TORONTO, Canada—The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies recently announced the ninth year of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP), which will be held in Toronto from Aug. 2-13. Offered in collaboration with the University of Toronto, the program allows registered students to earn graduate-level credits.
The GHRUP is often described by students as a life-changing experience. Said one student, “The GHRUP offers a brilliant opportunity for everyone who is interested in deepening their understanding of the phenomenon of genocide and ways we can work for its prevention. Its high academic standard, friendly and encouraging atmosphere provide a great setting to tackle and process one of the most destructive sides of human existence.”
Incorporating genocide theory, history, sociology, political science, and international law, and through a comparative analysis of several case studies (such as the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur) and a number of special themes, the GHRUP explores such issues as the foundations of human rights; international politics and genocide; international law and genocide; the preconditions of genocide; patterns of genocide; conflict resolution and reconciliation; genocide denial; and genocide prevention.
Major Brent Beardsley, an officer with the UN peacekeeping forces and an eye-witness to the Rwandan Genocide, is an instructor at the GHRUP. He expressed the course’s ability to “look at the bigger crime of genocide but always focus on, at the very heart of it, the horrendous human tragedy, and the responsibility we have to maintain their memory and to pass that memory on to others.”
Prof. Herbert Hirsch of Virginia Commonwealth University, one of the editors of “Genocide Studies & Prevention: An International Journal” and a teacher of prevention at the GHRUP, said the program is “one of the only programs that I have in fact ever heard of where students are in attendance for two very intense weeks, eight hours a day, where they are exposed to some of the leading scholars in their field to teach their specialties. … Here they are exposed to…eight different professors, all of whom are doing what they know best. Students get to interact with them, they get to interact with each other, they learn from the professors, they learn from each other, and the professors learn from the students. This is, in fact, a unique educational experience for everyone who participates.”
Students currently registered at the University of Toronto and graduate students from any university in Ontario may receive credit with no additional cost in tuition. Undergraduate students registered at other institutions across the province may make special arrangements for the same privilege. Students in other jurisdictions who wish to take the course for credit must make special arrangements with their local institution.
Applicants must be current or recent university students with a minimum of three years of undergraduate experience. Details and registration information are available on www.genocidestudies.org or by emailing admin@genocidestudies.org.
The International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (a division of the Zoryan Institute) is dedicated to scholarly research and dissemination of knowledge regarding the phenomenon of genocide in all of its aspects, to create an awareness of it as an ongoing scourge and promote the necessity of preventing it.
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