Exploring the Past, Preparing for the Future: Making Holocaust and Human Rights Relevant for Today’s Students

Date: June 9-14, 2025

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

The focus of the Louisiana seminar is to explore the intersections between Holocaust Education, Louisiana history, and human rights as a springboard for teaching and learning. Participants will use inquiry-based experiences to deepen understanding. We will weave into our own exploration civil rights and the Southern Jewish experience, allowing participants to gain the ability to understand similarities and differences between Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South.

  • Participants will:

    • Hear from a Second Generation Holocaust Survivor
    • Engage with guest speaker, NY Times Best-Selling author, Jennifer Nielsen
    • Visit a synagogue to deepen understanding about Jewish religious practices, meet with a Rabbi, and attend Shabbat service
    • Explore contemporary antisemitism and civil rights issues
    • Tour The National World War II Museum in New Orleans
    • Leave with a toolbox of activities, ideas, and lesson plans to engage students in meaningful encounters with the Holocaust and human rights issues
    • Experience reflective writing as a way to process complex information

In partnership with The National World War II Museum in New Orleans and The Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival.

 

Leaders

  • Sherry Been

    Sherry Been, Ph.D. is a Professor in Curriculum and Instruction at Northeastern State University with over 25 years of experience as an educator. Her teaching spans all grade levels preschool through adults while working with students from rural, suburban, and urban settings. Her research interests include teacher efficacy, diversity/human rights issues, children’s literature, and literacy. Holocaust education has been a meaningful piece of her curriculum development and professional development over the past 15 years. In her free time, you will find her reading, hiking, planning her next travel adventure, or spending time with family.

  • Penny Kinchen

    Penny Kinchen has been the Middle School Administrator and English Department Chair at Central Private School in Baton Rouge, LA, for over 24 years. Affectionately known by her students as “PK,” she has a particular gift of promoting proper speaking, writing, and presenting for teenagers. She also enjoys mentoring new teachers and developing curriculum.  Since 2013, she has worked in Holocaust education, social justice, and human rights, seeking to be an advocate against bullying, prejudice, and antisemitism. In her spare time, PK enjoys reading, writing, and traveling.