FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PHOENIX, AZ — August 23, 2024 — The Arizona Department of Education has officially approved the inclusion of the Assyrian Genocide in the state’s social studies curriculum, marking a significant step towards broader historical education in Arizona schools. The curriculum, approved on August 10, 2024, is now available in the ToolKit for high school educators across the state, to be utilized in the 2024-2025 academic year. The curriculum is listed under “Teaching About Genocide Resources”. The decision comes after a robust advocacy campaign led by the Seyfo Center, Arizona Chapter supported by educators, and historians who have long sought to ensure that this often-overlooked atrocity is recognized and taught alongside the Holocaust and other genocides. On April 23, 2021, the chapter joined a campaign led by several other communities who had suffered from genocide, to petition for HB2241. The bill, signed into law by Governor Ducey on July 9, 2021, mandates that Holocaust and other genocides be taught at least twice between the seventh and twelfth grades in Arizona. The Assyrian Genocide, which occurred during and after World War I, led to the mass displacement and deaths of hundreds of thousands of Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire. … Continue reading Arizona Department of Education Approves Assyrian Genocide Curriculum for Statewide Implementation