International seminar for history and citizenship teachers in Bratislava, Slovakia (in cooperation with Euroclio)

In October 2022, Centropa and the Foundation for Jewish Heritage (FJH) and Euroclio held a two-day two-day training seminar for history and citizenship teachers in Bratislava for 33 teachers from all over Europe on “Teaching Jewish heritage in your class.”

On the first day, teachers listened to a series of keynote lectures from a range of speakers. Dr. Maroš Borský gave a speech on Jewish Heritage in Slovakia. This was followed by a joint talk with Dr. Lucia Hidvéghyová on “Jewish Heritage as a Medium of Dialogue”. Afterwards, a workshop by Ninja Stehr (Centropa) and Dame Helen Hyde and Michael Mail (Foundation for Jewish Heritage) explored the different ways that teachers could use cemeteries in class. Alice Modena and Eugenie Khatschatrian from Euroclio then gave a talk on how Euroclio materials can be used for educators.

The next day included an Introductory Workshop on the epitaph & headstone symbols by PhD student, Esther Zyskina. The group then visited an orthodox Jewish cemetery, where an introductory speech by Dr. Maroš Borský was followed by on-site workshop led by Jana Turanská. Teachers learned how Jewish cemeteries could be used as educational tools in their classrooms. Presentations and discussions concluded the seminar.

Quotes:

“I really liked how inspiring and well prepared our educators were. Dr. Maros Borsky, especially, gave us a great glimpse into Bratislava and the life of the Jewish community there with his scientific knowledge and good sense of humour.”

“This seminar stimulated an exchange of ideas and information by building a network for communication among teachers. It encouraged educators to venture outside their environment and gave us the tools and materials to introduce Jewish heritage to our students.”

Emma Abbate, one of the participants of the seminar, was inspired to create her own lesson plan after attending. It is available to read here. You can access the seminar programme below. We want to thank our supporters, the European Commission, for making this seminar possible.