Institute Adopts New Strategic Plan

The USC Shoah Foundation Institute has adopted a new strategic plan that aims to increase the educational and scholarly significance of the video testimonies in its Visual History Archive. The plan focuses on several key areas that are vital to the success of the Institute's mission:  scholarship and research, education, access to the archive, new content, and preservation of current content.

Scholarship and Research

Under the new plan, the Institute will promote and support widespread use of the archive in undergraduate courses at USC and among graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and visiting scholars. The Institute will also invest in enhancing linkages between the Institute and the rest of the University by supporting faculty research. Importantly, the Institute will also collaborate with the Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences to establish a world class academic center at the University.

Education

The Institute will improve its outreach to secondary school educators in the United States through a new generation of innovative,web-based educational tools and by promoting the use of these tools by teachers. The Institute's international focus will also sharpen with a meticulous prioritizing of the countries in which it works, and by concentrating its efforts in those countries.

Access to the Archive

The Institute will provide broader access to the archive around the world. The archive's user interface will be completely redesigned, and the Institute will promote access to the archive at an expanding number of Internet 2 institutions in this country and overseas.

New Content

In the years ahead, the Institute will participate in projects to collect and preserve memories of other genocides and violations of human rights. This will not only fulfill a moral obligation to preserve evidence of such events, it will also create a foundation for distinctive research (by expanding the archive to include additional testimonies) and distinguish the Institute as a world leader in the documentation of genocide through its unique technologies and long experience.

Preservation of Current Content

At the same time that the Institute undertakes these and other initiatives, it will continue to preserve the testimonies in the existing archive, beginning with an $8 million preservation effort commencing in July 2008.

"This is a significant moment for the Institute," said Douglas Greenberg, Institute Executive Director and Professor of History. "Our presence at USC has created new opportunities, and the 2008 strategic plan positions us to take advantage of those opportunities as a fully integrated part of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences."