UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES OFFERS SUMMER COURSE ON COMPARATIVE GENOCIDE

Toronto, Canada - The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) is pleased to announce an agreement with the University of Minnesota to hold the Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) for 2004 jointly in both Minneapolis and Toronto.

The GHRUP is a 2-week, 4-credit course that analyzes genocide through a multi-disciplinary approach and provides the intellectual framework for understanding genocide and the human responses to it. The program explores the universality of the issues related to genocide and takes a comparative approach for understanding the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust (the Extermination of European Jewry by Nazi Germany), the Cambodian Genocide and Rwandan Genocides, and more recent events with genocidal overtones. There is a focus on the Armenian Genocide, which is considered the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century. In addition, many special themes are explored, such as the mass violation of human rights; women, children, and genocide; how to teach about genocide; issues of memorialization and representation; and possibilities of dialogue and reconciliation between perpetrator and victim groups.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota stated, "Since 1997, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota has offered one and two-week summer workshops on the Holocaust and genocide. As a large land-grant American University, the U of M has been able to engage various centers and departments as co-sponsors and participants in this effort. This includes The Institute for Global Studies, Center for German and European Studies, and The Human Rights Program at the U of M, which also offers specialized courses and workshops for teachers on this important subject. The alliance between the University of Minnesota and the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies allows both centers access to enhanced academic expertise, as well as the capacity to teach about genocide to larger numbers of students and teachers. The two-week format of the program provides a special intensity and discourse among participants, which is unique and has had the effect of changing career plans for some students. The University of Minnesota looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies."

The program at the Twin Cities campus will take place July 5-16, 2004 and accommodate up to 35 people. The program in Toronto will take place August 3-13, 2004 and accommodate up to 25 people.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with the University of Minnesota," explained Prof. Roger Smith, Director of the program. "This serves to extend the course to an excellent university in the United States and may make it easier for some students to attend. We are especially pleased," he added, "that the University of Minnesota will provide four credits to students at either location who successfully complete the course. Students who do not need credits can also participate and have the flexibility of paying a lower tuition fee."

Details of the 2004 program will be provided shortly. For more information, contact Dr. Stephen Feinstein, director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota, 612-626-2235, feins001@umn.edu, or Julie Gilmour, International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, 416-250-9807, admin@genocidestudies.org.