‘Echoes and Reflections’ workshop Jan. 28 explores bringing lessons of the Holocaust to classroom

‘Echoes and Reflections’ workshop Jan. 28 explores bringing lessons of the Holocaust to classroomJanuary 23, 2008Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

The Syracuse Study Council, part of the Syracuse University School of Education’s Center for Continuous Education and Global Outreach (CEGO), will conduct a workshop called “Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust” for social studies and English language arts teachers from across New York state. The workshop is Monday, Jan. 28, from 3:30-7:30 p.m. at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life, 102 Walnut Place, Syracuse. Registration is required; call (315) 443-4696 for details.

The “Echoes and Reflections” workshop will be presented by Ephraim Kaye, director of the International Seminars at The International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Kaye will discuss “Echoes and Reflections,” a specially designed curriculum that connects issues of cultural diversity, intolerance, prejudice and genocide to promote classroom discussion of these subjects in both historical and contemporary contexts.

“Echoes and Reflections” is an interactive, multidisciplinary curriculum that engages students with compelling video testimonies from survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. The program supports New York State Learning Standards and contains multi-part lessons that include maps, photographs, primary source documents, journal entries, poems and personal narratives.

The “Echoes and Reflections” workshop provides an introduction to the pedagogy of teaching the Holocaust and includes background on the use and value of visual history testimony that is seamlessly integrated into curriculum.

Kaye holds first and second degrees in modern Jewish history and the history of the Holocaust from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has taught in the Israeli high school system for 23 years. Over the past 10 years, he has taught courses on the Holocaust at three different colleges in Jerusalem. Since joining Yad Vashem in 1988, Kaye has coordinated and led more than 150 international seminars in more than 25 countries and in 10 different languages.

Workshop for SU faculty members

In addition to the Study Council workshop, Kaye will present a special workshop for SU faculty members and Warren fellows. The faculty workshop, sponsored by the Study Council, the School of Education and the Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers, is titled “The Uniqueness of the Shoah in the Context of Genocide: The Educational Objectives.” In the workshop, Kaye will lead a discussion on such topics as Holocaust pedagogy, teaching in the contemporary context, religious and ethical teachings and the Holocaust, use and misuse of the Internet in Holocaust education, and confronting Holocaust denial in society and education. The faculty workshop is scheduled from 10 a.m.-noon on Jan. 28 in the School of Education’s Educational Resources Center (ERC), Room 056 of Huntington Hall. To register, call (315) 443-4696.