Since October, Evy Stumpff has been an unconventional Junior Intern with USC Shoah Foundation.

While the rest of the young interns have spent the past several months analyzing, together, what attitudes breed hatred and intolerance and how they can spread positive moral authority and become active participants in civil society – learning from USC Shoah Foundation’s IWitness activities and the Visual History Archive – Stumpff has had to leap over one major obstacle to do the same work.

The Junior Interns, all seventh grade and above, are predominantly California residents. But some, like Stumpff, commute virtually for the opportunity. The grade ten lives in England, but, upon hearing about the internship, knew it was too incredible an opening to pass up.

“I wanted to be a Junior Intern because I’ve always been interested in history, particularly the Holocaust,” Stumpff said. “I was excited about the opportunity to learn more about it from different perspectives through testimony.”

In particular, Stumpff was excited about the different interpretations of genocide events she’d be exposed to as a Junior Intern.

“The difference between how the narratives vary from author to author fascinate me,” Stumpff said. “And this internship [is] an excellent place to hear some of the truest interpretations of the events, as it involves hearing stories from those who lived [through the events]. Getting to actually speak [and listen] to the fading generation of people who lived through this tragedy and others like it is a rare opportunity and I love that I have the chance to be a part of chronicling history.”

Guided by the education department of USC Shoah Foundation, interns in their meetings learn about things like the different types of memory – personal, collective and cultural – that lend themselves to remembering genocide events; how to use new digital and media literacy skills to apply them to IWitness activities and their own interpretations of the stories they hear out of the Visual History Archive. They’re asked, also, to consider what connects people as human beings, and what causes the disconnect that can lead to violence and genocide.

“During the meetings, we look at different testimonies and consider them through the lense of a guiding question such as ‘What causes hate?’,” Stumpff said. “I’ve learned a lot about how different people were affected by various different genocides, and how this is related to an individual within society. The testimony has impacted me in that it’s forced me to consider unpleasant but important things that I otherwise wouldn’t have been confronted with.”

Since October, Stumpff and the other Junior Interns have had the opportunity to visit, either physically or virtually, museums and authentic sites for genocide studies, and to contribute to the work of the Institute through their own research. Through June, they will craft and deliver presentation on what they’ve learned, and continue interacting with the Institute and creating social impact with the interpersonal skills they’ve been cultivated throughout the program.

“I think this program has impacted me currently, in that it’s exposed me to new perspectives and has allowed me to meet new people,” Stumpff said. “Also, it will allow me to, in the future, use differing worldviews to understand the world.”

Stumpff hopes to study international relations and history in university. Once she and the other Junior Interns complete their internship, they will receive certificates and community service hours, as well as the option to continue engaging with the Institute as program assistants or Student Ambassadors.

To keep up with Stumpff and her fellow Junior Interns, check out the hashtag #IWitnessJrIntern.