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Curriculum

Designed for high school educators, this instructional unit will provide students with an understanding of the key events, historical context, and lasting impact of the Assyrian genocide. It can be taught as a stand-alone unit or combined with additional instruction on the Armenian genocide. 

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The material below includes a suggested lesson plan with two sample activities and supporting resources. One activity brings focus to oral histories and survivor testimonies, and one gives students the opportunity to engage with newspaper accounts of the period - either through their own archival searches or using news articles provided. The lesson further encourages students to reflect on the definition of genocide and why the Assyrian genocide, which occurred before the word existed, meets the recognized definition of a genocide. 

 

Optional classroom learning materials are also provided below, including a brief written history, timeline, and guide to key terms for students, and instructional slides and oral history excerpts for teachers. 

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Suggested Lessons

The curriculum is designed as a 1-day introduction to the Assyrian genocide. There are two sample lesson plans, one focusing on oral histories and one focusing on newspaper archives. Instructors are also welcome to combine both lesson plans for two days of instruction, or combine with any content on the Armenian genocide.

 

Sample Lesson Plans:

  • Lesson Plan 1: Teaching with Testimony

  • Lesson Plan 2: Teaching with Archival Documents

 
Essential Questions:

  • What was the Assyrian genocide?

  • How and why did the Assyrian genocide happen?

  • What happened to Assyrians after the genocide?


Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, students will understand:

  • What genocide is and when it became international law.

  • How the Ottoman Empire carried out a genocide against Assyrians in both the Ottoman Empire and Persia.

  • The immediate and long-term impact of the genocide on Assyrians.

  • Why these atrocities are understood to be genocide, even though the word did not yet exist when they took place

A full lesson plan can be downloaded here: 

Instructional slides for teachers are available here:

Sample Lesson Plan 1: Teaching with Testimony

Using personal histories to teach memories and lived experiences of the genocide.

Recommended handouts:

Personal Histories:

Oral History Video Excerpts:

 

Part 1: Personal Testimonies Share written testimony with students (and, if appropriate, optional oral history video clips) Student discussion (as a class or in groups): What is being described? What happened to their family during these events? What happened to their family after? What could have caused this? Why might the descendants of genocide survivors be sharing these stories?

Part 2: Defining Genocide Students are reminded that when these atrocities occurred, the concept of genocide had not yet been created. These atrocities were referred to as the Seyfo, annihilation, race murder, massacres, slaughter, and other terms. Students are provided with a definition of genocide (the UN genocide convention definition is recommended). Students discuss the meaning of this definition Students discuss if anything shared in the personal histories sounds like what is described here

Part 3: Class Lesson Teacher provides students with material handouts (timeline, key terms, and brief overview of the genocide) Teacher asks students what they know about the Assyrian population; and shares information to situate Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire Teacher asks students to discuss the key terms, providing supplemental information on key events (optional - using slides with maps and images)

Part 4: Individual reflection and discussion Students write a reflection comparing how the Assyrian (and Armenian, if already studied) experiences during WWI fit with our understanding of genocide, drawing on testimonies and written materials Students discuss their thoughts in groups or as a class

Parth 5: Group discussion The text of AZ HCR 2044, which recognizes the Assyrian genocide within the State of Arizona, is shared with students Working in groups, ask students to discuss the text of the resolution: What historical evidence does it share? What action does it encourage? What is the importance of resolutions like this?

Sample Lesson Plan 2: Teaching with Documents

Using newspaper archives to examine what the world knew as the genocide was unfolding. 

Recommended handouts:

Optional (if not conducting own document research):

Part 1: Class Lesson Teacher provides students with material handouts (brief overview of the genocide, key terms, timeline) Teacher asks students what they know about the Assyrian population; and shares information to situate Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire Teacher asks students to discuss the key terms, providing supplemental information on key events (optional - using slides with maps and images) (If using both lesson plans, teachers will have already done this)

Part 2: Article analysis If students are using the provided document of New York Times articles: Provide students with the article analysis worksheets and articles from the Selected NYT Articles (teachers may also wish to divide articles amongst groups). Students individually complete an article analysis worksheet for each of the articles assigned to them. If students can conduct their own research and have access to a newspaper database: Direct students to the database to which they have access (for example, the New York Times archive) Discuss with students how to conduct a search for material from the relevant time period (suggested parameters are dates of 1914 to 1919) and discuss keyword strategies For example, ‘Assyrian Genocide’ should not turn up any results; instead, Assyr* could capture Assyro-Chaldean, Assyria, Assyrian, Assyrians; students may also wish to search by sectarian identities (Nestorian, Chaldean, Syriac, Church of the East) to see if additional articles are found, by key names (Shimun, Agha Petros), or by a combination of ‘Christians’ and geographic location (Persian Christians, Ottoman Christians) Students carry out their own searches to find a pre-assigned number of articles If incorporating this lesson alongside the Armenian genocide, instructors may also wish to have students search for information on the Armenian genocide Students complete an article analysis for each of their articles

Part 3: Group discussion Using student learning materials, students examine where their articles fit, geographically and chronologically, within the historical narrative of the Assyrian genocide. Students discuss their article analyses.

Part 4: Class discussion Groups share the highlights of their article analyses with the class Students discuss what research parameters worked well or did not work Students discuss potential challenges of conducting research during this period (for example, the absence of a single word like genocide to describe events, translation issues, multiple spellings of locations, multiple ways Assyrians are identified, and misidentifying Assyrians as members of other groups). If also researching the Armenian genocide, students might also discuss what factors contributed to the Armenian genocide receiving more media coverage.

Part 5: Individual reflection: Students write a concluding reflection explaining what they understand about the genocide and exploring what impact it had on the Assyrian community. Students share their reflections in groups or as a class.

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