FSU Holocaust Institute for Educators
Welcome About the Institute Application Participant Comments Teach Resources
Schedule Fee Information Faculty General Info Contact Us
General Information

FSU Seal The Florida State University Holocaust Institute for Educators has been in operation for fifteen summers, beginning in 1994. It grew out of the request from Tallahassee area Jewish community leaders that Florida State University establish a program to bring information concerning the Holocaust to Florida teachers. This request preceded the Florida legislation that mandated the study of the Holocaust in Florida's public schools. The request was made to Neil Betten, then chairperson of the Florida State University History Department, who worked out the basic plan for the Institute, together with the late Professor Rodney F. Allen. Dr. Allen was a Professor of Social Studies Education in the Florida State University Department of Educational Theory and Practice. The Florida State University Center for Professional Development (now renamed Academic & Professional Program Services) became a partner in the project as well, taking on numerous administrative and fundraising tasks.

Professors Betten and Allen, who served for four years as co-directors of the Institute, originally intended that the students would consist primarily of secondary school social studies education teachers, or other secondary school teachers whose areas related to the Holocaust. Recently, numerous elementary school teachers and college faculty members with a special interest in the topic have attended and found the program to be valuable. The students/teachers who participated in the 2008 program came from public and private schools from all over Florida (from Orlando and Miami to Panama City), as well as from Georgia. Moreover, special evening lectures are open to the public and advertised for that purpose. Previous sessions, which drew from approximately 100 to over 1500 guests, were free and included considerable audience question/answer opportunities.

The Institute's goal is to provide the teachers with accurate and comprehensive information concerning the Holocaust, as well as with materials and methods to teach the Holocaust within their specific classrooms. Through interactions with survivors and their families, the participants are also able to see the Holocaust from a personal perspective. Each year funds are raised in order to provide free tuition and instructional materials for participants as needed; often the county that employs teacher participants partially funds their inclusion in the program. The Institute subsidizes in some form virtually all the teachers attending as students. The funds for this purpose come from either private donations or grants. Florida State University provides facilities, administrative staff, academic expertise, and financial support as needed.

The Institute itself lasts seven days, from Sunday evening to the following Saturday afternoon. The weekday sessions typically run from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. The program begins with a keynote speaker, who is generally not part of the regular program faculty and has a reputation extending beyond the local region. The Institute is then divided between academic and primarily historical content sessions and sessions focusing on instructional techniques. Each lecture allows time for questions and discussion. These talks deal with the basic nature of the issues and history of the Holocaust, including such topics as the Holocaust experiences in France, Italy and Eastern Europe; concentration camp culture; resistance movements; and U.S. reactions to the Holocaust.

The instructional techniques sessions have a totally different perspective. The focus here is on teaching the Holocaust and integrating Holocaust issues and information effectively into the curriculum. Guest speakers for these sessions include experienced teachers in social studies, literature, drama, film, and art. Teachers explore a variety of hands-on techniques for presenting the Holocaust in the classroom. Research time is also allocated for those working on research projects.

The evening programs are academically oriented but not as rigorous as the morning programs. The evening programs consist of sessions with survivors, some presentations (usually of an interdisciplinary nature), films, and group discussions. On Friday evening the Tallahassee Jewish community extends an invitation to all those participants who wish to attend services (orthodox, conservative, and reform).

The Institute's faculty consists primarily of scholars who are connected to Florida State University or the Tallahassee Community College. Guest speakers also attend from a variety of colleges and schools.

In summary, the Holocaust Institute for Educators meets a variety of needs for our community and region:
  1. National polls have illustrated that many Americans still have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Holocaust: for example, some can relate the Holocaust to Hitler, but are not quite sure how; others have heard of the Holocaust, but cannot place it in proper historical sequence. Others see the Holocaust through the eyes of Hollywood film directors.
  2. Florida State University has a distinctive heritage in teaching of the Holocaust and the impact of World War II. Professor Edward Wynot's numerous books and articles on Eastern Europe have established him as one of the leading scholars in the field. His most important work centers on the Jews of Poland. Professor William Oldson, the Director of the FSU World War II Institute, focuses his books and articles on the Balkans. His history of anti-Semitism in Romania won the John Frederick Lewis Award. Professor Nathan Stoltzfus's award-winning book dealing with the Jews of Berlin during the Nazi period received international acclaim. The History Department has also appointed Dr. Robert Gellately as the Earl Ray Beck Professor of History. An internationally recognized scholar on the Holocaust and genocide studies, Dr. Gellately has published numerous books and articles, including, most recently, The Nuremberg Interviews and Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Catastrophe.
  3. Florida State University immediately responded to establish this summer Institute for teachers after the Florida Legislature mandated the teaching of the Holocaust in public schools in 1994.
  4. The Institute's goal is to supplement the current curriculum to educate young people on the enormous significance of the Holocaust.
  5. The significance of the Holocaust, which encompasses important lessons in hate, intolerance, insensitivity, and the resiliency of the human spirit, must not be lost for future generations.
  6. Scholarships are provided to teachers for a significant portion of the cost of the program.
  7. Florida State University, located in a city with little cultural and ethnic diversity and a modest Jewish heritage and community, took the lead with the development of a summer program that is distinctive in the state.
  8. Distance learning and educational technologies will enable Florida State University to expand the scope of this program throughout the region and nation. See our website at http://learningforlife.fsu.edu or our teacher resource site at http://campus.fsu.edu/holocaust.