Kori Street: "Armenian Film Foundation Collection at USC Shoah Foundation"

Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley, Prelacy “Dikran and Zarouhie Der Ghazarian” Hall  

6250 Honolulu Ave, La Crescenta, CA 91214

In his interview with J. Michael Hagopian, Sam Kadorian utters “I am an eyewitness, seeing a nation that died." Listening to these eyewitnesses is urgent if we are to understand what Professor Richard Hovannisian has identified as central to fighting against the denial of the Armenian genocide. Kadorian's interview is one of the close to 400 being ingested into USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive. The films of the Armenian Film Foundation Collection will be preserved for perpetuity and indexed so that the rich material contained in them is discoverable. This remarkable resource is now available for scholars around the world and with its inclusion in IWitness, for use in education around the world.

This presentation by USC Shoah Foundation Director of Education Kori Street will engage the theoretical and practical implications of effectively using the audio-visual testimonies of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive. With a focus on the teaching of genocide, both as a historically specific moment and a universal human experience, the presentation will explore the challenges and opportunities of using first person narrative.