August 29, 2025, TORONTO, ON — The Zoryan Institute is pleased to announce its newest initiative, Scholar’s Corner, an academic blog that will offer timely, scholarly commentary on urgent global issues related to genocide, human rights violations, and mass atrocities. The blog will officially launch this Fall, with the first series of articles currently in development. Submissions are now open on a rolling basis.
Scholar’s Corner is managed by the Zoryan Institute’s Academic Board of Directors, under the leadership of Dr. Maureen Hiebert, Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, and Executive Deputy Director of the Institute, Megan Reid. It has been established following critical and thoughtful discussions among the Academic Board on how best to respond to rapidly unfolding crises in regions such as Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Iran, and Myanmar.
This initiative will serve as a platform for leading scholars, practitioners, and alumni of the Institute’s Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) to publish concise, thoughtful analyses that bring clarity and context to today’s most pressing human rights challenges. Published monthly, Scholar’s Corner provides a more agile and accessible platform, one that upholds rigorous academic standards while offering analysis in a format that is immediate, widely readable, and publicly engaged.
On this occasion, Zoryan Institute President Greg Sarkissian explained its unique role in advancing the Institute’s mission in raising awareness about gross violations of human rights, mass atrocities, and genocide. He described how it differs from other traditional academic platforms, such as GSI and other peer-reviewed publications, which often do not reach the public in a timely manner to respond to questions the public raises about issues the world is facing.
He added, “What distinguishes this blog is not only its academic rigour, but also its aim to foster conversation among scholars and the community of over 500 graduates from the Institute’s university program, many of whom are accomplished scholars themselves.”
Scholar’s Corner warmly invites all interested contributors to submit their articles according to the guidelines specified below.
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Call for Submissions
Scholar’s Corner is currently accepting submissions through the form available on the Zoryan Institute website: Contribute to Scholar’s Corner.
Articles should be between 600 and 2,000 words, and must include a brief abstract and author biography (2–3 sentences). Articles should be prepared in MS Word. Text should be double-spaced in 12-point font with 1″ margins. Please visit the link above for more information on how to submit.
Meet the Editors of Scholar’s Corner:
Scholar’s Corner is overseen by the following team of accomplished GHRUP alumni who bring diverse regional expertise, disciplinary backgrounds, and a shared commitment to critical inquiry and public engagement.
Dr. Taiwo Bello is an Assistant Professor of African History and an affiliate at Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Neekoo Collett is a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Edita Gzoyan is the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation in Yerevan.
Dr. Hazal Halavut is an LA&PS Postdoctoral Fellow at York University.
Dr. Alison MacAulay is a postdoctoral fellow in Historical Studies at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.
Dr. Athena Madan is an Assistant Professor in Social Medicine at the University of Victoria.
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The Zoryan Institute is a non-profit organization that serves the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations. This is done through the systematic continued efforts of scholars and specialists using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and in accordance with the highest academic standards.
To these ends the Institute undertakes and supports multi-disciplinary research, documentation, lectures, seminars, colloquia, and publications.
