Exploring the Educational and Ethical Implications of the Forever Project for Holocaust Education

• In Event: 31.092 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Three - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 31.092-4 - Contentious Discussions in Contentious Times

Abstract

Our study explores the pedagogical, ethical, and historical implications of the Forever Project for Holocaust Education. The Forever Project, at the UK National Holocaust Centre, attempts to maintain the vital role of first-person survivor testimony in their Holocaust education programs through providing a dynamic and interactive 3-D recorded video of survivor testimony that is responsive to questions asked by students or adults. Here we use activity theory (Engestrom, 1999) and Baudrillard’s (1981) conceptualization of simulacra and simulation to explore the case of the Forever Project. Data include interviews with survivors, Project staff, and from observations of the interactions between the Forever Project and student groups. Implications for history education and educational media are discussed.

Authors

• Jeremy D. Stoddard, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Alan Marcus, University of Connecticut

• David Hicks, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• Gary Mills, University of Nottingham

• Ian McGregor, University of Connecticut - Storrs