Los Angeles, CA – June 16, 2022: A Los Angeles based donor, inspired by the latest work of the Zoryan Institute, has provided a fund matching opportunity for all donations received by the Institute, up to $100,000.00 USD, over the next two months.  This is a great opportunity for the Zoryan Institute to double its resources to help expand the impact of its educational programming, research and publications, and scholarship on issues related to human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations.

We ask you, as friends and supporters of the Zoryan Institute, to give what you can to help the Institute achieve its goal of doubling this donation by August 15th, 2022. Funding from this campaign will expand the following 6 ongoing activities and programs undertaken by the Institute:

Genocide Education in Ontario High Schools: In May 2022, the Institute launched the Promoting Equity, Tolerance, Reconciliation and Awareness Through Genocide Education Program, in secondary schools across in Ontario, Canada, which has been funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education. With increased financial support, we hope to expand this program across Canada and the United States. The Institute also endeavours to expand our intensive teachers training program for secondary school teachers to better equip them with the tools and knowledge required to teach about genocide and human rights in high school classrooms. The matching fund will help us launch this new initiative. Click here to learn more about the program’s impacts in its first month!

Percentage of matching funds allocated to this program: 20%.

Research and Publication on the Cultural Erasure of Indigenous Peoples: Recognizing the need for more comprehensive and comparative resources on the cultural erasure of Indigenous Peoples, the Zoryan Institute seeks to expand its research and publication in this area. Undertaking this research is essential to raising awareness and allowing scholars and practitioners across disciplines to analyze the forces and factors driving cultural erasure and its impacts on Indigenous Peoples and perpetrator nations. This research also provides a foundation for evidence-informed policy and action that aims to address the ongoing injustices against Indigenous Peoples in select countries.

Percentage of matching funds allocated:  20%.

Transcription and Translation of Oral History Testimonies of Armenian Genocide Survivors in Canada: This project will translate the audio-visual testimonies of survivors of the Armenian Genocide from the original language of the interviews to English, making these interviews usable and accessible to scholars, researchers, filmmakers, and teachers internationally. This program is supported by Library and Archives Canada, a federal entity, through their Documentary Heritage Communities Program. With matching funds, the Institute hopes to expand on this initiative for interviews of survivors that resided outside of Canada.

Percentage of matching funds allocated: 30%

Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) at the University of Toronto: Since the program’s inception in 2002, the Zoryan Institute has brought together over 450 graduate students from 47 countries to develop a new generation of scholars to engage in research and publication in the field of Genocide and Human Rights Studies from a comparative and interdisciplinary approach.

With additional funding, the Zoryan Institute aims to prepare more students to engage in this work.

Percentage of matching funds allocated: 10%

Educational Screenings of “Aurora’s Sunrise”: Aurora’s Sunrise is a historical animated documentary film, based on the Zoryan Institute’s Armenian Genocide Oral History Collection, about the life of Aurora Mardiganian. In 2015, during the year of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Zoryan Institute signed a partnership agreement with Bars Media of Armenia to produce bring Aurora Mardiganian’s story to life on the big screen, to relay stories of the Genocide survivors to the younger generations, and to empower young women and girls to represent their communities in the face of great adversity and violence.

Screenings will be held in various institutions internationally, such as museums, secondary schools, universities, and community centers. Films have enormous power in connecting audiences with the experiences of victims in an authentic manner. Screening Aurora’s Sunrise at various institutions will lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon of genocide and its impacts among the public and in younger generations. Funds will allow the Zoryan Institute to screen the film free of charge at institutions with limited funding.

Percentage of matching funds allocated: 10%

The 44-Day Artsakh War Oral History Project: The Zoryan Institute Armenia is interviewing individuals on the ground in Armenia and Artsakh who have been displaced and impacted by the 44-Day Artsakh War. With the associated equipment, interviewers, and crew, each interview costs approximately $350 to conduct. This work is in line with the Institute’s past oral history programs with Syrian survivors, Armenian Genocide Survivors, survivors of the Sumgait Tragedy. The matching fund opportunity and your support will allow us to double the number of interviews conducted with survivors.

Percentage of matching funds allocated: 10%

The ongoing support and commitment of friends of the Zoryan Institute’s work is an incentive for the entire Zoryan Institute staff, editors, researchers and its Academic Board of Directors to continue serving scholarship in the areas of genocide, human rights, and diaspora-homeland relations. Thank you in advance for giving us the opportunity to expand our work and mission.

Please help us double our impact!

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