No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Learning about...The Civil War: Literature and Other Resources for Young People
Abstract
Drawing on the many resources published for young people about the Civil War, this book selects the best books and other resources for teachers to use in the classroom and suggests how to use them effectively. Beginning with a chapter about using literature to study the Civil War, the book moves on to a series of thematic chapters on six broad topics: (1) the United States just before the war; (2) the struggle for freedom; (3) people who made a difference; (4) war experiences; (5) the home front; and (6) rebuilding the nation. Each chapter in the book begins with an introduction to the subject, followed by discussions of fiction and nonfiction "focus books" and shorter descriptions of other books on the topic; each focus book discussion includes an excerpt from the text, an overview of the resource, a summary of its strengths, considerations for teachers, and suggestions for classroom activities. The following chapter titles are included: (1) "Using Literature to Learn About the Civil War"; (2) "A Troubled Land"; (3) "Struggling to be Free"; (4) "Those Who Made a Difference"; (5) "War Experiences"; (6) "On the Homefront"; (7) "Rebuilding the Nation"; and (8) "Resources." The book includes suggested recordings, videotapes, software, Web sites, museums, historical sites, and teaching aids. The appendix contains the National Standards for United States History Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861) and Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877). (BT)
... 139). As with the first-person accounts, fiction works can also be used to personalize this history (Markman, 1996;Shawn, 2001;Stephens, Brown, & Rubin, 1995;Totten, 2001a). This diversity allows students to learn about the Holocaust from multiple perspectives (Markman, 1996;Stephens et al.) and can be found in works of historical fiction, poetry, drama, and others. ...
... As with the first-person accounts, fiction works can also be used to personalize this history (Markman, 1996;Shawn, 2001;Stephens, Brown, & Rubin, 1995;Totten, 2001a). This diversity allows students to learn about the Holocaust from multiple perspectives (Markman, 1996;Stephens et al.) and can be found in works of historical fiction, poetry, drama, and others. ...
... The titles should also provide opportunities for students to evaluate the individual and societal issues that are at the heart of Holocaust education (Markman, 1996;Shawn, 2001;Totten, 2001a). In conjunction with this thought, students should be given occasions throughout the study to reflect on their learning, clarify any misconceptions that may have arisen, and express their feelings and opinions through class discussions and/or writing opportunities (Stephens et al., 1995;Totten, 2001a). The stories should also inspire further Holocaust studies (Totten, 2001a (Shawn, 2001;Totten, 2001a;USHMM, 1995). ...
... In the United States, for example, there are seven major Holocaust museums, including the government-supported US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and systematic education about the Holocaust is required or recommended by at least 17 states (Finkelstein, 2000). Holocaust programs and curricula abound (Haynes, 1998; Stephens et al., 1995; Strom and Parsons, 1982 ). In stark contrast, there is to my knowledge no major museum or curriculum dedicated to any other genocide, not even the genocides committed against many of the indigenous peoples of what is now the United States (Churchill, 1997; Stannard, 1992 ). To the extent that other genocides are considered at all, they can only be understood and discussed within a Holocaust-based conception of genocide. ...
... The same considerations hold with regard to students. As noted earlier, education about genocide is typically limited to the Holocaust, " the darkest chapter of our history " (Stephens et al, 1995, p.2), with a few examples, perhaps, of what are taken to be lesser genocides and other violations of human rights. Such curricula instill or reinforce Holocaust-based conceptions of genocide and genocide-based conceptions of human rights, and thus may serve more to obfuscate than to clarify and educate. ...
Our thinking is unavoidably constrained by our conceptual structures. To the extent that we reflect on and reconstruct our concepts, however, we can sharpen our thinking. The first section of this article considers the nature of concepts, highlighting a standard distinction between prototype-based and formal concepts. Drawing on these insights from cognitive psychology, the second section suggests that the ability to recognize and understand genocides is greatly restricted by Holocaust-based conceptions of genocide. In turn one can enhance one’s understanding via the construction and application of formal concepts of genocide. Extending this argument, I observe in the third section that genocide, however defined, has come to be seen as the ultimate human rights catastrophe, and thus the measure of all such catastrophes. Implicitly or explicitly, we routinely construe and evaluate mass killings, cultural exterminations, ethnic cleansings, political disappearances, religious inquisitions, chattel slavery, and other catastrophic violations of human rights through the lens of genocide. This often illuminates the genocidal aspects of diverse atrocities, but it also hinders and distorts our understanding of matters that cannot and should not be understood only in relation to genocide. Finally, I consider the scientific and educational implications of the present arguments. By articulating, discussing, coordinating, and reflecting on diverse historical cases and diverse formal criteria for genocide and other human rights catastrophes, and by encouraging students to do so as well, we can foster the construction of defensible formal conceptions and an accompanying consciousness about the nature and limits of those conceptions. We cannot escape the constraints inherent in conceptual thought, but we can always transcend the limitations of our current concepts.
... Participating in dramatic productions allows students to truly interact with the history [10,11]. There are many strategies for incorporating drama into the classroom, ranging from reading plays in class to participating in the actual research, writing, and production of a Holocaust drama [12,13]. Teachers also use music as a way to teach students about the Holocaust [14]. ...
Holocaust education is a responsibility of all academic institutions; we are obligated to teach students about the reality of crimes perpetrated during WW2, to commemorate the victims, and to sustain a meaningful dialogue between history and memory. The Holocaust was not the first or the last genocide in the history of humanity, but it was unprecedented in many ways and is still the most radical attempt to destroy every member of a group without exception. This paper presents the Holocaust education strategies of the USA Coast Guard Academy. The paper argues that Holocaust education must provide future political and military leaders with an understanding not only of the human rights violations that happened under the Nazis, but also with modern examples of prejudice, discrimination and persecution that motivate genocide, and that this is best accomplished through active learning methods that include discussions with survivors and with peers who have visited historic Holocaust sites.
School is the only place most people come into contact with the history of this country, and there are always updated narratives of historical events as new source material surfaces. The Civil War is one of those eras about which our perception is constantly changing. There is a plethora of books on this topic published every year, many aimed specifically at children. These works draw heavily on original source documents that include material from diaries and letters, many of which are recently discovered sources. A large percentage of these are targeted at middle school reading audience. This explosion of new books makes it even more important to look at how the stories of the Civil War, which was a defining moment in our national history, are being told to our children. Have the message and the way the story is told changed over the course of time? What messages about this war and war in general are authors and educators giving to children? Answering these questions will form the basis of this research.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.