The Mosque Controversy as a Teachable Moment Adam Strom, Director of Research and Development, Facing History and Ourselves
The controversy over Park51—the Lower Manhattan Islamic culture center and mosque—and the recent stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in New York City are reminders that for all of our strengths as a nation, we are not good at talking about religion.
Facing History and Ourselves' work with educators in Jewish educational settings was recently featured in a story by the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. The article highlights one project of our Jewish Education Program that works to create a richer and more meaningful Jewish educational experience for middle school and high school students.
Tom Alderman brings readers inside one Facing History and Ourselves classroom in "What's Inside YOUR Shoebox? Facing History...and Ourselves." Read the article in The Huffington Post.
An article in the Boston Globe highlights the partnership between Facing History and Ourselves and the Archdiocese of Boston, which includes professional development opportunities for educators in Catholic school settings. As part of a recent weeklong seminar Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior, Catholic school educators heard from Schindler's list survivor and Facing History resource speaker Rena Finder.
In 2009-2010, Facing History brought together a group of students from two high schools in Rwanda and two high schools in Greater Boston for a youth leadership program funded by the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The introductory video explains how the students learned together online and through in-person exchanges, and how they created digital video stories together with the support of the Mobile Learning Institute. The disc includes the nine student-created videos.
This video tracks the lives of nine ambitious young Chinese men and women living in a society that is experiencing rapid change. Originally broadcast as a PBS Frontline program, it looks at how these young professionals and workers are adjusting and looking for opportunities in the newly prosperous culture, defying Eastern cultural traditions in pursuit of more Western values.
62 or 73 minutes Source: Ro*co Films International
A documentary about a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia with its history of bloody civil war, violent warlords, and a corrupt Charles Taylor regime. Pray the Devil Back to Hell includes interviews, archival images and scenes of present-day Liberia, and recounts the experiences and memories of the women who were instrumental in bringing lasting peace to their country.
48 minutes Source: National Center for Jewish Film
On the occasion of a retrospective exhibit of his work, painter Samuel Bak returned to his hometown of Vilna. There he walked through the streets of the Vilna Ghetto where he was interned with his parents during the Holocaust, and visited the nearby forest where his father and grandfather were murdered. This documentary explores Bak's work and life through the lens of his childhood experiences.
"Hove" is a mystery that tells the story of two modern Armenian women whose lives are shaken by an unexpected encounter with the past, and the unresolved legacy of the Armenian Genocide.
A lesbian student at a Jewish high school confronts her identity as a Jew and a lesbian, and is determined to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance at her school. Interviews with her, her family, her teachers, and other students illustrate how the school community struggled with their commitment to Jewish pluralism when confronting both Jewish tradition and social change.
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