Date:             December 10, 2009 (International Human Rights Day)

                       December 11, 2009 (due to great interest from teachers, the program will repeat for a 2nd day)

Time:            8:30 am - 3:00 pm

Venue:         Vancouver Board of Education, 1580 West Broadway, Vancouver

Sponsors:

                B.C. ALPHA

(Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia) 

International Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.  The founding nations of the UN have focused on the promotion and protection of human rights in order to prevent the recurrence of the horrors that resulted from the Second World War.  This International Human Rights Day Student Symposium has been organized to help students better understand and reflect on issues of human rights violations during the Asia-Pacific War (1931- 1945) and to make connections to present day local and global issues. 

Participation in this student symposium is FREE.  If you are a teacher of Socials Studies 11, History 12, or Social Justice 12, you are invited to bring your class to this invaluable experience.  Priority will be given to teachers from Vancouver School District but all other teachers are welcome to register.  Please register ASAP as spaces will be allocated by a first-come-first serve basis.  You will receive confirmation upon registration.

Attending teachers will receive a complimentary set of related learning resources including ministry approved materials.

SYMPOSIUM OBJECTIVES:

• Promote students’ awareness and understanding of the International Human Rights Day on December 10 which marks the anniversary of the UN Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

• Provide significant learning opportunities for senior students on issues of human rights violations, with special reference to violations before and during the era of WWII in Asia.  

• Foster students’ compassion and empathy for the victims and survivors of wartime human rights violations, particularly of women and children

• Develop students’ appreciation of the victims’ spirit of perseverance, hope and justice in their painful healing process of reconciliation and peace.

• The symposium will provide Social Studies teachers with concrete, supplementary, non-Eurocentric resources to support their existing curricula.  These resources will also support teachers who intend to use or have been using the teacher guide, “Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific 1931-1945: Social Responsibility and Global Citizenship” developed and published by the BC Ministry of Education in 2001.

For enquiries, please feel free to contact:-