While students take a break from their studies, local history teachers are using the summer holiday to brush up on a particularly relevant chapter in history.
Working in conjunction with Facing History and Ourselves, an international education organization that seeks to address modern-day moral dilemmas using lessons from the past, Glendale Unified is hosting a five-day seminar examining the historical implications of the Armenian genocide.
“The fact that we are able to host this workshop is awesome,” said Nancy Witt, a teacher specialist who helped facilitate the event this week. “We have teachers from all over L.A. that are participating. It is a pretty intense week.”
Titled “The Armenian Genocide and International Justice,” the seminar is meant to facilitate critical thinking about the ability of individuals, groups and nations to address injustice in the modern world, said Marti Tippens Murphy, a director with Facing History.
Sessions have included studying historical narratives and research, as well as a lecture by Richard Hovannisian, a UCLA professor and a genocide expert.
