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International Summer Academy in English
The 8th International Summer Academy, organized by the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, took place on July 9-30, 2021.
This year’s edition was an online course with four live sessions, which enabled the participation of people living in different places all over the world. The program combined individual work with materials within a course in Moodle, constructed specially for the seminar, with online working sessions that included interactive formats and discussion rounds.
The project was addressed at teachers, educators, historians, museum and memorial staff members, writers, history students and all those interested in the topic. The international group had the opportunity to learn more about the history of Auschwitz as well as the contemporary dimensions of remembrance and education on this difficult topic, explore different online tools and methods used in the field, discuss urgent topics and create a network of international contacts.
“It was a challenge to construct a program for such a diverse group, both in terms of background and professional interest. Hence, this edition included some new topics and discussion points. The participants stressed in their evaluation that the Summer Academy had given them new ways to approach the topic and new perspectives to take into their fields of activity, i.e. education, creation of exhibitions, construction of study tours or writing a book,” said Nataliia Tkachenko, coordinator of the ISA.
The program developed exclusively for the ISA included the workshop “Faces of Auschwitz”, which offered room for discussions about individual stories of Auschwitz survivors as well as different historical sources used to learn and teach about the past. Other enriching and thought-provoking topics included the contemporary dimension of symbolism and meaning of Auschwitz and technology in teaching and learning about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
“Our team explores new solutions for hybrid education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Although it is crucial for our pedagogical concept that participants of our seminars visit the authentic site, we seek to make it possible to get in touch with this history and memory for those who cannot come here due to various limitations. We hope to organize a follow-up on site for this year’s ISA participants in the future,” underlined Andrzej Kacorzyk, Director of the ICEAH.
