PSIA Hosts Seminar on the Genocide Education Project

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On July 24, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Political Science and International Affairs (PSIA) program held a seminar titled “The Genocide Education Project (GenEd).” The seminar was presented by Roxanne Makasdjian, GenEd’s founder and executive director, who is also the Director of Broadcast Communications at the University of California, Berkeley and was previously a national television news producer.

Makasdjian presented GenEd, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that helps educators teach about human rights and genocide, in particular the Armenian Genocide, as the modern era prototype for the genocides that followed. The project seeks to ensure that the U.S. students graduate from high school with basic knowledge about the Armenian Genocide. Thus, GenEd develops secondary education-level instructional materials and provides teacher-training workshops to help educators successfully incorporate lessons on the Armenian Genocide into their social studies curriculum. According to the speaker, there are already 13 U.S. states that mandate for teaching about the Armenian Genocide.

During the seminar, Makasdjian discussed the state of the Armenian Genocide education in American schools, the history of GenEd, its approach to teaching this important topic in modern world history, and its ongoing activities. She  stated that today’s students are tomorrow’s voters and elected officials, and explained the importance of teaching the Armenian Genocide.

The presentation was followed by a Q&A session during which the importance of presenting the GenEd to the wider public and the possibility of incorporating certain teaching methods of the GenEd into the Armenian high school curriculum were discussed, among other topics.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.