This is an intensive residential one-week institute which offers graduate-level lectures by scholars and witnesses on the history of the Holocaust and group discussions about applying the lessons to the classroom. Most of the cost is offset by grants and gifts so that teachers may attend.

Teachers receive room and board, texts, and a resource binder. Teachers may also apply for 4 graduate credits via Continuing Education at Keene State College.

The underlying purpose of the Institute is to provide a substantive multidisciplinary introduction to both the historical background and facts of the Holocaust to facilitate more accurate and effective teaching of the Holocaust at the secondary level.

Graduates of this program become Cohen Center Fellows and become eligible to participate in the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous' Lerner Fellow Institute.

Institutes are offered biennially in even-numbered years.

Comments from Participants

Participating in the 2004 Summer Institute on the Holocaust was an inspiring experience for me personally and as a teacher … It was the most powerful, intense, and open educational experience I have ever had."
– Clare Fedolfi, Tobey School

"The weeklong Summer Institute was an experience that I know I will not easily put aside."
– Diane Bush, Jaffrey-Rindge Middle School

"Everyone involved in the Institute, including the Fellows themselves, made this week an incredible learning experience by allowing me to see the issues surrounding the Holocaust in so many different ways. It gave me great pride and happiness to work with so many educators who shared common goals: achieving peace, love, and respect (not tolerance) in this world. After this week, I realized, there is hope."
– Brooke Chaney, Cawley Middle School

"… I realize that I have been given a truly wonderful gift in the form of extraordinary presenters and the company of participants from diverse backgrounds. This gift, however, is one that comes with strings attached. By taking part in the Institute, we have all accepted a share of the responsibility in assisting the Cohen Center achieve its aim...I am most grateful for this opportunity."
– Linda Minickiello, Monadnock Regional High School.

"The effects of the week will, I suspect, have lasting and rippling impact. I comprehend more viscerally the difference between tolerance and mutual respect, … yet critical in teaching of the Holocaust is an essential need to be more careful than my standard emotional reactions represent. That may be the most important lesson I’ve learned at the Institute."
– Alan Shulman, Sunapee Middle High School.

"I want to thank the Cohen Center for providing an excellent and meaningful week of scholastic examination of the Holocaust … The participation of other teachers from Germany and Estonia added immeasurably to everything that was discussed both in class and outside of class."
– Ellen Barry, Winnisquam High School.

"I loved this week. I grew – I stretched – I know I will be a better teacher and person."

"I cannot express how much I enjoyed the Institute."