TORONTO—The Zoryan Institute concluded its 2025 Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) on August 8 at the University of Toronto. The program brought together leading scholars and graduate students from across 11 countries—spanning Latin America, Europe and West Asia—to examine genocide and human rights through a rigorous, comparative and interdisciplinary lens.
Prof. Alvaraez, lecturing during Unit 2: Introduction to Genocide The official GHRUP poster at the University of Toronto
The intensive two-week 65-hour-long curriculum was guided by Program Director Joyce Apsel of New York University and directed by Professor Alex Alvarez from Northern Arizona University. It engaged students with foundational and emerging themes in international law, taught by Dr. William Schabas; transitional justice and gendered violence, taught by Dr. Jennie Burnet and the psychology of genocide, taught by Dr. James Waller—just to name a few.
Participants explored and applied these concepts to an array of case studies—ranging from the Armenian Genocide, taught by Dr. Suren Manukyan; the Holocaust, taught by Dr. Barry Trachtenberg; and Indigenous genocide in North America, taught by Dr. Lorena Fonatine—to contemporary issues of colonial violence, human rights violations and artificial intelligence globally.
Professor Alvarez had the following to share about directing the course: “It was a wonderful experience to work intensively with such passionate and committed young scholars, teachers and practitioners from all over the world. Their work is needed now more than ever, and it was a personal privilege to have the opportunity to assist the Zoryan Institute in organizing and delivering one of the most powerful and transformative genocide and human rights programs I have ever come across.”
Scenes from the GHRUP Classroom located in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto
The program’s curriculum also saw a new addition this year, led by Dr. Petra Molnar, who taught the final unit, “Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.” Professor Molnar
’s expertise brought a timely and critical perspective to the course, exploring the complex intersections between emerging technologies, surveillance, migration and human rights. The unit left participants grappling with pressing questions about the future of human rights in an increasingly digital world.
As the global landscape continues to evolve, the GHRUP remains committed to equipping future scholars, educators, legal experts and activists with the tools they need to understand and respond to the most pressing issues of our time. The Zoryan Institute acknowledges that the success of this program would not have been possible without participating faculty members, students, community supporters and donors. It has been another inspiring year of the GHRUP, one that is now proudly in the books!
After two weeks of seminars and collaborative discussions, each graduate student presented a culminating project that reflected their research interests and incorporated insights gained from the program. This classroom environment fostered a strong sense of community among participants, one that extended beyond academic exchange.
Students presenting their final research projects to their peers on the final day of the program
For many like Nitza Cabral from Royal Holloway at the University of London, the experience was as personally meaningful as it was intellectually engaging: “In this field, it is easy to feel alone and feel like the issues we are dealing with are much greater than ourselves, and the work can be futile at times. But then, to come into this space where there are so many people from different parts of the world essentially working towards the same goal in a variety of ways was so enriching.”
The Zoryan Institute thanks its major donors for their support in making the 2025 GHRUP possible. For more information on the Genocide and Human Rights University Program, please visit www.genocidestudies.org/ghrup.
Zoryan Institute and its subsidiary, the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, is a non-profit organization that serves the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations. This is done through the systematic continued efforts of scholars and specialists using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and in accordance with the highest academic standards.
