.S.
organization devoted to social studies education. This year’s conference
location, Seattle, made it possible for GenEd to introduce its services
to more educators from the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the
day-long workshop, GenEd also held a one-hour `poster session’
describing the eight stages of the genocide process.
Cohan also distributed Armenian Genocide materials to hundreds of
educators at GenEd’s information booth. `Many teachers said they use
our online resources with great success in their classrooms. It was good
to hear our TeachGenocide.com website is well-utilized, helping to fill
the void left by most textbooks which often don’t appropriately cover
this important part of modern history.’
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The Genocide Education Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, tax-exempt
501(c)(3) educational 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. For more
information about The Genocide Education Project, go to
Photo Caption:
– GenEd Education Specialist Sara Cohan (left) and NCSS participant, Ann
Marie Surabian, Edmonds School District, Washington
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