The Max M. Kaplan Summer Institute for Educators at Holocaust Museum Houston is a four-day program that moves beyond the general history of the Holocaust to explore the various dimensions and implications of the Holocaust and other genocides. The institute, held each summer, provides substantive content and the opportunity to network with internationally known scholars of the Holocaust and teachers from around the world.  Working in the Museum’s exhibit space and classrooms, teachers grow in their understanding of the Holocaust and refine their skills to teach about the history and lessons of the Holocaust. 

This year’s program will be held July 6 through 9.  The deadline for applications to attend is June 22, 2010.

The 2010 program focuses on memory and essential ideas about human behavior in the context of the Holocaust and genocide. 

Two well-received presenters from past programs will return to explore new topics:

• Michael Berenbaum, director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, will discuss themes of contemporary issues in Holocaust education. 
• Ian Hancock, professor at The University of Texas-Austin, will return to discuss the Roma experience during the Holocaust.

People often learn about the experience of survivors through their writing, speaking or video testimonies. Coming this November, those experiences also will be expressed through music. A performance of "Kaddish," an hour-long oratorio for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra, whose texts come verbatim from the testimony of survivors of the Holocaust, will take place on Nov. 23, 2010. HMH Director of Education Mary Lee Webeck and a member of the Houston Symphony organization will present a session about the project and its use of Holocaust survivor testimony with music.

Several sessions will focus on placing the Holocaust in context with the events World War II. The geopolitical implications of the war affected many groups, leading to the destruction of Jews from areas in which their communities have vanished completely. These sessions will coincide with time spent in the “Never Let It Rest!” exhibition that looks at one town’s history and one man’s artistic response to that history.

In conjunction with the production of “The Laramie Project” being performed this summer at HMH, Judy Shepard will present a session about the legacy of her son Matthew’s life and his values of respect and dignity with others. Participants in the institute may wish to attend a performance of “The Laramie Project” being performed on Saturday, July 10.

Pedagogical sessions with TEKS connections will be conducted on using literature to teach about the Holocaust and on connecting the impact of racist ideologies of Jim Crow and the Nuremberg Laws. 

An opportunity to attend an evening lecture conducted by Nancy Yeidi from the National Gallery will also be possible. At this lecture, participants will learn about art that was looted by the Nazis during the war, in particular art looted by Hermann Goering. 

The program is directed toward educators on a secondary or higher level, but university students and educators of all levels who have a specific interest in, and background knowledge of, the Holocaust are invited to apply.  Holocaust Museum Houston is a provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) approved by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), whose provider number is 500499. 

Seating is limited and is on a competitive basis. The cost to attend the program is $150, which includes lunch and materials for the four days. Some scholarship monies to cover travel expenses may be available for out-of-town participants; these participants should note their need on their application. The application to the program is available at the Museum’s Web site (http://www.hmh.org/ed_kaplan.shtml).  For more information about the program, e-mail teachertraining@hmh.org or call 713-942-8000, ext. 123. 

This educator training project has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc.; and is generously underwritten by the Max M. Kaplan Teacher Education Fund and the Chevra Kadisha Holocaust Studies Scholarship Fund, with special thanks to Continental Airlines, the official airline of Holocaust Museum Houston.