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UNESCO Holds Conference on the Globalization of Holocaust Education

26.04.2012

UNESCO will host a conference entitled "Holocaust Education in a Global Context" at their headquarters in Paris on 27 April 2012.

The genocide of the Jewish people has become a global point of reference for mass violence. It presents particular challenges in education - for example, teaching the Holocaust in regions where the genocide did not take place. It also raises the importance of promoting education on the history of genocides and mass atrocities.

Some 40 educators and scholars will analyze how and why the Holocaust has become a universal reference at an international expert meeting at UNESCO headquarters on 27 April. They will also explore the influence of the Holocaust on remembrance processes.

The experts will notably examine the role of education in tackling difficult issues of the past in various national contexts. Discussions will focus on ways to manage divisive and competitive memories through education, based on the example of Holocaust Education.

Many institutions involved in the fields of Holocaust, genocide and human rights education will participate, such as Facing History and Ourselves, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum, Iriba Center and IBUKA in Rwanda, Ravensbrück Memorial Museum and Beth Lohame Hagetaot.

Speakers include prominent academics Peter Longerich of the University of London and Xu Xin of the Nanjin University.

The meeting, organized by UNESCO in partnership with the German Foundation "Topography of Terror," will bring together about 40 experts from Austria, Canada, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries to discuss these issues and to identify future directions in this field.

Further information and the conference program can be accessed here .

A live webcast will be broadcast on 27 April from 9:30-18:15 (GMT+2).