• The Corning Centre had the honour of participating in Toronto’s Holocaust Education Week this year with a presentation titled Memory and Justice: The Armenian Genocide in partnership with Temple Kol Ami. The event took place on Friday, November 4, 2016, at 7:30pm at Temple Kol Ami during the Friday night service.

    Raffi Sarkissian, founder and chair of the Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education, presented about the importance of memory and justice and the challenges faced in remembering and commemorating the Armenian Genocide in the face of genocide denial and the passing of the surviving generation.

    Sarkissian focused most of the talk on denial both as a catalyst for destruction and a barrier to social transformation in Turkey, “The systematic destruction and appropriation of sites of memory (religious and cultural sites and sites that could have been significant in educating about genocide) by the Turkish Republic, prevented these spaces from becoming sites for education and healing. The unceasing policy of denial has also led many families who saved Armenian lives between 1915-1923, to live in shame and remain silent about their good deeds while the memory of the perpetrators of genocide are celebrated. This assault on memory, realized through various state mechanisms and institutions, has prevented Turkish society to transition to a post-genocide era that could have been based on respect for the human rights of all citizens. Today, the Turkish government chooses to promote hatred and violence toward minorities. We see the most recent example of dehumanization and polarization in Turkey, with the unlawful arrest of eleven MPs representing the Peoples’ Democratic Party, including its co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.”
  • Through a motion passed unanimously in 2013, the Toronto District School Board declared April as Genocide Awareness Month. On April 24, 2015, the Canadian Parliament also unanimously passed Motion M-587, declaring April of each year as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month and April 24 of each year as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. 

    On the occasion of the passing on Motion M-587 last year, the Corning Centre announced, “A powerful and united message echoed from the Canadian Parliament on April 24. This was a collective message of solidarity with all victims of genocide internationally and all those who are dedicated to end denial and prevent genocide in all countries. Motion M-587 not only sets out to remember the past but also ensures that the rights of all those who are working to defend human rights are also upheld. This rings true for Turkish civil society and institutions that are working tirelessly for Turkish recognition of the Armenian Genocide and compensation for victims.” 

    We invite all teachers to find the time to discuss the topic of genocide and the lessons we must draw from such events.

    As we approach the 101st  Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we encourage teachers to access the resources we have on our Online Lesson Portal and in our Reference section. We highly reccomend teachers to also use the 100 Voices collection of student voices and the Call from Armenia Canadian press materials

    Teachers can also use the Globe and Mail opinion piece titled “Why we commit to commemorate” written by our founder and chair, Raffi Sarkissian, published last year. 

    We would like to remind teachers that you can book a free class visit with us. We would be glad to visit your students and prepare a presentation or workshop catered to your needs.
  • 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.
  • ​The Corning Centre, in partnership with the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Ontario, hosted two book launch event for “The Call From Armenian: Canada’s Response to the Armenian Genocide” by Aram Adjemian. Both events, one held in Cambridge on Friday, February 19 and the second in Toronto on Sunday, February 21, had successful turn outs. Aram has gathered interesting and never before published information about Canada’s positive role before, during and after the Armenian Genocide. Canada’s and Canadians’ important role in relief efforts, advocacy and awareness during the period of the Armenian Genocide is a history that has only recently been brought to light.

    Levon Sarmazian, member of the educational resources committee at the Corning Centre, and Raffi Sarkissian, Chair of the Centre, made welcoming remarks and presented the author, Aram Adjemian in Cambridge and Toronto respectively. Both spoke about the educational value of the book for the Canadian public, how the book ties into the Ontario curriculum and about how valuable Adjemian’s research has been for the Centre’s work.  

    On this occasion, the Corning Centre distributed a Teacher’s Guide and Resource which will soon be available online as well. Copies of the book and the resource will soon be distributed to teachers through the Corning Centre.
  • In partnership with The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee,  the Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education has organization a special book presentation for Aram Adjemian’s The Call from Armenia: Canada’s Response to the Armenian Genocide.

    The first of our two events will be taking place Friday, February 19th, 2016 at 8:00 PM at the Cambridge Armenian Community Centre.

    A second launch will be taking place Sunday, February 21st, 2016 at 2:00pm at the Armenian Community Centre (45 Hallcrown Place, Toronto)

    Both events will include a special presentation by the author, Aram Adjemian.

    Published on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide Centennial by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Canada, The Call from Armenia explores the substantial Canadian response to atrocities perpetrated on the Armenian people from the late nineteenth century to the 1920s.

    The Corning Centre will soon release a supplemental teaching resource to be used in classrooms.

    You can RSVP by clicking attending on our Facebook Event.
  • As we embark on a new year full of many exciting projects ahead, we would like to take this time to look back at some of our accomplishments of 2015.

    As part of our work towards the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Centre launched the 100 Voices Project. The initiative aims to document the voices of descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the continued effects genocide and human rights violations have on them. The project was featured in an article on CTV titled “100 Years Later, Armenian Genocide Stories Survive on Social Media”

    The Corning Centre took part in this year’s Holocaust Education week with an event dedication to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The event, titled 100 Voices: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, showcased clips from our “100 Voices” project and a presentation which was followed by a panel discussion.

    The Corning Centre also co-sponsored two university events. The first was a conference at the University of Toronto titled “Genocide: From Prevention to Justice”. Second, was  “The Armenian Genocide and its Impact”, a panel presentation at Ryerson University. If you missed the event at Ryerson University, you can watch the archived webcast here, you can also watch the University of Toronto conference at this link. 

    Our chair’s article in the Globe and Mail titled “Why We Commit to Commemorate” highlighted the importance of collective commemoration of past atrocities and Canada’s historic involvement in providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and their descendants. 

    The Corning Centre also held an exhibit dedicated to Canada’s humanitarian response to the Armenian Genocide at Toronto City Hall titled “Canada We Thank You”.  Our “Canadian Upstanders” exhibit was also displayed at University of Toronto’s Robarts Library during an exhibit titled “1915-2015: 100 Years of Life”.

    We are excited to announce that the deadline for Speak Out! Our Essay, Creative Writing and Visual Arts Contest has been extended! The new deadline is August 1st 2016.

    If you have not already, we encourage you to take a moment and visit our resources page and benefit from the materials developed by our team. The most recent publication was “Canada and the Armenian Genocide”, a perfect set of readings for secondary school students accompanied by discussion questions and “Historical Thinking Concepts: The Georgetown Armenian Boys”.

    We are also happy to report that we have been extremely busy with our classroom visits in the first term of this school year. We look forward to continue visiting Ontario classrooms and making a positive impact on students and supporting our teachers through these visits. Visit our Book a Visit page if you would like to schedule a class visit.