Facing History and Ourselves - National Projects Feed

Choosing to Participate Posters Featured as part of Tallahassee Exhibition

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:40:41 +0000

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In the News

August 27, 2013

The Florida Historic Capitol Museum in Tallahassee, Florida, will launch the opening of their latest exhibit, Choosing to Participate: The Power of Civic Engagement today. The exhibit features a set of posters developed by Facing History and Ourselves and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in partnership with Teaching Tolerance and are designed to encourage dialogue, engagement, respect, and participation in the classroom and beyond.

The exhibit will also features local projects from civic-minded students who are making positive changes in their communities, including photographs and multimedia presentations.

The opening reception takes place today, August 27, with keynote speaker author Nate Garvis and moderated by Stetson University law professor Michael Allen. The free exhibit will be open to the public through August 10, 2014.

Read “Exhibit Highlights the Importance of Involvement” by Lisa Barton and Emily Fee in the Chronicle.

Learn more about the Choosing to Participate Poster Sets.

Learn more about Facing History’s work in Florida and across the United States.

“Armenian Reporter” Features Facing History in California, Michigan

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 13:19:16 +0000

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In the News

July 3, 2013

The Armenian Reporter has featured workshops and events presented by the Genocide Education Project (GenEd) this past spring, some of which were also held in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves.
In San Francisco, California, students from Lick-Wilmerding High School heard from third generation Armenian Genocide survivor Roxanne Makasdjian, a frequent speaker for GenEd. Makasdjian spoke to students of Mary Finn’s full semester-long Facing History course, “Genocide and Human Behavior,” at Lick-Wilmerding High School. Students in the course focus on the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence throughout history and spend at least three weeks studying the Armenian Genocide.

In April, Facing History’s Senior Historian Mary Johnson facilitated a workshop for Michigan educators in Grosse Point that used primary source documents, multimedia resources, and Facing History’s Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians study guide. Facing History and The Armenian Genocide Group, a group sponsored by the Detroit chapter of the Knights of Vartan, organized the workshop.

“Through workshops focused on resistance, residual effects of genocide, and survivor stories, the message was communicated that education is the most effective way of remembering and preventing genocide,” the Armenian Reporter wrote.

Read “Genocide Education Events in California, Massachusetts, and Michigan” in the Armenian Reporter.

Download Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians for free today.

Learn more about Facing History’s work in the San Francisco Bay Area and across the United States.

Michigan School Features Facing History Course

EmilyBlackie — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:07:00 +0000

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In the News

April 8, 2013

The University Liggett School in Grosse Point, Michigan, has highlighted their Facing History and Ourselves class on the school website. "We don't just focus on the Holocaust," said John Farris who teaches the “Holocaust and Human Behavior” course. "We ask the students to be moral philosophers."

In April, 8th grade students in the class designed memorials for survivors of the Holocaust.

"We read poetry by survivors and we asked the students why sometimes poetry tells the truth in ways sometimes the facts don't," Farris said. "They got it right away, it's more emotional, more immediate. Art is alive and it tells the truth."

Read “Teaching the Holocaust: Facing History, Facing Ourselves” on University Liggett School’s website.

Learn more about Facing History’s work across the United States.

Facing History and Ford’s Theatre Partner for “Laramie Project” in D.C.

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:12:49 +0000

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In the News

February 27, 2013

Facing History and Ourselves has partnered with the Washington, D.C.-based Ford’s Theatre for the upcoming production of The Laramie Project, which will run September through October 2013. The new production of the play marks the 15th anniversary of the murder of Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, an act that sparked national debate about hate crimes and hate crime legislation. The play draws on hundreds of interviews and published news reports.

The Laramie Project is presented as part of the Ford's Theatre Society's "Lincoln Legacy Project," a multi-year effort dedicated to "sparking dialogue in the nation's capital around issues of social injustice and the ideals of equality for which Abraham Lincoln stood." As a partnering organization on the production, Facing History staff will be facilitating workshops for area educators on related topics, such as bullying, homophobia, and creating safe school culture. More information about these events to come.

Read “The Laramie Project, Violet, and More to Play Ford’s Theatre in 2013-14” on Broadway World DC and “Ford’s Theatre Will Produce Violet, Spelling Bee, and 15th-Anniversary Production of Laramie Project” on Playbill.

Learn more about Facing History’s work to create safe and engaging schools.

Learn more about Facing History’s work across the United States.

Professional Development Opportunity in Virginia

EmilyBlackie — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:48:19 +0000

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In the News

January 25, 2013

Facing History and Ourselves and the Virginia Holocaust Museum is offering a free workshop for educators on February 8, 2013, at the museum. The day-long workshop will focus on deepening participants’ understanding of the Holocaust by focusing on human behavior and looking at the motivations of perpetrators, bystanders, victims, and upstanders.

For more information or to attend, click here or contact Rena Berlin, director of education at the museum.

Learn more about Facing History’s work across the United States.

Iowa State to Infuse Facing History Across School of Education Curriculum

EmilyBlackie — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:52:20 +0000

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In the News

January 8, 2013

Iowa State University this week announced plans to infuse its School of Education curriculum with teaching strategies and resources from Facing History and Ourselves. The plan is thanks to a generous gift from Facing History San Francisco Bay Area Board Member Debra Engel, who attended Iowa State. Katherine Richardson Bruna and Nana Osei-Kofi are both associate professors at the School of Education and are leading the charge to train school faculty and incorporate Facing History resources into education courses in time for the 2013 spring semester.

“Understanding the social contexts of education will become a signature focus for Iowa State’s School of Education,” Bruna said. “Our graduates should have knowledge of important historical moments, skill to facilitate difficult conversational journeys, and the disposition to develop civic engagement in their students.”

All staff at the School of Education and local K-12 teachers have been invited to attend a two-day Facing History seminar this January.

Read “Iowa State Teachers Will Help Students Face History, Shape the Future,” by Sarah Burke, on the Iowa State University’s College of Human Sciences website.

Learn about the “Upstander Award,” at Iowa State University, co-founded by Debra Engel and Zora Zimmerman.

Learn more about Facing History’s work across the U.S.

Historic Letters on Display at Philadelphia Museum, Facing History Provides Annotations

Nicky Enriquez — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:27:19 +0000

August 6, 2012

For everyone to view

Scholar

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Photo by Jeff Fusco, courtesy of the National Museum of American Jewish History.

When the National Museum of American Jewish History opened its latest exhibit in June, a pair of letters dating back to 1790 went on public display for the first time in nearly a decade. “To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington and Religious Freedom,” on view through the end of September, explores faith and freedom in early America. It is the Philadelphia museum’s first special exhibit. At the heart of the exhibit is a very special pair of letters – a communication between the nation’s first president and the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island. The letters are accompanied by an interactive touch-screen display that offers viewers insight into the minds of leaders at the moment of our nation’s founding. These interactive annotations come from an essay that is part of Facing History and Ourselves’ forthcoming book To Bigotry No Sanction: The Washington Letter Exchange, a collection of writings from renowned scholars and thinkers on the issue of religious freedom. Facing History sat down with Dr. Josh Perelman, the museum’s chief curator and director of exhibitions and collections, to talk about the exhibition and the importance of this historic exchange today.

Dr. Josh Perelman, chief curator and director of exhibitions and collections at the National Museum of American Jewish History. Photo by Ilana Blumenthal, National Museum of American Jewish History.

Facing History: Congratulations on the opening of the exhibit!

Perelman: Thank you! “To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington and Religious Freedom” is a very special exhibit because it features an incredibly important correspondence between George Washington and the Jewish community of Newport that has not been seen in public for nearly a decade. Washington’s letter represents one of the most profound expressions by an American president about religious freedoms in America, so we’re thrilled to be able to display it and make it accessible to the general public.

Facing History: How did it come about that the National Museum of American Jewish History was able to show the letters?

Perelman: The letters, which are owned by a private foundation, had been on long-term loan to another Jewish museum that unfortunately closed its doors in the early years of the 21st century. Since then, the foundation spent time considering what the next steps would be for these magnificent documents. We opened our museum in 2010 and, after a lengthy dialogue, the foundation decided that this was the place the letters should be exhibited. Our museum is located right on Independence Hall in Philadelphia. We literally sit at the birthplace of our nation and the birthplace of American freedom and across the street from the Liberty Bell and the site of the house where our first president lived.

Facing History: There are two letters on display. One, from the warden of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, is dated August 17, 1790. In it Moses Seixas writes to the United States’ first president, George Washington, to express uncertainty about the religious freedom of Jews in the new nation. In his response, written a few days later, Washington guarantees religious tolerance in the colonies, promising a government "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." Why are these letters important today, over 200 years later?

Perelman: Washington’s letter to the Hebrew congregation in Newport is profound in its courageousness and what makes it so important is its offer of much more than toleration. He wrote that in this American nation, “it is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.” This promise distinguished the United States from Europe, where emancipation, even when granted to Jews, was contingent upon the Jewish people changing their ways and could always be taken away. When you look at Washington’s letter in the context of Jewish history, it is revolutionary. Nowhere else in the world could Jews at this time feel safe in knowing that they were free to practice their own religion, that they were free from prejudice. His words express something very profound, not just about Jews and America, but about our country in general.

For us today, the letters are an important reminder of the role that leaders play in our society of articulating, preserving, and protecting the freedoms to which we hold dear. Sitting here in 2012, we often take for granted the First Amendment to the Constitution. We take for granted that we are guaranteed religious freedom. These letters remind us that, in the early years of our nation, this was not the case. Religion continues to be a complex, complex issue today in both our personal and political lives. One can easily become cynical. This exhibition, and the documents and artifacts that we are presenting, provide an essential reminder of what is unique and special about this country.

Letter from George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, R. I., August 1790. Courtesy of the Morris Morgenstern Foundation.

Facing History: What are the other documents and artifacts that accompany the letters in the exhibit?

Perelman: The exhibit focuses around a tight chronology, beginning in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence and continuing through to 1791 and the ratification of the Bill of Rights. This allows us to illustrate the development of the ideals that formed the core of our national identity and that were so eloquently expressed by Washington. So along with the letters we include The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson, a printing of the Declaration of Independence from the week after it was signed, and the first public printing of the Constitution. One of my favorite documents included is Pennsylvania’s ratification of the Bill of Rights. We also have correspondence between Washington and other religious communities – Lutherans, Methodists, Quakers, Catholics. It is important to us to illustrate that Washington was in dialogue with numerous religious communities and that many of them were concerned about their own religious rights. Together they show that there was a vigorous dialogue taking place about what role religion would have in our country.

Facing History: In the exhibit, the letters are annotated so the viewer, while reading them, is able to explore in depth the history of the documents and better understand the minds of Washington and Seixas. The letters are also on display online and the annotations are interactive. What does this viewing experience bring to a visitor’s understanding of the letters?

Perelman: At the same time that we at the museum were preparing the exhibit, Facing History was also immersing itself in the study of these letters. Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the museum’s chief historian, had written an essay for Facing History’s forthcoming book that highlights the fascinating world of events, ideas, and writings that Washington and Seixas drew on when they composed their letters. For example, without the annotations, you might not pick up on the Jeffersonian thought in Washington’s letter or the biblical language both writers invoked. Rather than publish a handout to accompany the letters, we worked closely with Sarna’s text to create a 21st-century experience that really lets visitors deeply explore the language and build bridges and connections between the historical words contained in each document and our contemporary lives today. And because the letters and annotations are available on our website, the learning opportunity is extended beyond the walls of our museum.

Facing History: After visitors view the letters, what do you hope they take away? How can they bring the lessons and ideas explored in the exhibit home to their classrooms, schools, and communities?

Perelman: I hope that people are inspired and come away with a new understanding about American Jewish history as well as the history of American religious life. Of course it’s also vital to me that visitors to the exhibition and online interactive recognize the significance of the freedoms that were codified in the founding years of this country. We, all of us, have the responsibility to follow in Washington’s footsteps and teach about, to preserve, and to protect those freedoms.

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“To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington and Religious Freedom” is on view through Sept. 30 at the National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 South Independence Mall East. Learn more about the exhibit and view the historic letters.

Explore Facing History’s “Give Bigotry No Sanction—The George Washington Letter Project: Exploring Religious Freedom and Democracy”

Watch a video of Dr. Jonathan Sarna discussing George Washington and religious liberty.

This article was written by Facing History’s Julia Rappaport. For questions or tips on what Facing History is doing in your community, email her at Julia_Rappaport@facing.org.

Scholarship Allows Palm Beach Teachers to Attend Boston Seminar

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:26:13 +0000

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In the News

May 15, 2012

Two Facing History and Ourselves teachers in Florida have won the Herbert C. Lee Scholarship, which will allow them to attend a Facing History seminar this summer in Boston, Massachusetts.

Upon completion of Facing History’s week-long Holocaust and Human Behavior seminar, Krystal Lamb of Park Vista High School and Teodora Kavburov of Boca Raton High School will each implement a four-week Holocaust and Human Behavior unit at their school.

The Palm Beach Fellowship for Christians and Jews sponsored the award, which is named for a Florida-area champion of Facing History.

Read “Teachers Awarded Facing History Scholarships,” in the Palm Beach Daily News by Christopher C. Paine.

Learn more about our work across North America.

Interview with Director Lee Hirsch: "Bullying Impacts Who We Are as a Nation"

Nicky Enriquez — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:16:06 +0000

May 21, 2013

For everyone to view

Celebrity

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“For many young people, bullying is the first form of violence and ugliness we experience in a real way in our lives,” says BULLY director Lee Hirsch.

As filmmaker Lee Hirsch sees it, America is at a tipping point. He is not talking about politics, the economy, immigration, or wars overseas. He is talking about bullying.

“This story has been huge over the past two years – but it’s not disappearing. Now that it’s out and everyone’s still talking about it, we as a country are beginning to realize how much pain it has caused,” Hirsch said during a recent telephone conversation from his New York City home. “There is a real sense that this is no longer ok.”

Bullying is the topic of the 39-year-old filmmaker’s latest documentary, BULLY. Facing History and Ourselves is an educational partner for the film and has created the accompanying resource, A Guide to the Film BULLY: Fostering Empathy and Action in Schools, as well as professional development opportunities both in-person and online, including a self-paced workshop.

Hirsch, a former victim of bullying himself, started filming BULLY in the fall of 2009, shortly after two 11-year-old boys—one from Massachusetts and one from Georgia—committed suicide following prolonged harassment at school. He spent the rest of that academic year in a handful of schools across the country, following five students and families. “I wanted to understand how [bullying] is handled, how it is approached within the walls of the [school] building,” he said. The result is a stark portrait of what bullying looks like from the perspective of the victims. Among the individuals featured are a 12-year-old boy who sustains regular taunts, jabs, and punches from classmates; a 16-year-old one-time basketball star who became a town outcast after coming out as a lesbian; and a 14-year-old girl jailed for wielding a gun on her school bus to protect herself from bullying. The film also follows two families dealing with the aftermath of teen suicide.

“Kids that are bullied often have a hard time being heard,” Hirsch said when asked why he chose to focus his film on the victim experience. Armed with a tiny crew and small camera, Hirsch shadowed kids on school busses, in hallways and classrooms, on the basketball court, and out at recess. The film does show parents and other adults—teachers and school administrators—but includes no expert testimony. Bullies are shown, too, but not interviewed. “There remains a sense of shame involved [for the victims of bullying], that this is a rite of passage – that it isn’t that bad, or it’s not worth whining about,” Hirsch said. By focusing on victims, he said, he hopes to dispel that myth.

And that is where Facing History comes in. The guide (which you can download here), provides adults and educators with further readings on bullying, discussion strategies to use with audiences of various ages, and excerpts from Facing History’s Bullying: A Case Study in Ostracism. The guide builds on Facing History’s more than 35 years of experience researching, teaching, and writing about historical episodes of collective violence, and connecting them to the experiences and decisions of today.

"BULLY should remind all of us that bullying is a serious issue that impacts and involves us all. Educators and community members can turn to Facing History as a model of how to foster the skills and attitudes that make bullying much less likely to happen in schools.” – Dennis Barr, Facing History’s director of evaluation and manager of Bullying: A Case Study in Ostracism.

“The goal is to create more openness and an ability for people to work together to solve these issues,” Hirsch said. “Bullying is such a deep issue that it impacts who we are as a nation.” He backs up his sense of urgency with statistics: 18 million kids will be bullied in the U.S. this year; three million will be absent each month because they feel unsafe in school. “I believe in my heart that for many young people, bullying is the first form of violence and ugliness we experience in a real way in our lives. This is where we meet violence, whether we’re a victim, or a perpetrator, or a bystander, and who we are in the face of that has lifelong repercussions,” he said.

And Hirsch, who grew up in Long Island, knows from personal experience the power that schools can have in ending bullying. “Somewhere in elementary school, it became fun to hit Lee,” he said. “Just getting home was an absolutely terrifying experience for me.” Hirsch received no support from his school or at home. “My mother would have been [supportive] if she had the tools,” he said. “My father did not see it as a problem. He didn’t rally to my defense.” Hirsch went off to boarding school in the ninth grade. For the first time, he found a supportive environment and a school climate in which he felt safe. He developed a passion for social justice and political action. After graduating, Hirsch travelled across Europe, did a year in college, and eventually enrolled in film school in New York City. His first full-length documentary, Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, chronicled the history of the South African anti-apartheid struggle and won nods at the Emmys and at the Sundance Film Festival. Hirsch credits much of his work – which to this day remains rooted in issues of social justice – to his high school experiences.

“Schools have the opportunity and the responsibility to look at and envision what kind of school climate they want to have and work towards that,” he said. “When you have good leadership and that leadership says, ‘What we value is empathy and the success of all people in this building,’ it allows students to come up with a certain sense of what’s ok and what’s not ok.”

Hirsch knows that starting the conversation on bullying is tough. And changing behavior is the biggest challenge. But he hopes his film helps give students, parents, and educators the tools needed to create safe school cultures. In the end, he said, it will create a more just society. “Never underestimate the power of a single action of kindness,” Hirsch said. “You have enormous power to make a difference and you never know how significant that support can be to the person you’re offering it to.”

His goals, it seems, may not be that far out of reach. “I was there today and it was very inspiring,” a student posted on Hirsch’s Facebook wall following an early screening of the film. “After we got back to school we finished our classes then on the bus a kid was being bullied by some girl. I tried to help him and he was getting very upset after she had been yelling at him, and me and a couple friends talked to him about what we had just [seen] today and we told him to talk to a counselor and tell her what had happened. If it wasn’t for what I saw today I probably would have never stepped in and stopped it to be honest, I probably would have just ignored it.”

Use Facing History's resources to help students find their voice, make ethical choices, and transform their communities.

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Facing History’s Julia Rappaport wrote this article. For further questions, feel free to contact her at Julia_Rappaport@facing.org.

Educator and Board Member Team Up to Honor Upstanders at Iowa State University

EmilyBlackie — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:04:57 +0000

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In the News

May 9, 2011

Zora Zimmerman, associate dean for academic programs at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University, together with Facing History San Francisco Bay Area Board Member Debra Engel, have created an Upstander Award to honor Iowa State students who have made a positive impact in their communities.

The award was inspired by the Facing History term “Upstanders,” used to describe people who choose to take a positive action in the face of injustice in society or in situations where individuals need assistance. Students in Facing History classes actively discuss what it means to be an upstander, a bystander, and what it means to choose to participate.

Click here to read more about the first student recipient of this award on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences website.