In this course we will consider goals, methods, content, and messages of teaching and learning about the Holocaust (TLH). We will delineate the development of Holocaust education and more specifically the place of Holocaust in school curricula, formal and informal education. TLH raises a host of educational questions regarding our goals as educators; what is successful Holocaust education and how the cultural surrounding is reflected in TLH. We will consider all these questions from multidisciplinary perspectives, including pedagogical, psychological, and philosophical aspects.

2024-2025 Course Syllabus

This course empowers students to tackle complex challenges in Holocaust education and commemoration using human-centered design thinking methodology. Students will work in collaborative teams to identify pressing issues, conduct user research through interviews and empathy mapping, and develop innovative, tested solutions.

The course progresses through the complete design thinking cycle: beginning with foundational methodology and challenge identification, advancing through user research and persona development, then moving into structured ideation and solution evaluation. Students will build prototypes, conduct user testing, and refine their solutions based on real feedback from target audiences.

2025 Course Syllabus 

Educating about the Holocaust (EaH) raises a host of educational and pedagogical questions: What should be our goals as educators? What can be considered successful Holocaust education? EaH also raises issues about memory, culture, and time: How does EaH reflect the cultural surrounding in which it takes place? How do new atrocities interact with the memory of the Holocaust? In addition, EaH raises philosophical challenges relating to our worldview and to our beliefs about human beings. Some of these questions require pedagogical and developmental knowledge, others entail self-reflection and introspection. Still others require conducting research to reach reliable answers. In this course, we will use all three sources of knowledge. We will consider goals, methods, and messages of EaH, while attempting to uncover hidden educational and philosophical assumptions. We will review our beliefs about humanity and the role of education, by exploring the choices made by perpetrators, bystanders, victims and helpers during the Holocaust, and we will learn how to conduct a small educational study, by considering Holocaust education and its challenges after October 7th, 2023.

2025 Course Syllabus