Mélanie Péron discovered the power of personal stories the first time she was assigned to teach the Holocaust at the University of Pennsylvania. She had started out the course just trying to teach dry historical facts, and it didn’t go very well.

“It was one of the hardest experiences ever,” Péron said. “It was horrendous. My students were bored, I was scared. Finally I said, ‘We’re going to do something else.’”