A Community That Believes in the Power of Education

Since its foundation in 1982, the Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, have been forming a global community of citizens and scholars committed to thinking critically about some of the world’s most significant challenges. The Institute is engaged in academic work in the field of Genocide and Human Rights Studies and Diaspora-Homeland relations.

The Zoryan Institute strives to demonstrate how genocide is a shared human experience.

For the past forty years, the Institute has maintained an ambitious program to conduct original research and publish books and periodicals. It also conducts university-level education programs in the field of Genocide and Human Rights Studies, taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach in its examination of the Armenian Genocide, Jewish Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, and the Cultural Genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, amongst others.

Reflecting on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the understanding of the history, causes, impacts, and aftermath of genocide in Canada is critical. This is exemplified in light of the recent and continued unveiling of thousands of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at the sites of former Canadian residential schools.

The Zoryan Institute strives to demonstrate how genocide is a shared human experience, and why collective efforts must be made to understand the phenomenon of genocide, create an awareness of it as an ongoing scourge, and promote the necessity of preventing it.

With this in mind, the Institute has run an annual graduate-level university course on genocide and human rights studies, now offered in collaboration with the University of Toronto. The course provides training and support for younger scholars entering the field and helps to prepare the next generation of genocide specialists. Over 400 students from 47 different countries have participated in this program, and over 70 of whom teach in the field internationally. This program is unique in treating genocide not only as a historical, political, legal, and psychological study, but also by centering it within the study of human rights, it focuses on prevention.

Raising awareness through education is key for genocide prevention.

The Zoryan Institute also offers an array of academic resources, for students, scholars, and the general public, including two academic peer-reviewed journals, Genocide Studies International, and Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, published by the University of Toronto Press. It also provides online learning opportunities, through its many webinars, workshops, and e-publications.

In the face of continuing problems of genocide in the 21st century, if the Institute is to continue its invaluable scholarly and educational undertakings, it must secure its financial support. We, therefore, appeal to foundations, organizations worldwide, and individuals concerned with this issue, and committed to its prevention, to support the Institute.

To learn more about the Zoryan Institute’s work and stay up to date on upcoming events and programs, please visit zoryaninstitute.org.