From Remembrance to Action: Exploring Upstanders Facing Difficult History and Their Importance in Today’s World
March 29, 2016
On Tuesday March 8, the Corning Centre co-organized a TDSB student conference at the Central Technical School, in cooperation with Alpha Education, Facing History and Ourselves, Holodomor Research and Education Consortium and the TDSB Aboriginal Education Centre.
The conference, which was attended by over 100 students, was titled “From Remembrance to Action: Exploring Upstanders Facing Difficult History and their Importance in Today’s World”.
The Corning Centre participated with two workshops: “Canadian Upstanders During the Armenian Genocide” and “100 Voice: Survival, Memory an Justice”.
During the “Canadian Upstanders During the Armenian Genocide” workshop, students had the opportunity to view the Canadian Upstanders in the Ottoman Empire exhibit. Students examined and discussed the role played by Canadian individuals and institutions in providing humanitarian assistance during the Armenian Genocide. Primary sources and artifacts were available for students to view and examine.
During the “100 Voice: Survival, Memory an Justice” workshop, students had the opportunity to view videos from the Corning Centre’s 100 Voices Project dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The 100 Voices Project is a series of interviews with descendants of survivors or victims of the Armenian Genocide which was developed to encourage the sharing of youth voices and encourages student activism. The workshop focused on the themes of memory, survival and justice as they relate to the Armenian Genocide seen through the lens of Armenian youth.
The students were introduced to the idea that justice requires a voice and as individuals living in a free society, we have a responsibility to assume that role.
