Sophia Isajiw, Assistant to the Director of Education, HREC, Toronto.
From previous issue
Librarian and Holodomor Website Manager and Coordinator of the Holodomor Educators Network in the USA, Lana Babij, rounded out the panel by expertly addressing “The Challenges of Terminology and Resources” on the Holodomor, a very timely topic to educators.
The methodology sessions rounded out the conference by providing practical hands-on suggestions for implementing human rights and the Holodomor in school curricula. Natalia Onyschuk shared her expertise at the primary level, showing how song, dance, art and stories can be used to teach a difficult and sensitive topic. Lise Pinkos and Ian Martens showcased the Museum’s new lesson on the Holodomor for the middle years, while Jeff Kozak of Winnipeg presented his best practices in teaching the Holodomor for grades 5-8.
Tamara Kowalczyk shared her expertise and experience in teaching the Holodomor within a genocide course at a high school level, and Nadia Prokopchuk and David Katzman shared handouts and information on an innovative new online human rights resource titled: “Voices into Action” 5th chapter of which features lessons on the Holodomor.
The conference ended on Sunday with two presentations. The first, by Valentina Kuryliw, emphasized the latest resources and activities on the Holodomor, including websites, DVDs and print materials available for educators and students. She also shared a 20-page excerpt from her soon-to-be published 300-page educator’s manual, Holodomor in Ukraine, the Genocidal Famine 1932-1933: Learning materials for teachers and students. The excerpt was especially helpful because it is chockfull of teaching materials for students, lessons and projects. The second presentation was led by Dr. Orest Cap and Dr. Denis Hlynka of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. It dealt with the problems of finding accurate digital information on the Internet and social media and the use and abuse of such information when studying the Holodomor, social justice and human rights issues.
A commemorative dinner was held at the Fort Garry Hotel for 140 participants and dinner guests, at which 10 local Manitoba Holodomor survivors presided. Survivor Sonia Kushliak gave a stirring address before a moment of silence in memory of the Holodomor victims. The Most Reverend Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak, Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg, and the Very Reverend Alexander Harkavyi, Parish Priest of St. Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, sang the prayer before the meal and at the closing. The evening’s special guest speakers were renowned academic Dr. Norman Naimark, Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of East European Studies, Stanford University, who spoke on The Holodomor in the History of Genocide. In his message he stated that the bad news is that genocide has taken place since the beginning of time; the good news is that we are getting better and faster at responding to genocides and that there is still hope for mankind.
Reactions to the conference include Swan Valley Regional Secondary School’s Meredith McGuinnes, who described it as “fabulous and inspiring; very important to me as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor to be able to share the Holodomor and the importance of discussing genocides in my Grade 9-12 Social Studies classes in Northern Manitoba.”
Larry Mikulcik, a Curriculum Coach for Horizon School Division in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, summarized the importance of the conference to his work this way: “First and foremost, I have to say how much I enjoyed the conference this past weekend, and also how much the teachers in our school division will benefit by the information and resource connections I am able to bring back to them. I also look forward to incorporating a great deal of the Holodomor Genocide information into our annual symposium for students.”
The HREC Holodomor Education Conference was made possible by the Temerty Foundation and was co-sponsored by The Shevchenko Foundation, Carpathia Credit Union Ltd., Manitoba Education and Training, the Faculty of Education–University of Manitoba, the Faculty of Education–The University of Winnipeg, the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies–University of Manitoba, the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC)–Toronto, the National Holodomor Education Committee of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Holodomor Awareness and Education Committee of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress–Manitoba Branch, the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Canada, St. Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Millennium Villa Inc., CanadInns, the League of Ukrainian Canadians and was held in cooperation with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Dr. Joyce Apsel surmised, “I very much enjoyed being at the conference, learning from all the teachers and hearing Norman Naimark's important comments. It was such a special, rewarding, educational experience for all.”
Share on Social Media
