Teaching, Learning, and the Holocaust: An Integrative Approach

154 Pages·2014·1.268 MB·English

by  Howard Tinberg, Ronald Weisberger

teaching, Learning, and the hoLocaust
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Jennifer Meta Robinson
Whitney M. Schlegel
Mary Taylor Huber
Pat Hutchings
editors
t e a ching,
L e a rning, a nd
t he hoL oc a us t
an integrative approach
howard tinberg & ronald weisberger
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
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© 2014 by Howard Tinberg and Ronald Weisberger
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
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Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tinberg, Howard B., [date]
Teaching, learning, and the Holocaust : an integrative
approach / Howard Tinberg and Ronald Weisberger.
pages cm. — (Scholarship of teaching and learning)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01132-9 (cl : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-01133-6
(pb : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-01146-6 (eb) 1. Holocaust, Jewish
(1939-1945)—Study and teaching. I. Weisberger, Ronald. II. Title.
D804.33.T56 2013
940.53’18071—dc23
2013022244
1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14
For my mother and father,
who began from the ashes—and for
the grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins
whom I never knew
HT
For those relatives left in the “old world”
and those who survived in the “new”
to carry on the memory of our ancient tradition
RW
We speak in their stead, by proxy.
Primo Levi, “Shame”
ConTenTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv

1 n Introduction 1

1 n Contexts 10

2 n Discipline 25

3 n What We Knew and When We Knew It 40

4 n Bystanders and Agents 51

5 n Witnesses 61

6 n Trauma 75

7 n Reclaiming Faith 90
Appendix A: Course Syllabus 109
Appendix B: Reading Journal Template 117
Appendix C: Critical Research Project 119
Appendix D: Midterm and Final Exams 123
Works Cited 125
Index 131
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PrefaCe
Ever since the publication of Ernest Boyer’s College: The
Undergraduate Experience, and particularly Scholarship Reconsidered,
the idea that research on teaching and learning could be a legitimate
form of scholarship has been debated in the academy. The scholarship
of teaching and learning, often referred to as SoTL, looks to the class-
room as a rich source of knowledge. Sadly, SoTL has not always been
given the same prestige or recognition as other forms of research. It
was the goal of Scholarship Reconsidered “to move beyond the ‘teaching
versus research’ debate and give scholarship a broader, more effica-
cious meaning” (Glassick, Huber, and Maeroff ix). Although strides
have been made in recognizing SoTL, it still often lacks the backing
of committees on tenure and promotion, particularly in baccalaureate
and traditional research institutions.
Those of us teaching at community colleges face additional hur-
dles. In these institutions teaching is supposed to be the main func-
tion of the faculty. However, one of the main obstacles to SoTL at
two-year schools is a bias against research, even if that research includes
teaching as its subject. In fact, spending precious time reflecting on one’s
teaching in an organized and disciplined way and sharing such knowl-
edge through conferences and publications are often seen as luxuries.
The majority of instructors in such schools do not see themselves as
researchers nor are they viewed as such by administrators. We believe
that teaching separated from reflective practice and collegial exchange
runs the risk of stultification and that community college faculty who
are afforded little time, few resources, and only nominal recognition
to engage in scholarly reflection will see their own professional identi-
ties as knowledge makers diminished—in essence, they are becoming
mere delivery systems. In this age of proliferating online instruction
(including freely dispensed fare such as massive open online courses),
such a threat is no longer merely an abstraction.
The situation at public community colleges has worsened as
state and federal budget cuts have decreased the number of full-time