Genocide
Education
Resource for Teachers
In the United States, 11 states require the teaching of the Armenian
Genocide. These are California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Virginia.
The list as well as the text from each state's educational framework
can be found here: www.teachgenocide.com/background/requirements.htm
FACING HISTORY
http://www.facinghistory.org/campus/reslib.nsf
Facing History provides teaching materials for genocide education
for grades 7-12. They also have special teaching modules for the
Armenian Genocide. Go onto their web-site for more information.
Here is their overview:
“If one by one, hundreds of children learn
the evils of hatred in history, then learn to face and change
that hatred in their own world—through art, language, and
service—and to begin to build communities of educated, committed
citizens, who is to say that Facing History cannot be the catalyst
for an end to prejudice, violence, and injustice?” —A
Facing History student
Since 1976, Facing History has been engaging students of diverse
backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism
in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed
citizenry. By studying the historical development and lessons
of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make
the essential connection between history and the choices they
confront in their own lives.”
THE GENOCIDE EDUCATION PROJECT
http://www.GenocideEducation.org
The Project’s chief aim is to provide teaching materials
for the classroom. Here is their overview:
“The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit
organization that assists educators in teaching about human rights
and genocide, particularly the Armenian Genocide, by developing
and distributing instructional materials, providing access to
teaching resources and organizing educational workshops.”For
specific curriculum requirements of individual states in the U.S.
go to:
http://www.teachgenocide.com/background/requirements.htm
HERE
ARE THE GUIDELINES FOR U.S. SCHOOL SYSTEMS:
CALIFORNIA
California History-Social Science Content Standard
10.5.5 requires that students in the public schools:
Discuss human rights violations and genocide, including the Ottoman
government's actions against Armenian citizens.
History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools:
"Within the context of human rights and genocide, students
should learn of the Ottoman government's planned mass deportation
and systematic annihilation of the Armenian population in 1915.
Students should also examine the reactions of other governments,
including that of the United States, and world opinion during
and after the Armenian genocide. They should examine the effects
of the genocide on the remaining Armenian people, who were deprived
of their historic homeland, and the ways in which it became a
prototype of subsequent genocides." (Framework,
p.127)
"Genocides, such as that perpetrated on the Armenians, already
had demonstrated the human capacity for mass murder. The Nazis
perfected the social organization of human evil and provided an
efficient and frightening model for future despots such as Pol
Pot in Cambodia." (Framework, pp.128-129)
ILLINOIS
On August 5, 2005, Illinois passed a Public Act (PA 094-0478)
mandating the teaching of the Armenian Genocide, in addition to
other 20th century genocides, in public schools.
Since the Illinois framework for public schools has not been updated
yet to reflect this change, below is the text from PA 094-0478.
"One of the universal lessons of the Holocaust is that national,
ethnic, racial, or religious hatred can overtake any nation or
society, leading to calamitous consequences. To reinforce that
lesson, such curriculum shall include an additional unit of instruction
studying other acts of genocide across the globe. This unit shall
include, but not be limited to, the Armenian Genocide, the Famine-Genocide
in Ukraine, and more recent atrocities in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda,
and Sudan."
GEORGIA
Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) Standards
Grade 9-12, Social Studies
Course: World History
23. Topic: Human Rights
Standard: Analyzes the phenomenon of genocide in the 20th century
• Armenian
• Nazi holocaust, and
• ethnic cleansing (Balkan, African, and Asian).
KANSAS
World History
High School
History Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding
of significant individuals, groups, ideas, events, eras, and developments
in the history of Kansas, the United States, and the world, utilizing
essential analytical and research skills.
Benchmark 3: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding
of individuals, groups, ideas, developments, and turning points
of the Era of World War (1914-1945).
High School Knowledge and/or Application Indicators High School
Instructional Suggestions
The student: 2. (K) describes the emergence of contemporary Middle
East (e.g., petroleum society, Zionism, Arab nationalism, Balfour
Declaration, dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Armenian Genocide,
Ataturk’s modernization of Turkey).
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework
WHII.18 requires that students in the public schools:
Summarize the major events and consequences of World War I.
A. physical and economic destruction
B. the League of Nations and attempts at disarmament
C. The collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the subsequent Bolshevik
Revolution and Civil War in Russia
D. post-war economic and political instability in Germany
E. the Armenian genocide in Turkey
F. the unprecedented loss of life from prolonged trench warfare
MINNESOTA
Standards in Social Studies
World History Grades 9-12
Strand: III. WORLD HISTORY
Sub-Strand: H. Global Conflict, 1914 AD – 1945 AD
Standards: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the worldwide
impact of World War II.
Benchmarks
1. Students will analyze economic and political causes of World
War II and examine the role of important individuals during the
war and the impact of their leadership.
2. Students will understand and analyze impact of the Holocaust
and other examples of genocide in the 20th Century.
3. Students will explain the reasons for the formation of the
United Nations.Examples
1. Great Depression, competition for natural resources, Communism,
fascism, Nazism, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Tojo, Hirohito, Churchill,
F.D. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Raoul Wallenberg, Patton,
Marshall, Truman, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek
2. Final Solution, concentration camps, Armenian, Balkans, Nanking,
Kurdistan, Rwanda, Ukraine, Cambodia
3. Harold Stassen, San Francisco Conference, Security Council,
General Assembly, UNESCO, FAO, WHO, UNICEF
NEW JERSEYNew Jersey Social Studies Curriculum Framework, Chapter
2: Understanding History, Standard 6.4: Social History, Learning
Activities for Grades 9-12 - World History period, requires that
students in the public schools:
Locate and read other eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust and
of other tragic examples of human destruction in history, such
as the genocide of the Armenians; the horrors of Stalin's planned
famine in the Ukraine, the genocide in Cambodia or Rwanda, the
Trail of Tears in American history, the treatment of the Aborigines
in Australia, the forced immigration and enslavement of Africans,
and countless other examples of inhumanity. Compare and contrast
the authors' views, thoughts, emotions, and experiences with those
recorded by Anne Frank.
NEW
YORK
New York State Social Studies Core Curriculum Unit Six: A Half
Century of Crisis and Achievement (1900-1945), requires that students
in the public schools learn about:
A. World War I
1. Europe: the physical setting
2. Causes
3. Impacts
4. Effects of science/technological advances
on warfare
5. Armenian Massacre
6. Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
7. The war as reflected in literature, art, and
Propaganda
RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island General Laws (R.I.G.L.), Title 16 on Education, Curriculum
Chapter 16-22, Section 16-22-22 on Genocide and Human Rights Education,
requires that the department of elementary and secondary education
shall:
Pursuant to rules promulgated by the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education, develop curricular material on genocide
and human rights issues and guidelines for the teaching of that
material. The material and guidelines shall include, but not be
limited to: (1) the period of the transatlantic slave trades and
the middle passage; (2) the great hunger period in Ireland; (3)
the Armenian genocide; (4) the Holocaust; and (5) the Mussolini
fascist regime and other recognized human rights violations. In
formulating this program the department shall consult with practicing
teachers, principals, superintendents and experts knowledgeable
in genocide and human rights issues. Local school committees may
incorporate the material into their elementary and secondary school
curriculum.
OHIO
Academic Content Standards
Social Studies - Grade Nine
Interaction 2. Analyze the results of political, economic, and
social oppression and the violation of human rights including:
a. The exploitation of indigenous peoples;
b. The Holocaust and other acts of genocide, including those that
have occurred in Armenia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Iraq.
VIRGINIA:
Virginia World History and Geography: 1500 a.d. to the Present
Curriculum Framework, Standard WHII.11b, requires that:
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the worldwide impact
of World War II by examining the Holocaust and other examples
of genocide in the twentieth century.
Examples of other genocides:
• Armenians by leaders of the Ottoman Empire
• Peasants, government and military leaders, and members
of the elite in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin
• The educated, artists, technicians, former government
officials, monks, and minorities by Pol Pot in Cambodia
• Tutsi minority by Hutu in Rwanda Muslims and Croats by
Bosnian Serbs in former Yugoslavia
THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GENOCIDE SCHOLARS
The association draws together reputable scholars from all over
the world. Their web-site provides updated information about the
study of genocide, Darfur and the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
Here is their overview:
“The International Association of Genocide Scholars is a
global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks
to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and
consequences of genocide, and advance policy studies on prevention
of genocide. The Association, founded in 1994, meets biennially
to consider comparative research, important new works, case studies,
the links between genocide and gross human rights violations,
and prevention and punishment of genocide. The aim of the Association
is to focus more intensively on questions of genocide than is
possible in the existing two-hour format of most conferences and
to draw colleagues from different disciplines into an interdisciplinary
conversation. Membership is open to scholars, graduate students,
and other interested persons worldwide. The Association is an
autonomous affiliate of The Institute for the Study of Genocide.”
UNIVERSITY STUDY PROGRAMS:
For a list of universities and institutes offering genocide education
world-wide go on to the following site.
http://preventgenocide.org/edu/links
http://www.isg-iags.org/othersites.html
