In contrast to most professional associations, two panels on te

SESSIONS ON TEACHING AT THE IAGS CONFERENCE

Joyce Apsel (New York University)

In contrast to most professional associations where panels on teaching are usually tagged on, Teaching about Genocide I and II, during the first two days of the conference, were integrated into the conference program and around 50 people attended.

The moderators of both sessions, Jacques Semelin(Institute de Etude Politiques de Paris), and Joyce Apsel (New York University) asked those attending to introduce themselves and a wide range of participants of different ages and backgrounds from educators from non-profit groups to university instructors to researchers with different areas of expertise participated in the sessions. The following is a synopsis of some of the panel presentations and discussions.

In the first panel Joyce Apsel analyzed some of the central challenges facing teachers of genocide and human rights including issues of definitions, parameters as well as the challenge of undoing stereotypes and misinformation disseminated and reinforced by media and political leadership (such as the good versus evil, madman theory of history, etc.) She emphasized the effectiveness of integrating a comparative approach to teaching about genocide and human rights and the difficulties teachers face in avoiding hierarchies of victims and comparative suffering. Apsel also included some of the survey responses by college and university teachers whose syllabi are included in the volume Teaching about Human Rights published by the American Sociological Association in 2005.

Carol Edelman and Samuel Edelman (Co-Directors of the State of California Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance at California State University Chico) discussed California State Teaching Standards and Values Clarification and how they introduced teachers and students to the subject

Of the Holocaust, Genocide and related issues. They presented a workshop sheet on ��Characteristics of Genocide�� used in presentations. There followed a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of the sheet��s content including critical comments on point two: ��Genocide involves ordinary, sane people doing insane things�� This resulted in

an interesting back and forth discussion between the presenters and audience about

how effectively to introduce frameworks and what type of critical thinking is important to help students analyze different genocidal events. Sara Cohan (Genocide Education Project) discussed the development of curriculum that the project has put together for

teaching about the Armenian Genocide and introducing it to California schools.

Eric Markusen (Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies) discussed several trips to Rwanda and discussions with officials there to set up an education project. Markusen along with Jacque Semelin on one trip found enthusiasm when they met with a number of Rwandan officials. To date nothing specific has been realized; but Markusen emphasized the very real need for books on genocide and human rights and pepole interested in sending texts to Rwanda should contact Eric Markusen at eka@diis.dk.

Mark Sachleben (Miami University, Ohio) talked about the challenges of teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides to a homogenous population that knows little about the subject and is not particularly concerned with knowing more. One question was: how to get ��resistant populations�� to be more interested in the subject including engaging texts.

There was a debate on the Gourevitch book on Rwanda which Mark uses in his class, Use of films, and testimonies of survivors. He also emphasized the effectiveness of personal stories and having students write position papers.

Yair Auron presented a very compelling critique of Holocaust education in Israel, including the fact that Israelis are taught exclusively about the processes of Jews being targeted and killed by the Nazis during World War II but not about the targeting and destruction of the Gypsies or other civilian groups. Auron also discussed the Israeli government��s refusal to teach the Armenian Genocide. Auron, who teaches at the Open University in Tel Aviv, has done surveys of Israeli students who do not know about other victims of Genocide such as the Armenians during World War I or the Gypsies during World War II. The emphasis on the Jewish Holocaust as unique. Auron went to Poland for the first time this year and stated after visiting Auschwicz ��I understand that I cannot understand really��.. Around 18,000 Israelis students went to Poland supported in part by the government and visited killing centers. Yet, he reported that they were directed to sites where Jews were persecuted and killed, but did not visit sites where Gypsies were even though it was a short distance away. Further elucidation of many of these issues may be found in Yair Auron��s newly released volume The Pain of Knowledge: Holocaust and Genocide Issues in Education (Transaction Press: 2005).