From August 1-3, the USC Shoah Foundation-The Institute for Visual History and Education held a best practices workshop for graduates of the Master Teacher Program, a professional development program for educators that centers on the classroom use of Holocaust- and genocide-eyewitness testimony.
The National Education Association (NEA) has added a selection of the Institute's classroom lessons to its Lesson Plan Search Engine. The lessons, which are available online, center on experiences of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses.
Now searchable on the NEA Lesson Plan Search Engine
In July, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute held a follow-up workshop for graduates of the 2011 Master Teacher Program. Participants reconvened as a professional practice- and learning-community after using testimony in the classroom during the past school year.
The USC Shoah Foundation Institute has organized a symposium for educators and leaders of partner organizations in Rwanda and South Africa. The symposium, titled “Teaching, Testimony, and Transformation: Global Landscapes,” began on July 25 and will conclude on July 26.
LOS ANGELES—June 28, 2012—The USC Shoah Foundation Institute has completed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to digitally preserve the video interviews in its Visual History Archive. The archive contains testimony from nearly 52,000 Holocaust survivors and other witnesses.
USC Shoah Foundation Institute Executive Director Stephen D. Smith, Managing Director Kim Simon, and Director of Programs Kori Street were in Belgium this week for the year's first plenary gathering of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF).
On June 6, Steven Spielberg, Founder of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, presented Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, with the Institute’s highest honor, the Ambassador for Humanity Award. Iger was honored at the Institute’s annual gala, where he was recognized for his support of the Institute’s work, his longtime philanthropy, and his leadership role in corporate citizenship. The gala presenting sponsor was jcpenny. Jimmy Kimmel hosted, and Mary J. Blige gave a special musical performance.
The USC Shoah Foundation Institute is partnering to present the international symposium "Bridging the Divide in Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Towards a Cross-Cultural Interdisciplinary Dialogue" to take place June 12 - 14 at Haifa University in Israel. Moving beyond ethically loaded debates surrounding definitions of Holocaust and genocide and the limits of comparison, the symposium will explore the way Holocaust-based discourse, tropes, and commemorative practice inform and/or are incongruent with diverse experiences of global mass violence in everyday life.
Glenn Fox, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at the University of Southern California, visited the USC Shoah Foundation Institute on May 17 to discuss how he used testimony from the Visual History Archive for his research on gratitude.