United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, (USHMM). Why Teach about the Holocaust? Accessed 15 November 2017, http://www.ushmm.org/educators/teaching-about-the-holocaust/why-teach-about-the-holocaust.
According to a 2015 Evaluation of a Teacher Training Program at the United States, USHMM's Web site is the most trusted and widely-used resource for professor participants teaching the Holocaust.
The museum in looking forward, is beginning to examine the central role of Holocaust artifacts and start to present them ‘conceptually’ as part of a changing narrative – opening the door for the treatment of Holocaust artifacts as evocative objects. This angle is of great interest to my research.
Seeing education as central to the museum’s service to the Public, USHMM has defined its mission as:
To advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.
The Holocaust provides one of the most effective subjects for examining basic moral issues. A structured inquiry into this history yields critical lessons for an investigation into human behavior. It also addresses one of the central mandates of education in the United States, which is to examine what it means to be a responsible citizen.
Exploring how the USHMM connects its three interconnected roles: as a facilitator of civic engagement, agent of social change, and moderator of sensitive social issues, helps in the understanding of how a modern museum can utilize their technological expertise and infrastructure to implement positive educational policies for an ever-more diverse museum audience.
In relation to my research, the inextricably intertwined relationship of culture and technology and the need to rethink participatory learning in 21st Century learning environments, drives pedagogical thinking relating to the use of enabling technologies and the teaching of and learning about the Holocaust by future generations. Informal education (taking place in museums and in their ‘virtual outreach’, enables students to have the opportunity to leverage emerging data analysis and visualization capabilities. This report suggests additional research approaches for my work. Empowering learners to make sense of the Holocaust in their own time and place – including what informal educational opportunities – like USHMM - have to offer.
