Workshop Code of Conduct
We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free environment for everyone. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.
Expected attendee behavior:
Be considerate and respectful towards your fellow workshop attendees. Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech. Do not disrupt the virtual meeting or engage in harm or threats of harm of any kind. Do not create/contribute an unsafe or exclusionary situation. Do not make audio or visual recordings of the virtual workshop in any medium—and do not distribute audio or visual recordings of the virtual workshop (via social media or any other means).
Participants violating these rules may be expelled from the workshop at the discretion of its organizers. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
Empowering Educators to Teach on Genocide:
A Virtual Workshop
January 15-16, 2022
Registration for the workshop is now closed.
This workshop was conducted to empower Wisconsin’s K-12 educators to teach on genocide and fulfill the mandates of Act 30, the new law passed by the Wisconsin legislature and Governor Evers in April 2021. It offered participants the chance to hear presentations by top experts and acquire free book sets and other practical materials for teaching on the subject of genocide and five specific cases: the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Argentina, and the Uyghurs in China.
To view the workshop’s carefully vetted List of Resources for Teaching on Genocide, click here.
The first session on Saturday, January 15, featured talks on genocide cases in regions of the world that our UW-Madison area studies centers represent. These centers include the Centers for Southeast Asian, African, East Asian, South Asian, European, and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies (LACIS), and the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA).
The second day’s session on Sunday, January 16, featured a short overview of Act 30 by Kris McDaniel, Social Studies Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and a talk by Ilana Weltman, Project Director & Holocaust Education Instructor at The George Washington University-Graduate School of Education and Human Development. This was followed by a presentation from Samantha Goldberg, Director of Education at the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC), on practical techniques and resources available for teaching confidently on genocide and other sensitive issues covered by the workshop. Educators then had a chance to talk with fellow teachers during an interactive panel session of K-12 educators from Wisconsin.
This professional development opportunity was sponsored and organized by the area studies centers at UW-Madison, the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education and Resource Center (HERC), and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. For more information on our sponsors, please see below.
For more information on this event, please contact Mary McCoy at mccoy2@wisc.edu.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15 | 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Central Time
Introduction to the workshop on January 15 by Mary McCoy, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UW-Madison.
Note: Each lecture is 30 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. There will be a 10-minute break between speakers and a 30-minute break half-way through.
Keynote Address: “Man or Monster? The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer”
9:05-9:50 A.M.
Presented by Alexander Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, and UNESCO Chair in Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University.
About the presentation: During the Khmer Rouge’s brutal reign in Cambodia during the mid-to-late 1970s, a former math teacher named Duch served as the commandant of the S-21 security center, where as many as 20,000 victims were interrogated, tortured, and executed. In 2009, Duch stood trial for these crimes against humanity. While the prosecution painted Duch as evil, his defense lawyers claimed he simply followed orders.
In his presentation, Alexander Hinton will discuss this case and offer a nuanced analysis of Duch, the tribunal, the Khmer Rouge, and the after-effects of Cambodia’s genocide. To address the question of how a person becomes a torturer and executioner, as well as the law’s ability to grapple with crimes against humanity, Dr. Hinton adapts Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil” to consider how the potential for violence is embedded in the everyday ways people articulate meaning and comprehend the world. More broadly, Dr. Hinton’s presentation provides novel ways to consider justice, terror, genocide, memory, truth, and humanity.
“Witnessing Human Rights Abuses in Argentina”
10:00-10:45 A.M.
Presented by Ksenija Bilbija, Professor of Spanish American Literatures, University of Wisconsin-Madison
From 1976-1983, Argentina was under the control of a military dictatorship. During this period, society was exposed to state-sponsored terrorism and forced disappearances. After the terrorism of the state ended, civil society engaged in reckoning with traumatic history not only through trials and truth commissions, but also through alternative modes of truth-telling. This lecture will examine the cathartic role that alternative truth-telling, such as narratives (novels, short-stories and testimonials), visual arts and performance, had on the society.
Brunch Recess
10:45-11:15 A.M.
“Destroy, Replace…Repeat: State Violence in the Uyghur Homeland and its Historical Precedent”
11:15 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.
Presented by Timothy Grose, Associate Professor of China Studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
About the presentation: The crisis unfolding in the Uyghur homeland is one of the most brutal and complex examples of state violence in recent history. Although it has attracted the attention and drawn condemnation of policy makers, journalists, scholars and activists around the world, disagreement ensues over accurately and effectively labeling these destructive policies. Drawing almost entirely on sources with connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), this talk introduces the modes of violence—mass incarceration, religious persecution, cultural suppression, and coercive birth control—afflicting Uyghur communities. It then places these policies in a historical perspective by drawing parallels to the US federal government’s treatment of Native American populations, placing special attention on residential boarding schools. With these examples in hand, we will assess available terminology—crimes against humanity, cultural genocide, genocide, etc.—to best describe the CCP’s repression of Uyghurs.
Check out this Podcast before the workshop to prepare: China and the Uyghurs – Recording of Sean Roberts speaking for UW-Madison
“Learning to Talk About and Critically Represent Genocide: A Researcher’s Reflection”
12:10-12:55 P.M.
Presented by Kathryn Mara, Albert Markham Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of African Cultural Studies at UW-Madison.
About the presentation:
In the immediate aftermath of a presidential assassination and in the larger midst of a civil war fought between the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi was organized by a small group of Hutu hardliners. While the RPF eventually gained control of Rwanda, from the beginning of the genocide until its end (approximately one-hundred days), over half a million Tutsi and approximately fifty thousand Hutu people were killed. Since then, disputes over how to name the 1994 genocide have persisted, in part, due to disagreements about which violent episodes, against whom, can be captured using the same term; struggles with how to refer to ethnicity in the aftermath of the genocide; and ramifications of Rwandan legislation dictating how the genocide should be talked about.
In this presentation, we will discuss Dr. Mara’s experiences conducting research among the Rwandan community of Toronto and how the “lessons” she learned about the power of language in representing genocide translate to the K-12 classroom. In particular, we will think about representing the 1994 genocide (and other genocides) in ways that are sensitive to the diverse feelings, experiences, and traumas of survivors, while also encouraging our students to forge connections between course materials and other areas of their lives.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 16 | 10:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. Central Time
Introduction to the second workshop session on January 16 by Kris McDaniel, Social Studies Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, who will provide a short overview of Act 30 and its requirements.
“Teaching with Testimony”
10:15-11:00 A.M.
Susan Warsinger, Holocaust Survivor and former teacher, and Ilana Weltman, a PhD student at UW-Madison, join together to model effective pedagogical practices, through Susan’s testimony and presentation prepared with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Susan and Ilana are both involved with the local DC Child Survivor group and have become partners in promoting Holocaust Education. For more information on the speakers, please see the “Presenters” tab.
“Holocaust Education Map Workshop”
11:10-11:55 A.M.
Presented by Samantha Goldberg, Director of Education at the Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center.
About the presentation: A talk on methodology and the resources available to help educators confidently teach Holocaust and genocide studies.
Conversation with Teacher Panelists and Lunch
11:55 A.M. – end
For more information on our panelists, Bill Gibson and Sarah Motl (East High School, Madison WI), and Kristine Sielaff Johnson (Racine Unified School District), please see the Presenters tab.
Alexander Hinton(@AlexLHinton) is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, and UNESCO Chair in Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University. He is the author or editor of sixteen books, including, most recently, It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US (NYU, 2021), The Justice Facade: Trials of Transition in Cambodia (Oxford, 2018), and Man or Monster? The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer (Duke, 2016). In recognition of his work on genocide, the American Anthropological Association selected Hinton as the recipient of the 2009 Robert B. Textor and Family Prize for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology. Professor Hinton is also a past President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (2011-13), a Member/Visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (2011-13), and co-convener of the Global Consortium on Bigotry and Hate (2019-24). His next book, “Anthropological Witness” (Cornell, 2022), centers on his 2016 experience testifying as an expert witness at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia.
Ilana Weltman developed and teaches a Holocaust Education & Contemporary Antisemitism course at The George Washington University (GWU) where she also serves as an administrator for the Experiential Jewish Education Master’s Program and the graduate degrees in Israel Education. She formerly served as the project director for the GWU/March of the Living Faculty Fellows Pilot Program, a Holocaust Education program for university professors. Weltman is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, with a research focus in Holocaust education. She earned dual master’s degrees in Education and Jewish Studies at New York University, as a Jim Joseph Fellow. Weltman has started up several Jewish social entrepreneurial ventures for Holocaust Survivors and Young Jewish Professionals. In Washington, D.C., she founded the 3GDC program, a third generation Holocaust Survivor program. She serves on the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s Yom Hashoah Planning Commission and volunteers for the local child Holocaust survivor group there.
Susan Warsinger was born in Germany in 1929. Susan was a teacher for 27 years and a docent at the United States Holocaust Museum for the permanent exhibition, and the newer, America and the Holocaust exhibition. She is also a member of the Museum’s Speaker’s Bureau. Susan is an active member of the local Child Survivors group in the Greater Washington area. You can read more about Susan Warsinger here.
Ksenija Bilbija is a professor of Spanish American Literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in cultural studies, gender criticism, post-traumatic memory and cartonera publishing. Her publications include: Cuerpos Textuales: Metáforas de la génesis narrativa en la literatura latinoamericana del siglo XX, and Yo soy trampa: Ensayos sobre la obra de Luisa Valenzuela. She co-edited The Art of Truth-Telling About Authoritarian Rule, Accounting for Violence: Marketing Memory in Latin America, Academia Cartonera: A Primer of Latin American Cartonera Publishers, and most recently Poner el cuerpo: rescatar y visibilizar las macros sexual y de genera de los archives dictatorialness del Cono Sur. From 2001-2006 she was the Editor of Letras Femeninas: Revista de Literatura Femenina Hispánica and from 2007-2012 she directed the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program. Her book on Argentine and Chilean postdictatorship fiction titled Ni perversas ni traidoras: Ficciones de colaboración femenina en las dictaduras de Argentina y Chile is forthcoming with Editorial Cuarto Propio in 2022.
Kathryn Mara (she/her/hers) earned her PhD from the Department of African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is currently an Albert Markham Postdoctoral Fellow. In her research, she employs ethnography and critical discourse analysis to explore discourse and cultural practices surrounding genocide. In particular, she is interested in commemorative and discursive practices, attitudes, and processes of socialization among people of Rwandan heritage living in Canada.
Timothy Grose, PhD is an associate professor of China Studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. His research on expressions of Uyghur ethno-national identities and public performances of Islamic piety has been published in the China Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, Ethnic and Racial Studies, China File, Dissent, and Foreign Policy. Timothy’s commentary on ethnic policy in Xinjiang has appeared in Al-Jazeera, The Atlantic, CNN, The Diplomat, Economist, The Guardian, and Vox among others. His book on boarding schools for Uyghur students, Negotiating Inseparability, was published by Hong Kong University Press in 2019 and awarded the 2020 Central Eurasian Studies Society book prize in social sciences.
Samantha Goldberg is Director of Education at the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) in Milwaukee, WI. Originally from Redondo Beach, California, Sam received her Bachelor’s degree from California State University Channel Islands in Communication for Nonprofit Business. In 2019, she graduated from Uppsala University with her Master’s in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Her thesis project took her to Rwanda where she researched the impact nonprofit peace education has had on the young generation. It was this interest in genocide education that brought her to HERC, where she works to engage teachers and students to learn stories from the Holocaust so the world can confidently say ‘Never Again.’
William Gibson has been teaching a variety of history and area studies courses at Madison East High School for over twenty years – including World History, AP European History, Modern Latin America and the Caribbean, and US and Contemporary Affairs.
Sarah Motl is a social studies teacher in her 17th year at Madison East High School. She teaches World History and Sociology. Sarah earned her undergraduate degree at Augsburg University and her Master’s in Educational Psychology at UW Madison.
Kristine Sielaff Johnson is currently an English Language Arts teacher at Racine Unified School District and has taught middle school English and History for the majority of her 24 years of teaching in urban districts. She earned her two undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Lakeland University, and her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Northcentral University in San Diego, CA.
Center for Southeast Asian Studies @ UW-Madison
Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program @ UW-Madison
Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia @ UW-Madison
Center for East Asian Studies @ UW-Madison
Center for South Asia @ UW-Madison
African Studies Program @ UW-Madison
Middle East Studies Program @ UW-Madison
Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC)
If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact Mary McCoy in the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UW-Madison. Mary can be reached at: mccoy2@wisc.edu.
Resource Guide
Find the Teaching on Genocide resource list here. This list offers carefully vetted titles of books recommend for adoption along with links to free resources, such as case overviews, video clips, and more general pieces on genocide (e.g., The Ten Stages of Genocide), to make it easier to teach on the cases covered in the workshop, along with several cases not covered, including Armenia, Bosnia and Bangladesh.
Presentation Recordings
*Dependent on speaker consent.
Workshop Introduction and Keynote Address: “Man or Monster? The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer” – RECORDING
Keynote address presented by Alexander Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, and UNESCO Chair in Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University.
“Destroy, Replace…Repeat: State Violence in the Uyghur Homeland and its Historical Precedent” – RECORDING
Lecture presented by Timothy Grose, Associate Professor of China Studies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
“Learning to Talk About and Critically Represent Genocide: A Researcher’s Reflection” – RECORDING
Lecture presented by Kathryn Mara, Albert Markham Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of African Cultural Studies at UW-Madison.
Overview of Act 30 Legislation in Wisconsin – RECORDING
Presented by Kris McDaniel, Social Studies Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
“Teaching with Testimony” – RECORDING
Presented by Susan Warsinger, Holocaust Survivor and former teacher, and Ilana Weltman, a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction at UW-Madison.
Holocaust Education Map Workshop – RECORDING
Presented by Samantha Goldberg, Director of Education at the Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center.
Wisconsin K-12 Educator Panel – RECORDING
Presented by Bill Gibson and Sarah Motl (East High School, Madison WI), and Kristine Sielaff Johnson (Racine Unified School District).