Workshops On Request

Tom White, the coordinator of Educational Outreach, is available to present to faculty as part of staff development workshops.

E-mail: twhite@keene.edu or phone: 603-358-2746.

1. Teaching the Holocaust (Methodological Considerations)

   Using 16 methodological points to consider, this workshop is designed to introduce teachers to the issues and difficulties in teaching the Holocaust. Topics covered include: defining the Holocaust; putting people above statistics; humanizing the victims and perpetrators, and key vocabulary. The methodological considerations can be applied to any social studies or English curriculum.

2. Myths and Misconceptions in Teaching the Holocaust

   An examination of basic facts and misconceptions in teaching about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Topics covered include: how Hitler came to power, how Hitler and the Nazis were perceived, Nazi ideology, difficulties and ad-hoc nature of coordinating "Jewish policy," the evolution of Nazi policy towards genocide.

3. Pedagogy of Teaching the Holocaust

   Why do we need to teach the Holocaust? What moral messages do we convey? What do students actual learn? This presentation deals with the necessity of dealing with the difficulties raised by teaching the Holocaust and the need to approach it in a multidisciplinary way. Specific attention is given to the use of imagery. What kinds of images are appropriate and in what context? The presentation will address options on how teachers can approach the topic, how to present the historical actors, and the different ways to end a unit of study on the Holocaust.

4. Teaching About Genocide:

   Issues and Approaches. What is genocide? Should my class focus on a single case or do a comparative study? Should we focus on distant or more recent cases? What if I don’t know about other genocides? This session focuses on how to develop a classroom rationale statements and how those statements become the driving force behind a class approach to its study of genocide. The problems and limitations of the definition of genocide (as adopted by the United Nations) will be discussed.

5. Not Victims, but Human Beings: Teaching the Holocaust with Sensitivity and Care

   The task of educators is to make historical topics relevant to their students. How does one make the Holocaust relevant to students today? How should teachers approach this extremely difficult topic in an appropriate way? The Holocaust must be taught as a human story taking place in modern society - one human being to another - by neighbors, in the same civilization. This power point workshop explores ways to humanize the experience of the victims and perpetrators in order to motivate successive generations to recognize an ethical responsibility to respond to prejudice and hatred. This presentation illustrates how to connect students to the victims as human beings; how to explore everyday life in the ghettos; how Jews fought dehumanization by confronting moral dilemmas; and the unique choice by survivors to choose life and continuation over despair and violence. Pedagogical approaches will be discussed. Suggested activities and lesson plans will be explored. Specific attention will be given to the use of imagery. What kinds of images are appropriate and in what context?