|
|
Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The
Genocide of the Armenians
Facing History and Ourselves is proud to announce the
publication of its newest resource book
Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the
Armenians. In advance of its release,
scholars of the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and Human Rights
as well as middle and high school educators have enthusiastically
received the book. Crimes Against Humanity
and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians
combines the latest scholarship on the Armenian
Genocide with Facing History and Ourselves’ interdisciplinary
approach to history - enabling students and teachers to make the
essential connections between history and their own lives.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide,
Samantha Power explains, “The Armenian
Genocide of 1915 set the stage for a gruesome twentieth century.
Facing History’s attention to the genocide, and its focus on key
events and personalities, can leave us with hope not only that the
genocide will not be forgotten, but also that future generations
will be better equipped to respond to the injustices that await them,
at home and abroad.”
After reading the book, Richard Hovannisian, the
Chair in Modern Armenian History at the UCLA explained, “This
resource book is unique in its approaches to the legacy of the
Armenian Genocide. It helps students and teachers to understand that
the crime was committed not only against the Armenians but also
against all humanity.”
Michael Berenbaum, genocide scholar and former
project director of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, believes,
“Even the best of scholars can well learn anew how to teach history
and how to relate to their students’ lives from this important book.”
Best-selling author of The Burning Tigris:
The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response,
Peter Balakian, explains that
Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization,
“brings together the historical, social, psychological, and ethical
dimensions of the history and the aftermath of the Armenian
Genocide,” and states that “Facing History and Ourselves has done an
extraordinary job and demonstrates once again that it is at the
forefront of education in America.”
Adam Strom, program associate for research and
development, and the coordinator for the Armenian Genocide project
at Facing History, believes that the new book has the potential to
reach multiple audiences. He explains, “Recent events have reminded
all of us how important it is to teach about tolerance, human rights,
as well as the need to have informed discussion about our
relationship to events beyond our borders.”
Social studies teachers can use
Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The
Genocide of the Armenians to teach about
Empires and Nationalism and the quest of minorities to obtain equal
rights. By placing the Armenian Genocide in the context of World War
I, the book focuses on a neglected aspect of the war and the
precedent set by the deportation and massacre of the Ottoman
Armenians for the Nazi Holocaust under the cover of World War II.
Throughout the book, the stories emphasize the moral dilemmas faced
by individuals, groups, and nations as they confronted the treatment
of the Armenians before, during, and after the genocide.
Founded in 1976, Facing History and Ourselves offers
an interdisciplinary approach to citizenship education that connects
the history of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide to the
moral questions young people face today. Its mission is to engage
students in civic education – an education that encourages the
skills, promotes the values, and fosters the ideals needed to
sustain a democratic society. Facing History provides middle and
high school educators with tools for teaching history and ethics,
and for helping their students learn to combat prejudice with
compassion, indifference with participation, myth and misinformation
with knowledge.
The new resource book is just the latest example of
the commitment Facing History and Ourselves has to teaching about
the Armenian Genocide. Over 25 years ago, Facing History’s first
study guide addressed the Armenian Genocide. Since that time, the
organization has included resources and speakers on the Armenian
Genocide in workshops and institutes. Starting next fall Facing
History and Ourselves will model interdisciplinary educational
strategies for using
Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The
Genocide of the Armenians
in institutes, seminars, and workshops in the
U.S. and abroad. Sample readings and lesson plans may be downloaded
from
www.facinghistorycampus.org
and copies of the book may be ordered online or by calling (617)
232-1595.
Facing History is grateful to Thomas Blumenthal and
Lisa Achki Blumenthal and their family for their support in printing
and disseminating this book. They are grateful as well to Caroline
Mugar who funded the research that got this project off the ground.
|
|
