Teacher Workshops
For over a decade, the CHGS has partnered with Salem State faculty to develop workshops on comparative genocide and human rights. Since the passage of the MA Genocide Education Act in 2021, the CHGS has been working with an expanding number of school districts to provide professional development. On-campus full day workshops are designed to provide educators with the content and resources necessary to teach these emotionally challenging topics. Educators learn from cutting edge scholars, hear from survivors, and share teaching strategies with fellow practitioners. Previous workshops have focused on topics such as environmental justice, the Cambodian, Guatemalan, and Armenian Genocides, and the legacies of violence in the former Yugoslavia.
Teaching the Holocaust
The CHGS regularly develops full-day workshops on topics related to the Holocaust such as antisemitism, the lived experiences of women in the Holocaust, Nazi medicine and experiments, and America and the Holocaust. Since 2021, the CHGS has held several 3-day summer institutes on teaching the Holocaust for middle and high school teachers led by CHGS staff and faculty. Educators review foundational resources with USHMM staff, hear from survivors, and learn about the latest research from world-renowned Holocaust scholars.
Teacher Testimonial
“The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has allowed me to stay in close contact with my alma mater while developing as an educator. The workshops have made me a better teacher, the cohort has given me a professional community, and our collaborations have provided my students with powerful, purposeful, and memorable learning experiences. Teaching genocide education is like no other kind of teaching–it is emotionally challenging, deeply meaningful, and ultimately rewarding. I could not have created my Genocide Studies class, sustained it these last eight years, or become the educator I am today without the CHGS.”
Justin Bilton, English Teacher, Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School
Museum/Site Visits
Each year, faculty from the CHGS lead students and educators to local or national museums and historic sites related to the Holocaust and genocide studies. Over the past years, the center has sponsored visits to the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, Museum of Jewish Heritage and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City.