21.07.2023


The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute hosted a three-day summer school titled “Teaching the Topic of the Armenian Genocide,” which this year was implemented in collaboration with The Genocide Education Project (GenEd) on July 19-21.

More than 30 Armenian history teachers from Yerevan and the regions participated, which was held for the fifth year.

The summer school was launched by AGMI Director Harutyun Marutyun, who, in his welcoming speech, emphasised the importance of teachers’ participation in such educational programmes and the transfer of their acquired knowledge and skills to their students.

The following speeches were made on the first day:

✅ Harutyun Marutyan, AGMI Director: “Problems of teaching the Armenian Genocide in the context of value orientations”
✅ Roxanne Makasdjian, Co-Founder, CEO of the GenEd program and website: “Teaching the Armenian Genocide: observations, approaches, methods” using the example of the https://genocideeducation.org website
✅ Suren Manukyan, Head of the Department of Comparative Genocide Studies at AGMI: “The importance of context for the study of history. The background and causes of the Armenian Genocide”
✅ Robert Tatoyan, Senior Memoirs Researcher, AGMI Study of Memoirs, Documents, and Press Department: “The Armenian Genocide in the language of numbers”
✅ Inesa Stepanyan, who has responsibility for educational programmes: “Survivors' memoirs and testimonies as an important source for teaching the topic of genocide.”

The participating teachers, accompanied by AGMI senior tour guide Angel Tevekelyan, toured the Armenian Genocide Museum on the first day, during which they became acquainted with its permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The following speeches were made on the second day:

✅ Narine Margaryan, AGMI Scientific Secretary: “Children as the target of the Armenian Genocide”
✅ Gohar Khanumyan, AGMI Chief Curator: “Nemesis: revenge or the realisation of justice?”
✅ Regina Galustyan, Researcher in the AGMI Department of Comparative Genocide Studies: “The importance and challenges of teaching about criminals”
✅ Tehmine Mardoyan, Senior researcher in the AGMI Department of Armenian Genocide Victims’ Documentation and Data Collection: “The Genocide of Other Christian Nations”
✅ Naira Yerkanyan, history teacher in the Hambardzum Galstyan High School No. 83 and School Liaison Officer and training teacher in the “Ashxarhatsuyts” educational programme: “Problems and features of the teaching methodology used for the topic of the Armenian Genocide”
✅ Both AGMI Director Harutyun Marutyan and Regina Galustyan, Researcher in the AGMI Department of Comparative Genocide Studies spoke about the programme under the title “Basic problems of the Armenian Genocide.”

On the last day of the summer school the following speeches were made:

✅ Naira Sahakyan, Senior Researcher in the AGMI Department of Armenian Repression in the Armenian-populated regions of Artsakh, Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan: “Prevention of genocide. A game of awareness and action”
✅ Gayane Movsesyan, On Point LLC founding director: “The application of the virtual domain in education and culture domains”
✅ Shushan Khachatryan, Head of the AGMI Department of Armenian Genocide Victims’ Documentation and Data Collection: “Concerning the methods of presenting the role of religion during the Armenian Genocide”
✅ Narek Manukyan, Co-founder of the "Paradigma" Educational Foundation: “Strategies used in the critical teaching of history.”

Each speaker’s presentation was followed by a question-and-answer and discussion session.

The teachers were given evaluation questionnaires, the results of which will be taken into consideration, to make future courses more effective.

At the end of the course, AGMI Director Harutyun Marutyan and Inesa Stepanyan, responsible for educational programmes, presented the teachers with certificates. She also congratulated and thanked them for applying and participating in the programme.

The summer school participants visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, laid flowers near the Eternal Fire and observed a minute’s silence in memory of one and a half million innocent martyrs of the Armenian Genocide at the end of the third day.