Challenges of Armenian Genocide Education in the 21st Century

Teaching about genocide, other crimes against humanity, and human rights violations are emotionally and intellectually demanding. Even though the work is so complex, its importance has grown in the 21st century, as teaching about genocide is an important means of prevention.

Taking into consideration the fact that a century has passed since the Armenian Genocide and the successor of the perpetrator state has not yet been brought to justice, that there is no common and accepted methodology of teaching the Armenian Genocide and the survivors of Genocide, who could give first-hand testimonies on the crime, have passed away, thus weakening genocide memory, the AGMI feels challenged to develop an effective structure of Armenian Genocide education for the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Artsakh and diasporan communities, as well as to offer materials and tools to international institutions involved in genocide education.

Taking into consideration the challenges of genocide education, the ongoing state denial of the Armenian Genocide, military aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, rising anti-Armeniansim, racism as well as extremist sentiments in the world and accepting the crucial role that education can play in mitigating hate speech and violence AGMI has, as a conference objective, the development of methodological bases of genocide education, with a specific focus on the teaching of the history of the Armenian Genocide.

The conference, which is unprecedented in Armenia in its scale and scope, is organized to provide a meaningful platform for teachers, professors, educators, genocide scholars, and human rights activists to share their experiences and to provide tools for genocide education. During the conference the topics may include, but are not limited to:

1. The methodology of teaching the topic of genocide (in elementary, middle, and high schools)
2. The methodology of teaching the topic of genocide in higher educational institutions
3. Psychological peculiarities of genocide education in Armenia and abroad
4. Ethical and moral consequences of genocide education
5. The rationale of choosing and teaching specific topics in the context of genocide (self-defense, individual resistance, humanitarianism, gendered violence, etc.)
6. Teaching about perpetrator regimes and ideologies
7. Teaching about individual perpetrators/rescuers
8. Memory and state policy
9. Memory, society, and trauma
10. Teaching genocide by using individual stories
11. Human rights, democracy, and genocide education
12. Teaching empathy to the young generation.

We invite prospective contributors to raise questions that they encounter while teaching a certain genocidal case in their respective countries with the hope of discussing and bringing up common solutions.

All interested candidates are invited to send their title and abstract (200-250 words) along with a short CV by January 30, 2021, to galustyan.regina@genocide-museum.am. 

The working languages of the conference are Armenian and English.