Each year, Facing History and Ourselves and Knights and Daughters of Vartan host an annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration Essay Contest. In 2014, the contest asked high school and college students across the United States to respond to the question, “On the threshold of the 100th anniversary, how should the world recognize the Armenian Genocide?” This essay, from Facing History student Elizabeth Ray, took second place. It was reprinted with Elizabeth's permission.

Topics: Student Voices, Online Workshop, Choosing to Participate, Armenian Genocide, Facing History Resources, Teaching, Facing History Together, Genocide/Collective Violence, Facing History and Ourselves, Teaching Resources, History

Facing History and Ourselves in New York is celebrating its 21st annual benefit dinner tonight, and honoring individuals who are making a difference in their communities, and in the world, by speaking out against injustice and creating meaningful change.

Topics: Classrooms, Student Voices, Choosing to Participate, Events, Human Rights, New York, Facing History Together, Upstanders, Facing History and Ourselves, Teachers

As any Facing History teacher will tell you, many of our lessons begin with stories of identity. To introduce identity, and to start thinking about the various aspects that make up our own identities, we often use an Identity Chart teaching strategy.

Topics: Back-To-School, Student Voices, Choosing to Participate, Teaching, Identity, Facing History Together, Race and Membership

Who says that going back to school can’t be a blast? Check out how Facing History and Ourselves educators from around the globe bring a bit of fun into the first few days of class.

Topics: Back-To-School, Teaching Strategies, Student Voices, Teaching, Identity, Teaching Resources

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

It was the personal stories from difficult moments in history that captured Skyler Edge’s attention in his 10^th 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