3 Features You Need to Know About the New Holocaust and Human Behavior

Posted by Dan Sigward on July 31, 2017

At Facing History, we recently revised our seminal case study, Holocaust and Human Behavior. Why is it time for a new edition? In today’s world, how to build and maintain democratic societies that are resilient to violence is more important than ever. Not to mention that Holocaust scholarship and the study of human behavior have changed dramatically since the last revision of this work 20 years ago. So has technology. That’s why we’ve included a digital version of the new edition, along with the print version, which allows educators to build a customized experience in their classroom. We wanted to create a more dynamic experience for teachers and students as they grapple with this difficult history and the moral questions it raises. 

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Topics: Facing History Resources, Genocide/Collective Violence, Holocaust and Human Behavior

Facing History Announces New Campaign to Ask "What Makes Democracy Work?"

Posted by Laura Tavares on April 13, 2017

We have all seen, heard, and even felt a heightened sense of division in many communities around the world. Elections in 2016 and 2017—in England, the United States, France and Germany—have both revealed and exacerbated deep tensions in these societies. Never before has it been more important to truly understand the fundamentals of democracy. That’s why Facing History and Ourselves is launching a new campaign inviting educators, students, and community members to ask, "What makes democracy work?" 

Over the next eight weeks, we’ll be exploring this question with the help of historians, legal and political scholars, and voices from literature and history—and, we hope, with you. Look for weekly blog posts and teaching resources on our new page, Democracy and Us, and join us on social media with the hashtag #DemocracyAndUs to share your ideas, stories, and classroom experiences. This week, we consider why it's important to ask fundamental questions about democracy in our societies today.

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Topics: Democracy, Facing History Resources, current events, In the news, Lesson Plan

3 Features You Need to Know About the New Holocaust and Human Behavior

Posted by Dan Sigward on April 3, 2017

April is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month and at Facing History, we’ve revised our seminal case study, Holocaust and Human Behavior.  This revision is the culmination of five years of research, discussion, writing, and video and web production by the organization. We wanted to create a more dynamic experience for teachers and students as they grapple with this difficult history and the moral questions it raises. 

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Topics: Facing History Resources, Genocide/Collective Violence, Holocaust and Human Behavior

Practicing Civil Discourse During a Not-So-Civil Presidential Election

Posted by Kent Lenci on September 14, 2016

Each year at the Brookwood School in Manchester, a small coastal town in Massachusetts, we bring our seventh graders to a summer camp in Maine to kick off the school year. It’s a unique opportunity to build our class community and center ourselves for the challenges ahead. Our theme for the year is “responsibility,” one that is incredibly timely during this year’s heated presidential election. As we teachers encourage students to take responsibility for themselves and to care for others, it’s worth taking stock of our professional responsibilities during this electoral season. What is our role?

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Topics: Democracy, Facing History Resources, Teaching Resources, difficult conversations, civil discourse

Lost Voices of the Holocaust: Students Memorialize a Young Boy, His Family, and the Town that Saved Them

Posted by Lisa Bauman on April 7, 2016

 Guest blogger, Lisa Bauman, shares the importance of teaching voices of the Holocaust. As a United States Holocaust Memorial Regional Education Corps Educator, she and her colleagues - Bonnie Sussman, and Colleen Tambuscio - have been bringing students on Holocaust Study Tours in Europe since 1998. Hear how their students rallied together to plan a commemoration in the Czech Republic for Otto Wolf, his family, and the residents that saved them from deportation during World War II.

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Topics: Facing History Resources, Holocaust, Teaching Resources, History, Holocaust Education, Travel, Salvaged Pages

How Teachers Can Help Students Make Sense of Today's Political and Social Tensions

Posted by Laura Tavares and Jocelyn Stanton on March 24, 2016

 

We are living in a time of deep political and social divisions. Here at Facing History, we’ve been noticing that the same dynamics of “us and them” that we explore through history and literature are a powerful force in our own world today. In the United States, we’re confronted with troubling news whenever we turn on the TV, open the paper, or use social media: verbal abuse and physical violence erupt at political rallies. Hateful graffiti defaces the interfaith chapel of a national university. Students trade antisemitic and homophobic taunts at a high school basketball game. Tensions around membership and belonging are also felt around the world.

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Topics: Classrooms, Facing History Resources, Learning

Facing Black History Month in the United States: Why We Need to Break the Norm

Posted by Tanya Huelett on January 28, 2016

When I was in elementary school, I was chosen to read aloud a poem I wrote about Martin Luther King, Jr. It was during a school-wide assembly to celebrate the United States’ Black History Month. I remember reciting my poem and the celebratory feeling in the room. The sense that we were united by the legacy of this wonderful man and our enlightened accomplishments as a racially diverse school community. Even then I understood that my presence onstage was meant to be evidence of that enlightenment and progress.

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Topics: Facing History Resources, Schools, Civil Rights, History, Diversity, Racism

Understanding Collaboration and Resistance in France during the Holocaust

Posted by Adam Strom on January 27, 2016


Today - International Holocaust Remembrance Day - marks the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the concentration camp that became the unofficial symbol of World War II. Yet, beyond the sobering images that typically come to mind, there is a complexity to understanding the choices people made that led to such death and destruction.

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Topics: Human Behavior, Facing History Resources, Holocaust, Genocide/Collective Violence, History, Holocaust Education, Vichy Regime

Best Winter Reads: Recommendations from the Facing History Library

Posted by Tracy O'Brien on December 30, 2015

Winter is a great time to slow down, indulge in eating hearty food and curl up with a book that can transport you to another world, all from the comfort of your couch. So go on an adventure this winter. Hit the library, stop by the independent bookstore on the corner, toss a few items in your AmazonSmile shopping cart (when you do, a portion of your purchase can go directly to Facing History), or start downloading to your e-reader. Hand-picked by Tracy O'Brien, Director of Facing History and Ourselves’ library, these titles are guaranteed to transport, challenge, and inspire readers of all ages.

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Topics: To Kill a Mockingbird, Books, Facing History Resources, Memoir, Facing History and Ourselves, Survivor Testimony, Reading, Reading List

George Washington on Religious Inclusion: To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance

Posted by Adam Strom on December 18, 2015

The horrific attacks, claimed or inspired by ISIS in Beirut, Paris, and San Bernardino – and the fear they have instilled in many – reveal the polarized atmosphere of the world beyond the walls of our schools. As educators, we know that we are responsible for creating a safe space to talk about these issues with our students, but how? Many of us fear that we don’t know enough, or that classroom conversations will break down into anger, myth and misinformation.

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Topics: Facing History Resources, Safe Schools, Schools, History, Rebuke to Bigotry

At Facing History and Ourselves, we value conversation—in classrooms, in our professional development for educators, and online. When you comment on Facing Today, you're engaging with our worldwide community of learners, so please take care that your contributions are constructive, civil, and advance the conversation.

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Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe.

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