YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS. The Genocide Education Project of the United States, in cooperation with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, has organized a ten-day intensive professional development program in Armenia for a group of American educators.

The Genocide Education Project Executive Director, American-Armenian Roxanne Makasdjian told ARMENPRESS that the organization has been founded around 20 years ago by herself and two friends. It’s an independent initiative aimed at introducing and teaching the US teachers on the history of the Armenian Genocide so that they will start teaching the Genocide to their students.

“The program is being held in the conference hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in a format of a lecture-practical training. The historical, legal, social-psychological perspectives of the Armenian Genocide will be presented to the participants, at the same time showing them the long-term impact of that crime, its impunity on Armenia’s current political and economic situation”, she said.

Roxanne Makasdjian said that there is also a separate course on the Artsakh issue, as well as the program has a special cultural part that will contribute to raising general awareness among educators on Armenians, the Armenian history and Armenia.

“15 educators from 15 US states will participate in the program this year. Most of them have more than 20 years of experience in teaching in humanitarian sector, some of them have edited or participated in the publications of collections on the Genocide, as well as in the development of education programs of different museums”, Roxanne Makasdjian said.

She said that the program participants will later organize such training programs and courses in their States with the support of GenEd.

Justin Bilton, an English teacher at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, said that before the participation in this program, he was already teaching the Genocide in a high school and a university and he understood that in order to teach the genocides of the 20th centuries a basis is needed, and that will be the Armenian Genocide.

“In fact, I didn’t have many materials about the Armenian Genocide and I started looking for primary sources by which I could teach the Armenian Genocide. Meetings started with the Armenian community, the Genocide Education Project, ties were established with program members and organizers. After that I decided to visit Armenia which is very important for my activity because after visiting Armenia I understood what the Armenian Genocide means for the identity of today’s Armenian”, he said.

He said that the visit to Armenia was very important for him.

“Walking to the Genocide Memorial, standing near the Flame for the first time was very emotional for me because it more helped to see an individual in that common crime which we usually cannot transfer it via books and films to our students”, Justin Bilton said.

Amy Perkins, a Social Studies teacher currently at Lakeshore High School in Stevensville, Michigan, said that her knowledge about the Armenian Genocide comes from the University of Michigan where she has studied, and currently as well there is a department of Armenian Studies and she keeps ties with them.

“I will use the knowledge I got on the Armenian Genocide through this program in three main directions. Firstly, as a teacher of World History, secondly, I am working with the Armenian community of Detroit on developing teaching guidelines which all schools of the State will start using, and thirdly, this year a big conference attended by history teachers will take place in Philadelphia in December where the main topic of my report will be the teaching of the Armenian Genocide”, Amy Perkins said.

She said that she will continue keeping ties with the Genocide Education Project, by using their resources and the materials provided by the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.