Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior Summer Seminar

This online seminar features Facing History’s seminal resource Holocaust and Human Behavior and is intended for 6–12th grade world history, U.S. history, humanities, or English language arts educators.

Help students wrestle with the profound moral questions raised by the study of the Holocaust and foster their skills in civic engagement, ethical reasoning, critical thinking, and empathy—all of which are necessary for sustaining democracy.

In this online seminar—featuring Holocaust and Human Behavior—teachers will:

1. Learn current scholarship on the history of the Holocaust and new research focused on human behavior, group dynamics, and bias
2. Learn a new way of structuring curriculum to help students connect history to their own lives and the choices they make
3. Engage with classroom-ready multimedia resources and learn how to build a customized unit that meets your curriculum objectives
4. Discover new teaching strategies that help students interrogate text, think critically, and discuss controversial issues respectfully
5. Increase their ability to facilitate respectful classroom discussions on difficult issues such as racism, antisemitism, and other forms of exclusion in a way that invites personal reflection and critical analysis

Taking place over four days, this seminar offers a real-time, interactive online classroom where participants will connect in facilitated whole- and small-group sessions. We will hear testimony from a Holocaust survivor during our session focusing on the importance of learning from the stories of survivors and their descendants. 

Seminar At-a-Glance Details

Who should take this seminar: 6th–12th grade U.S. history, humanities, and English language arts teachers and curriculum specialists.

Cost: There is a non-refundable $25 registration fee due once your application has been accepted. The event fee for this seminar has been waived thanks to generous funding from Facing History and Ourselves donors and partner organizations.

Time Commitment: Approximately 4.5 hours per day (plus some breaks). There is a pre-work module to complete before the seminar that is approximately 2 hours in length.

Format: Facilitated Zoom meetings with session materials in Canvas.

Accessibility: Facing History is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive educational environment for educators of all abilities. If you have an accessibility need, please contact us at support [at] facinghistory.org (support[at]facinghistory[dot]org).

Certificate of Completion: Awarded upon successful completion of the seminar for 20 professional development hours. Requirements for professional development hours vary by state. It is the educator's responsibility to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of their state. If you are an educator based in New York, after taking this course you are eligible for 20 CTLE hours. If you are an educator based in Illinois, after taking this course you are eligible for up to 20 clock hours. If you are an educator based in Massachusetts, you are eligible for up to 20 PDP hours. Please contact us to learn more about CTLE hours, clock hours, or PDP hours.

Cost: There is a non-refundable $25 registration fee due once your application has been accepted. The $1200 event fee for this seminar has been waived thanks to generous funding from Facing History and Ourselves donors and partner organizations.