Exploring Humanity through Hard History: Teaching the Holocaust and Racial Injustice in Today’s Classroom

Date: August 4-8, 2025

Location: Leesburg, Virginia

This seminar empowers educators to teach human rights through parallel studies of the Holocaust and American racial injustice. Participants will examine connections between Jim Crow and Nuremberg laws while engaging with survivor testimonies and primary sources. Using inquiry-based methods, we’ll explore how historical resistance and remembrance inspire contemporary change.

Site visits include:

  • The US Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, DC)
  • A local synagogue
  • Local African American historical landmarks

Guest speakers include a Holocaust survivor, engaged student leaders, and notable community and academic experts.

In partnership with Loudoun County Public Schools, Sha’are Shalom Synagogue, NoVaChai, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

             

Leaders

  • Nikki Korsen

    Nikki Korsen, English teacher at Heritage High School (Loudoun County, VA) and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Trained by the USHMM, Yad Vashem, and a 2017 TOLI NY seminar alum. Author of two articles on the importance of Holocaust education and a curriculum writer for PBS Learning Media. 

  • Shanedra Nowell

    Shanedra Nowell, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at Oklahoma State University. Trained by the USHMM and a 2018 TOLI NY seminar alum. Author of dozens of articles, presentations, and curriculum resources on teaching the Holocaust and racial history.