What does it mean to be an American, and what should be America’s role in the world? These questions are as old as the Republic. They are revisited by each generation, especially in times of crisis. Learn how an examination of Americans’ responses to the Holocaust can help students analyze and evaluate longstanding national arguments about America’s commitment to democratic norms, immigration and refugees, and how individuals, groups, and the government should respond to the threat of genocide abroad.
In this edWebinar, learn how teachers can use materials produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to integrate teaching about Americans and the Holocaust across disciplines using primary sources to investigate evolving American attitudes and behaviors and reinforce issue relevancy for students.
This session features several free Museum teacher resources and a document-based inquiry activity developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
This recorded edWebinar is of interest to high school teachers, school and district leaders, and social studies curriculum coordinators.
About the Presenters
Dr. Rebecca Erbelding has been a historian, curator, and archivist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for the past 18 years and served as the lead historian on the Museum’s special exhibition, Americans and the Holocaust. She holds a Ph.D. in American history from George Mason University. Her first book, Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America’s Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe (Doubleday, 2018), won the National Jewish Book Award for excellence in writing based on archival research.
David Klevan develops programs and educational resources for a diverse group of audiences at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He specializes in experiential learning in online and digital learning environments, the most recent which have been the Museum’s citizen history project, History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust, and the virtual field trip, The Holocaust: History and Memory. In addition, David oversaw development of the Museum’s first mobile app, and played a critical role developing and implementing the Museum’s flagship partnership programs with law enforcement officers and Washington, D.C. area schools.