In my senior year at Magnificat High School in Cleveland, I signed up to take a class on the Holocaust called “Dangers of Indifference.”
The class was unique in that three teachers taught it: a history teacher, an art teacher, and a religion teacher. Having these three perspectives helped me understand something I had not realized before – that hatred is not the largest problem we face, indifference is.
Topics: Cleveland, Student Voices, Choosing to Participate, Identity, Facing History Together, Holocaust, History
A woman who was interned in Auschwitz came to speak to our class.
We were in 7th grade and she gathered us around her.
Topics: Antisemitism, Student Voices, Cambodia, Choosing to Participate, Human Rights, Facing History Together, Holocaust, Genocide/Collective Violence, History
Facing History is saddened to note the passing of lifelong civil rights champion, politician, and tireless journalist John Seigenthaler. Mr. Seigenthaler died Friday. He was 86.
Topics: Civil Rights Movement, Film, Choosing to Participate, Human Rights, Video, History
Today Holocaust rescuer Raoul Wallenberg is being posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Wallenberg, who passed away two years ago, was a Swedish envoy who protected Jewish Swiss citizens during World War II, saving tens of thousands of Jews.
Topics: Film, Antisemitism, Choosing to Participate, Human Rights, Holocaust, Genocide/Collective Violence, Video, History
Nearly 54 years to the day after it was first published, the Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird comes out as an ebook for the first time on July 8.
Topics: To Kill a Mockingbird, English Language Arts, Democracy, Choosing to Participate, Human Behavior, Human Rights, Readings, Identity, History
There are many ways that we can bring history alive – through personal testimony from the people who lived through different moments in history, letters and diaries, newspaper clippings and cartoons, audio (music, speeches, radio interviews, podcasts), through film, and more.
Topics: Film, Choosing to Participate, Human Rights, Genocide/Collective Violence, History
It was the personal stories from difficult moments in history that captured Skyler Edge’s attention in his 10th grade Facing History and Ourselves class at Facing History New Tech high school in Cleveland.
Topics: Cleveland, Student Voices, Choosing to Participate, Human Behavior, Human Rights, Safe Schools, Identity
Here are a few of the words that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added in 2013: twerk, selfie, and srsly (short-hand for seriously).
This year, two former Facing History and Ourselves students are working to get the OED to consider including a word with a bit more significance: upstander.
Topics: Student Voices, Choosing to Participate, Readings, Identity, Facing History Together, Upstanders, Teaching Resources, Video, History
Bullying—repeated aggressive behavior with an intent to hurt another person physically, socially, or mentally—is characterized by an imbalance of power between an instigator and a victim. As classroom educators, we know that bullying takes place in many places, from classrooms to online settings.
Topics: Choosing to Participate, Safe Schools, Facing History and Ourselves, Video, Social Media, Stereotype, Universe of Obligation, School Culture, Cyberbullying, Bullying, Facing Technology
April 28 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah. We have put together what we hope will be a useful collection of resources for you to share with your students as you observe this important day.
Topics: Art, Antisemitism, Choosing to Participate, Facing History and Ourselves, Video, Holocaust and Human Behavior, EdTech, Holocaust Education, Online Learning, Facing Technology