The Zoryan Institute is pleased to announce the launch of its Alumni Spotlight, a monthly feature highlighting the achievements of alumni from the Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) at the University of Toronto. Each month, the Institute will showcase 1-3 alumni who have applied their GHRUP training to advancing human rights, public policy, research, and community engagement around the world. The featured alumni profiles will live on the Zoryan Institute website here.
The inaugural spotlight features three distinguished alumni.
Tamires Gomes Sampaio Oitica (Class of 2019)
Nationality: Brazilian
Tamires had the following to say about her experience in the GHRUP: “I have been researching the genocide of the black population in Brazil since I graduated and during my master’s degree, I had the opportunity to take the course on genocide and human rights at the Zoryan Institute. The knowledge acquired in this course was fundamental for my academic and professional training.”
Tamires Gomes Sampaio Oitica, a Brazilian attorney and public security expert, currently serves as Special Advisor to the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Read more.
Daniel Ohanian (Class of 2019)
Nationality: Canadian
Daniel had the following to say about his experience in the GHRUP: “The GHRUP played an immense role in my personal and professional development. It was in this program that I saw that genocide, a topic that I’d learned and cared about within my native community of Armenians in Toronto, could be studied critically and rigorously. I found a sense of intellectual community in the GHRUP I never thought was possible.”
Daniel Ohanian, PhD in Armenian and Middle Eastern history from the University of California, is a specialist in Ottoman and Armenian studies. Read more.
Veronica De Pieri (Class of 2023)
Nationality: Italian
Veronica had the following to say about her experience in the GHRUP: “The GHRUP helped in establishing a network of international institutions interested in promoting peace-building education and the prevention of genocides and mass violence.”
Veronica De Pieri (PhD) is a Senior Researcher and Adjunct Professor in Japanese Culture and Literature at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna. Her interests have focused on testimonial narrative, trauma studies, and the ethics of memory since 2011, with a comparative perspective (Shoah literature, atomic bombing literature, 3.11 literature). Read more.
When asked about the significance of showcasing GHRUP alumni to the broader public, Deputy Executive Director of the Zoryan Institute, Megan Reid, had the following to share:
“Since the program’s inception in 2002, over 500 graduate and PhD students from over 73 countries have graduated from the Institute’s Genocide and Human Rights University Program. Not only have our alumni gone on to make meaningful contributions to the field, but they have also contributed to the betterment of humanity in their respective communities in their capacity as scholars, educators, lawyers, policy makers, activists, archivists, and practitioners.
It is our pleasure to feature their many accomplishments through this monthly feature, and also continue to build connections, networks and opportunities for our alumni through this outreach.”
The GHRUP alumni community has continued to grow for 23 years and will do so for many years to come. If you or someone you know is interested in applying to the 2026 program, please visit www.genocidestudies.org/apply.
