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    Capacity Attendance Expected and Henry Theriault Announced as Keynote Speaker at “Armenian Genocide: A Just Resolution,” Corning Centre’s 2017 Student Conference

    News & Events 3
    The conference has already reached its capacity attendance with 230 students and 12 teachers registered from six Ontario schools and four school boards! We are still taking requests, since we may be able to accommodate more students. Please visit our registration page to submit your school information.

    The conference has already reached its capacity attendance with 230 students and 12 teachers registered from six Ontario schools and four school boards! We are still taking requests, since we may be able to accommodate more students. Please visit our registration page to submit your school information. 

    We are happy to announce Henry C. Theriault  as our keynote speaker for the 2017 Student Conference, The Armenian Genocide: A Just Resolution. Henry C. Theriault is a Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Worcester Sate University. He has taught there since 1998. Theriault’s expertise is focused on Genocide and Human Rights studies, and he is the chair of the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group. The study group published their report in 2015 titled Resolution with Justice: Reparations for the Armenian Genocide. He has published a number of papers focused on genocide denial, prevention, violence, and reparations. 

    We look forward to collectively commemorating Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month and the official remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide on Monday, April 24, 2017. 
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    Corning Centre Introduces “Women of 1915” at POM Special Screening

    News & Events 3

    The Corning Centre had the honour of introducing Bared Maronian’s inspiring and powerful documentary Women of 1915 for the second time at the Hamazkayin Toronto Pomegranate Film Festival Committee’s special encore presentation in benefit of A.R.S. Armenian School's annual Telethon on Saturday, February 25, 2017. Corning Centre founder and chair Raffi Sarkissian introduced the film, stating, “The documentary you are about to see is very unique, as was Bared Maronian’s previous documentary, Orphans of the Genocide. Both left audiences worldwide with knowledge they would not have otherwise come across and a high level of curiosity, prompting one to dig deeper and learn more. Bared’s creations embody every aspect of an excellent documentary. Therefore, it is no coincidence that he has received many honours and awards.”

    At the event, the Corning Centre’s director of finance, Paul Ternamian, presented the Speak Out contest to the audience and invited the awardees onto the stage. Director Bared Maronian joined the Corning Centre in presenting certificates and awards. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, among its several initiatives, the Corning Centre held an essay and creative-writing contest called Speak Out. The contest was open to all senior-level high school students in Ontario. It awarded first-place prizes of $500 for each category and runner-up prizes of $100.

    This year’s winners represented two schools from two school boards: Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute from the Waterloo Region District School Board and Sir Allan Macnab Secondary School from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

    This year's winners were fortunate to have had exemplary teachers who attended the event, both of whom have worked with the Corning Centre in the past: Erin Ledlow from Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute from the Waterloo Region District School Board and Deborah Brown from Sir Allan Macnab Secondary School from the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The Corning Centre recognized the two outstanding Ontario teachers for their commitment to genocide education. They received copies of Aram Adjemian’s book A Call From Armenia: Canada’s Response to the Armenian Genocide and Bared Maronian’s two films, on DVD: Orphans of the Genocide and Women of 1915.

    The prize winners of the essay contest were Gabriella Zepeda Ayala (first place) and Nate Skeen (second place). The winners of the creative-writing contest were Casey Monkelbaan (first place) and Lareb Zahra (second place).

    We want to congratulate all the winners and participants and to thank every teacher for their continued support and dedication to genocide education. Paul Ternamian concluded the award ceremony by stating, “Education is the most effective means to equip every new generation with the knowledge and skills needed to become positive contributors in society and agents of change. The grade 11 Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Course has been doing just that, thanks to dedicated teachers like Erin and Deborah.”

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    New Publication—Understanding Atrocities: Remembering, Representing, and Teaching Genocide

    News & Events 3
    Portrait of Raffi Sarkissian


    We are excited to announce the publication of Understanding Atrocities: Remembering, Representing, and Teaching Genocide, edited by Scott W. Murray and published by the University of Calgary Press. The book includes a chapter by Corning Centre Founder and Chair Raffi Sarkissian.


    “Understanding Atrocities is a wide-ranging collection of essays bridging scholarly and community-based efforts to understand and respond to the global, transhistorical problem of genocide. The essays in this volume investigate how evolving, contemporary views on mass atrocity frame and complicate the possibilities for the understanding and prevention of genocide.” It is published as part of the Arts in Action series, which “focuses on illuminating, promoting, or demonstrating the fundamental significance of the arts, humanities, and social sciences to public well-being and contemporary society.”


    Murray, the editor of the book, is associate professor of history in the department of humanities at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.


    Sarkissian’s chapter, titled “Benefits and Challenges of Genocide Education: A Case Study of the Armenian Genocide,” explores the benefits of genocide education and the challenges faced when advocating for its implementation. It uses the Armenian Genocide as a case study. An exploration of the history of genocide curricula helps to contextualize the issue. The chapter examines the Toronto District School Board’s efforts to develop and implement Canada’s very first high school senior-level course dedicated to genocide education. A review is also given of Holocaust education in the United States, which was a catalyst for the implementation of curricula on other genocides in the US. The focus of the chapter is primarily the Armenian Genocide and the challenges involved in teaching about it due to the policy of denial pursued by the government of Turkey.


    Understanding Atrocities can be preordered through Amazon. For more information, click here.


    ​Sarkissian holds a BA Hons. in history and an MEd from York University and a BEd from Trent University. He holds principal’s qualifications and teaching certifications in the primary, intermediate, and senior divisions.


    He has conducted extensive research in the field of genocide and human rights education and serves as a board member of the Armenian Legal Centre for Justice and Human Rights. He is vice-principal of ARS Armenian Private School in Toronto and an occasional, part-time professor in the department of General Education and Liberal Studies at Centennial College. He has over 15 years of experience in leadership positions in Canadian-Armenian organizations.


    Please refer to the table of contents below for information on the list of contributors and topics.


    1. Atrocity and Proto-Genocide in Sri Lanka

    Christopher Powell and Amarnath Amarasingam


    2. Finding Global Justice Locally at Sites of Atrocity: The Case for the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center and Cemetery

    Laura Beth Cohen


    3. Troubling History, Troubling Law: The Question of Indigenous Genocide in Canada

    Adam Muller


    4. The Benefits and Challenges of Genocide Education: A Case Study of the Armenian Genocide

    Raffi Sarkissian


    5. “We Charge Genocide”: A Historical Petition All but Forgotten and Unknown

    Steven Leonard Jacobs


    6. “A Tragedy to be Sure”: Heteropatriarchy, Historical Amnesia, and Housing Crises in Northern Ontario

    Travis Hay, Kristin Burnett, and Lori Chambers


    7. Remembering Them All: Including and Excluding Atrocity Crime Victims

    Andrew R. Basso


    8. Helping Children Understand Atrocities: Developing and Implementing an Undergraduate Course Titled War and Genocide in Children’s Literature

    Sarah Minslow


    9. Thinking About Nazi Atrocities Without Thinking About Nazi Atrocities: Limited Thinking as Legacy in Schlink’s The Reader

    Lorraine Markotic


    10. Atrocity, Banality and Jouissance in Performance

    Donia Mounsefp

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    Holocaust Education Week—Memory and Justice: The Armenian Genocide

    News & Events 3
    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.”
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    April Is Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation, and Prevention Month

    News & Events 3
    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.
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    From Remembrance to Action: Exploring Upstanders Facing Difficult History and Their Importance in Today’s World

    News & Events 3
    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.