Human Dimension of the Ukrainian Famine

Thu, 06/17/2010 - 12:00am
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Teachers in Kyiv trained on groundbreaking new resource

Thirty-one teachers from 22 regions of Ukraine attended a national teacher training seminar on the use of a new multimedia educational kit, Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933:  The Human Dimension of the Tragedy.

The kit was produced by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and authored by Oleksandr Voytenko.  It includes a DVD of eyewitness testimonies from the Institute’s archive and a manual containing recommendations on their use, as well as a step-by-step lesson plan, historical documents, literary works, and additional resources.  Teachers are invited to examine the history of the Great Famine from two different perspectives:  through the lens of official history, and through the lens of the history of ordinary people.  The resource is recommended for use in courses on the history of Ukraine, law, genocide studies, civics, ethics, philosophy, and others.  It received the seal of approval from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in fall 2009.

The seminar, which was organized by the Institute, took place in Kyiv from February 19-20 at the Interdisciplinary Judaic Studies Program of the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.  In addition to receiving free copies of the multimedia kit, participants had the opportunity to advance their professional qualifications, become acquainted with pedagogical aspects of working with the manual, and develop skills for using video testimonies from the Institute's archive.  Professor Stanislav Kulchitsky, one of the leading Great Famine scholars in Ukraine, Yevhen Zakharov, Co-Director of Kharkiv Human Rights Group, Martin Šmok, USC Institute Shoah Foundation Institute Senior International Program Consultant, and Anna Lenchovska, USC Institute Shoah Foundation Institute Regional Consultant in Ukraine, gave presentations at the seminar; Oleksandr Voytenko conducted working sessions.

The training that participants received at the seminar enabled them to conduct training seminars for other educators in their home regions.  Following the workshop, 680 teachers were trained on the use of the lesson in nineteen regions of Ukraine.

Read in Ukrainian.