New Approaches to Teaching Causes of WWII

Learn a different way to teach World War II that places Nazi ideology as the cause of the war in Europe. Model methods that highlight discussion based, student-centered classrooms with adaptable curriculum that uses primary sources from the Nuremberg trials to bring the Holocaust into the center of WWII history. A new suite of podcast resources will be distributed to all attendees.

Applicable for: 8th–12th grade US, World, European, and AP History classes

This seminar will empower 8th-12th grade teachers with a more focused lens to examine 20th Century history and help students understand the true cause of WWII in Europe. Seminar participants will learn how:

1.        Nazi racism caused WWII in Europe

Too often, we spend a great deal of time having students learn the series of diplomatic crises that led up to WWII, but by focusing too heavily on those, the actual cause of the war gets lost. Germany’s legitimate grievances were used by the Nazis as a diversion to cover up their actual objectives. Hitler started the war to gain more land for the growth of the Aryan “master race.” This seminar will focus on Nazi ideology and demonstrate how it caused the war in Europe. 

2.        The intersection of antisemitism, homophobia, and misogyny are critical to understanding the origins of WWII in Europe

Hitler believed the history of the world was a race struggle, but Nazi racial ideology differs from our modern understanding of that ideology. To the Nazis, Southern and Eastern Europeans were sub-human, even though they appeared to be white—and they considered Jews to be the most inferior of all. The intersection of antisemitism, homophobia, and misogyny in Nazi thought are all critical to understanding the origins of WWII in Europe, and those connections will be analyzed. In addition, those since beliefs are still with us, we will look at how they exist in the world today.

A light lunch will be included for participants.

Instructors: David Fript and Laurie Pasler

Course Date: 9/28/2024

Course Time:  10:00 AM-3:00 PM

Free Parking Available.

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