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Spring2014 /
WARRENFELLOWSHIPENTERS11THYEAR
With more than 300 alumni, The Warren Fellowship for Future
Teachers is a week-long program that introduces university students
preparing for a career in teaching to the history and to the lessons of
theHolocaust and other genocides.
This year’sFellowship isscheduled forMay19 throughMay23. Yearly,
up to 25 pre-service teacher educators and up to two faculty fellows
are selected by a faculty and Museum panel and are designated as
Warren Fellows.
Participants attend a six-day, expense-paid institute designed to
immerse the Fellows in historical and pedagogical issues related to
the Holocaust. Eminent Holocaust and genocide scholars provide
historical and academic content and university faculty and Museum
staff provide pedagogical context. The Fellows enjoy the opportunity
to get to know survivors from the Houston community, and as they
begin their teachingcareers. Formore information, visitwww.hmh.org.
KAPLAN INSTITUTEBEGINS JULY29
The Max M. Kaplan Summer Institute for Educators at Holocaust
Museum Houston is a four-day program that moves beyond
the general history of the Holocaust to explore the various
dimensions and implications of the Holocaust and other genocides.
The institute, scheduled for July 29 through Aug. 1, provides
substantivecontent and theopportunity tonetworkwith internationally
known scholars of the Holocaust and genocide and teachers from
around the world. Working in the Museum’s exhibit spaces and
classrooms, teachers grow in their understanding of the Holocaust
and refine their skills to teach about the history and lessons of
the Holocaust and other genocides. he schedule includes one
or two evening lectures. For more information about the Max. M.
Kaplan Summer Institute and an application, visit
.
INACOMMUNITY, “ALLBEHAVIORSCOUNT”
Do you need to be able to discuss bullying and social cruelty with
young people in your programs? You can help people understand
moreabouthow to respondpositivelywhenconfrontedwithmeanness
in this half-day workshop focusing on the Museum’s anti-bullying
curriculum, “All Behaviors Count.” Scheduled for Monday, May 12,
2014, this programwill show community leaders and others how to
implement theMuseum’s freeprogram that examines thefive formsof
social cruelty: taunting, rumoring, exclusion, ganging up andbullying.
To register or formore information, visit
.
EDUCATION
Learning andUsingYour Voice
My hero and role model, Holocaust survivor
NaomiWarren says, “... big changes, the kind that
transformhowhumanbeings handlebeinghuman,
start with small changes.” I’ve been thinking a lot
lately, as I have had a chance to study and to visit
other Holocaust museums, about what makes
learning experiencesmost meaningful.
Scholars and leaders are now suggesting new
insights that shapeunderstandingof theHolocaust
and humanbehavior. I have considered new ideas,
asking if and why those ideas should become a
part of my practice. Which, if any, will be most
productive andmeaningful?
After attending the Jewish Foundation for the
Righteous Advanced Seminar, I came away with
deeper understandingof thecomplex relationships
and motivations that formed between the Nazis
and organized religion and was encouraged to
consider how the economy of plunder affected
the experiences of individuals differently inEastern
and Western Europe during the years of the
Holocaust. Lastly, historian Peter Black suggested
different terms for descriptions that have been
used for years in Holocaust studies. As Black
discussed nomenclature of the Nazi camp system
and our long-term use of the term “death camp”
he stated, “EveryNazi settingwas ultimately about
death, hence, “killing center” is a more accurate
description than ‘death camp’ for the places
where humansweremurdered.” Death is a natural
process, killing is not.
While at the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, I visited the exhibit “Some Were
Neighbors: Collaboration and Complicity During
the Holocaust.” This powerful exhibition draws
attention to the fact that millions of ordinary
people witnessed the crimes of the Holocaust. It
stimulates us to think “whatmotives andpressures
led so many individuals to abandon their fellow
human beings?Why did others make the choice
to help?”
It remindsus thatwecanuseour voices toprovide
support for others. I hope you will choose to use
your voice as an upstander to share themission of
ourMuseum.
Dr.
Mary Lee
Webeck,
Director of
Education
