July 3, 2000
EDUCATORS FROM ACROSS US TO ATTEND WORKSHOPS AT HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
More than 300 Educators to Attend Sixth Annual Belfer Conference
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The sixth annual Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators will be held July 9-11 and July 23-25, 2000, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Funded by a generous grant from the Belfer Foundation, New York, NY — a supporter of Jewish, medical, educational, social service, and cultural organizations — the two, three-day workshops bring together more than 300 secondary school teachers from 37 states and the District of Columbia to share rationales and strategies for teaching Holocaust studies.
Belfer Conference teachers will work closely with Holocaust Memorial Museum educators and scholars to develop Holocaust education strategies for use in a variety of classes, including history, literature and social studies. Teachers will also work with Holocaust survivors who have spent years teaching and lecturing about the Holocaust to students of all ages.
“Many educators are interested in teaching Holocaust studies, but lack the resources, time and training to include this complex history in their curricula,” explains the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Director of Teacher Workshops, Warren Marcus. “The Belfer Conferences provide teachers a background in Holocaust history through extensive study of the Museum’s exhibitions, familiarizing them with educator resources designed by the Museum and providing instruction from outstanding teacher trainers and scholars.”
Since their inception in 1995, the Belfer Conferences have brought approximately 1,900 teachers from all 50 states to the Holocaust Museum. This summer’s conferences include teachers from 37 states and the District of Columbia.
In addition to the Belfer Conferences, which are specifically designed for secondary school teachers with limited Holocaust education experience, every August the Museum hosts the annual Mandel Conference for teachers with five or more years’ experience in Holocaust education. Currently, there are 122 Mandel Fellows from 42 states. Together, these conferences allow the Museum to serve novice and expert Holocaust educators in developing Holocaust teaching techniques and broaden the scope of Holocaust studies nationwide.
The Museum’s Education Division has developed numerous resources and services to help educators and students learn about Holocaust history. The Resource Center for Educators is home to Museum-developed educational materials and serves as a national repository for lesson plans, curricula, literature, and audio-visual materials. Currently, the Museum serves more than 30,000 educators annually.
A unique public-private partnership, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has welcomed more than 14 million visitors since it opened in April 1993. For more information regarding the Belfer Conferences, or to arrange for interviews with or photography of participants, please contact the Museum’s Media Relations Department: Andy Hollinger, (202) 488-6133.
