Genocide Education Project launches higher education division

Published: Friday December 16, 2011

James Sahagian will direct the new effort.

San Francisco - The Genocide Education Project is launching a new division focused on institutions of higher education in the United States. The new division will expand the organization's reach by sponsoring courses, lectures, exhibits and conferences at colleges and universities.

"Our organization's mission is to help educators teach the history and consequences of genocides, particularly the Armenian Genocide. This new division is an important extension of what The Genocide Education Project has been doing on a high-school level since its establishment," said Raffi Momjian, Executive Director of The Genocide Education Project.

The new division is led by James Sahagian, a financial advisor and Rutgers University alumnus. Sahagian has also been actively involved in promoting Armenian Studies for nearly 20 years. Since 1992, he and a committed group of volunteers have been responsible for raising funds and providing logistics for the campus's Armenian Studies Program. This has included offering Armenian language courses every semester on the New Brunswick campus, as well as five different courses on Armenian history over the past 20 years.

"There has been a long-time need for the establishment of an organization that will support the ongoing study of the Armenian Genocide from both a historical and modern human rights perspective," said Sahagian. "As we approach the one hundredth year since the sinister campaign to destroy the Armenian nation was launched, it is our duty as justice-seeking people to make sure that the Armenian Genocide is not referred to as the "Forgotten Genocide" any longer."

Beginning with an Armenian Christmas party at Sayat Nova Restaurant in Hackensack, New Jersey on January 7, 2012, a development campaign is underway to ensure the success of GenEd HigherEd and the progress of the Rutgers Armenian Studies Program.

GenEd at National Council for Social Studies conference

The Genocide Education Project participated in the annual conference of National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), the biggest national event for social studies educators. Attended by more than four thousand teachers and education professionals from around the country, the December 2-4 conference was held in Washington, DC, and was one of the most highly-attended conferences in the organization's history.

In addition to hosting an exhibit booth where educators could acquire materials and guidance on Armenian Genocide instruction, Sara Cohan, Education Director for GenEd, gave a presentation entitled "Quest for Justice: Martin Luther King and Hrant Dink" at the International Assembly, a subgroup of NCSS. Cohan discussed how the work of both Dink and King illuminated the ongoing struggle for basic rights of the individual--spanning time and place. Hrant Dink, the outspoken Armenian editor of Agos newspaper in Turkey, was assassinated in 2007 for discussing his Armenian heritage and history, just as Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968 because of his advocacy of civil rights for African-Americans and other minorities in the U.S.

Sevan Kolejian and Suzanne Cohan assisted GenEd at its exhibit booth during the conference. Teachers from Seattle to Miami visited the booth and received materials to support the teaching of the Armenian Genocide in their classrooms. Many teachers shared how they have already successfully implemented GenEd's lesson plans into their curriculum.

"The conference allows us to share Armenian Genocide materials with educators from around the country and gives us a chance to learn about their current needs," said Raffi Momjian, Executive Director of The Genocide Education Project. "We listen to teachers and then determine new and better ways of providing services to help them incorporate the Armenian Genocide into their history lessons."

The National Council for Social Studies was founded in 1921 and is the largest US association devoted solely to social studies education. It is organized into more than 110 affiliated state, local, and regional councils, and its members represent K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, and leaders in the various social studies disciplines. NCSS defines social studies as "the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence."

The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004, assisting educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide. GenEd develops and distributes instructional materials, provides access to teaching resources and conducts educational workshops.

Information about The Genocide Education Project can be found at http://www.genocideeducation.org/

Information regarding the January 7th Armenian Christmas party and The Genocide Education Project's Higher-Education division is available at (201) 739-0901.