Scottsdale, Arizona — The Genocide Education Project led a day-long professional development workshop on Saturday, April 16th in Scottsdale, Arizona, entitled:
The Armenian Genocide – 100 Years: Fundamentals of Teaching aboutthe “Prototype” Genocide of the Modern Era
Hosted by Scottsdale Community College, The Genocide Education Project, and St. Apkar Armenian Church, the 
workshop was part of SCC’s week-long Genocide Awareness conference.
Workshop participants gained tools for teaching their students about the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, exploring how it became the archetype for other incidents of genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries. To help link the Armenian Genocide to the genocides that followed, the teachers were guided through an investigation of the history, stages, and fundamental structure of genocide.
“It was gratifying to be able to present this history and instructional resources to this interested and intelligent group of educators,” said workshop facilitator, Sara Cohan. 
John Liffiton, Scottsdale Community College Genocide Awareness Week and workshop leaders, Barlow Der Mugrdechian and Sara Cohan
Teachers received:
Content information on the Armenian Genocide, the structure of genocide, and current issues pertaining to the Genocide
Curriculum resources including historical documents, novels, websites, videos
K-12 recertification credit for the Arizona Dept. of Education
An Armenian lunch generously provided by St. Apkar Armenian church
Workshop Facilitator: 
Sara Cohan, GenEd’s Education Specialist, has specialized in human rights and genocide education for 20 years. Her background combines research, study, curriculum development and teaching. A high school teacher for seven years, Cohan was a Fulbright-Hays scholarship recipient and a fellow for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has designed educational materials and written articles for numerous education organizations.
Guest Speaker:
Barlow Der Mugrdechian is the Director of Armenian Studies at Cal State University, Fresno and has taught courses in Armenian language, history, literature, culture, art, church and a variety of other topics on Armenia and the Armenians for the past thirty years, receiving the 1995-1996 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.