Several weeks ago I watched the fairly complex and engaging film “Ararat.” If you see it on DVD, I recommend you also watch the director’s commentary to learn a great deal more about the film and its point of view. The movie is not really about Mount Ararat, but about the Armenian genocide which took place in 1915 during World War I and is still denied by the government of Turkey. The movie Ararat has as its unifying theme the life of Arshile Gorky, an Armenian born near Van, Turkey, who witnessed and survived the genocide.
I read this week in the Denver Post about the trial of popular Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk, which started Friday. Pamuk faces up to three years of imprisonment for his comments about the internationally acknowledged Armenian genocide, deemed a punishable insult to “Turkishness” under Turkey’s penal laws. For more on this, refer to the New York Times article from 15 December 2005, “Popular Turkish Novelist on Trial for Speaking of Armenian Genocide.”
Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the killing of Armenians in eastern Turkey during World War I as a genocide is morally indefensible. Turkey’s prosecution of authors like Pamuk serves to further highlight the need for this tragic event to be both acknowledged and studied, as well as the need for Turkey’s oppressive expression laws to be reformed to permit views contrary to “official government positions.”
To see how this issue continues to make world headlines, view a current Google News search for the phrase “Armenian genocide.” This article from TurkishNews.com from 19 December 2005, “Labor Party Proves Lie Of So-called Armenian Genocide On Basis Of Armenian Documents,” is one case in point of how hotly contentious this issue remains.
WikiPedia’s entry for the Armenian genocide provides not only a wealth of perspectives on this issue, but also an excellent case study for how controversial, contentious issues are wrangled and discussed in our web 2.0 world. Click the history link for this page to view recent edits, including those who want to revise the events of the genocide to be interpreted as a “wartime tragedy” instead of a “genocide.”
I blogged back in May of 2004 about “Armenia and the Allure of Ararat,” and included a link to a live webcam view of Mount Ararat from Yerevan, Armenia. I personally find the geography and history of Armenia to not only be compelling, but also suggestive of issues of vital importance for academic study. The topic of the Armenian genocide would be an excellent subject for a student research project in 2006. Some essential questions students could investigate and explore include:
- What really happened in Turkey in 1915, and why do people vehemently disagree about this today?
- Why is the topic of “genocide” relevant today? (i.e. recent events in Rwanda and the Sudan)
- What should constitute free speech in Turkey or other countries, and what types of speech should be prohibited and punishable by governments?
- How does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights inform this discussion about both genocide and free speech?
- What can students do about this issue to promote the cause of truth and human rights?
In schools, we need to be engaging students to study and learn about issues they can connect with and really matter. Global Nomads’ project “Rwanda Alive” in 2004 highlighted the importance of not just abstractly understanding genocide and the relevant issues: whether in Rwanda in the 1990s or Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, but also ACTING upon this understanding to further causes that really matter, like human rights.
As you contemplate your New Year’s resolutions for 2006, include the goal of engaging students in in-depth investigations about authentic topics which really matter in the world. The Armenian genocide would be a great topic to tackle. If you do, please let me know about your work, especially any student-made multimedia presentations that are put online to be shared with the world. Unfortunately because of its “R” rating, the movie “Ararat” is not appropriate to show to students, but there is a wealth of online resources about the Armenian genocide and the current controversy over its acknowledgment which could make for a rich and worthwhile study.
If you enjoyed this post and found it useful, subscribe to Wes’ free newsletter. Check out Wes’ video tutorial library, “Playing with Media.” Information about more ways to learn with Dr. Wesley Fryer are available on wesfryer.com/after.
On this day..
- Mastodon Tips (Dec 2022) – 2022
- 10 Percent Off Google Education Summit Oklahoma City: Feb 21-22, 2015 – 2014
- iPhone Media Creation App Categories – 2010
- As Fast As You Can Think – 2010
- Lessons Learned Teaching EdTech to PreService Education Students (Fall 2010) – 2010
- Kids writing for fun online – 2009
- Fair Use in Videos Using Pictures with Copyrighted Music – 2009
- Blog widgets for political transparency – 2008
- Philip Randolph, civil rights, unions, and political change – 2008
- The novelty of news and importance of media literacy – 2007
Comments
One response to “Ararat, Armenian Genocide, and Student Research”
I viewed Ararat last night and left a review of my own on my blog. It was a compelling movie. What was so provocative, to me, was the issue of creative license (adding Gorky to Ussher’s journal) versus hard fact (Ussher’s journal). I am a big fan of Atom Egoyan.