Genocide Assignment

Here are the requirements for EACH GROUP:

You each have been given information about one of five genocides.  Use this information as a starting point.  This should not be your only source of information about these genocides. 

By Wednesday, April 13th, you must have the following completed:

1.)  Find a video that has been created about your genocide.  Look for things like documentaries and first hand accounts from people that lived through it (if you can).  Do not just do a search in YouTube for the genocide you have been given and choose the first video that appears in the search list.  You must find a professionally done video that explains the events of the genocide.  You must be able to summarize the video, so don't choose a video without watching it first. 

2.)  Three political cartoons.  These should be cartoons that have appeared in newspapers, magazines, or online.  You are not to create these cartoons yourself.  You must also analyze each of the three cartoons.  You must describe what the message of the cartoonist is, who the audience is,  what are the tools being used, how effective is the cartoon (meaning, was it clear? does it get the point across in an effective manner?).

3.)  You are to create a photo essay of the genocide that you have been provided.  Click here for the definition of a photo essay.  This photo essay should tell the story of the genocide by using images.  Here are a few examples of photo essay's:

http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/photoessay.htm

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2058378_2263505,00.html

http://www.unicef.org/photoessays/55865.html

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1869933,00.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-122604roadblocks,0,7182857.story

The purpose of a photo essay is to tell a story and move people emotionally with the use of images.  Your photo essay must include the following:

• Captions - describe what is happening in the image and why it is important.  Pictures are worth a thousand words, so don't go crazy on these captions.  Just write enough so that someone who knows nothing about the event you are trying to describe can understand it.
• The "Who, What, Where, When, Why and How" of the genocide that you have been assigned.  This does not mean that your essay should only be six photos.  Do not just do the minimum possible.  You are telling the story that affected millions of people.  Respect the event and the people affected and do it justice. 
• Optional - You can include audio in your photo essay, but you do not have to.  

I am leaving it up to you to find and decide which website or software you would like to use to present this photo essay.  

4.)  You must create a podcast for the genocide that you have been assigned.  Click here for the definition of 'podcast'.  Information that should be included in your podcast:

• Answer the "Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How" questions
• What is the source(s) of the conflict?
• Which ethnic and/or religious groups are involved?
• What is the history between the groups involved in the conflict?
• What was the international communities response to the conflict?
• What was the U.S. response to the genocide?
• How did the genocide begin?  
• How did it end?
• What could the international community have done to prevent or stop the genocide sooner?

Suggestions (not requirements) on ways to make your podcast interesting:

• Make it like a news story.  Click here for an example.
• You can make it a round table discussion, i.e., many people with different view points sitting around talking about a subject.  Click here for an example.
• Add music or sound effects
• Do an interview.  Click here for an example.

Here are some internet resources to help get you started:

Armenian Articles: <http://www.cilicia.com/armo10c.html>

Death by Government: <http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM>

Frontline: The Triumph of Evil <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/evil/>

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) <http://www.icty.org>

International Criminal Tribunal for the Rwanda: <http://www.ictr.org>

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: <http://ushmm.org>

Yale Center for International Genocide Studies:  <http://yale.edu/gsp>