Teachers’ Workshop 2019: Teaching the Armenian Genocide in Ontario Classrooms
March 5, 2019
On March 2, 2019, the Sara Corning Centre for Genocide Education, in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves, organized a free teachers’ conference for Ontario educators called “Teaching the Armenian Genocide in Ontario Classrooms.” The workshop started with a session by Facing History and Ourselves facilitator Ben Gross, who discussed the resources available to teachers through his organization. He then went through several exercises teachers might conduct in their classrooms concerning the Armenian Genocide. The Corning Centre’s Director of Education Levon Sarmazian shared the resources available through the Centre related to the Armenian Genocide, including lesson plans, videos, books, articles, and other publications.
The event’s keynote speaker was Dr. Henry C. Theriault, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and professor of philosophy at Worcester State University. Dr. Theriault opened with a round-table discussion about the struggles educators face when teaching about genocide or human rights. The discussion allowed teachers to share their thoughts on how to keep students engaged while teaching about these topics. Dr. Theriault concluded the workshop by providing his own guidelines for teaching the Armenian Genocide and by providing clarifications to enhance the teachers’ understanding of the topic.
