Institute for Educators
The Power of Our Stories
Jewish Women's Archive
2010 Institute for Educators
July 25–29, 2010
Newton, MA
The Jewish Women's Archive hosted 26 educators from across the country for four days of intensive professional development designed to enrich their teaching with the compelling stories of American Jewish lives, past and present. The 2010 Institute focused on JWA's Living the Legacy curriculum, which examines the role of Jews in the Civil Rights Movement in America.
Check out photos from the Institute and read blog posts from staff and participants.
Content
The Institute participants worked with leading scholars and master teachers to:
- INVESTIGATE themes in Jewish women's history and the history of social movements in the U.S.
- EXAMINE primary source documents and oral histories
- EXPLORE multimedia resources, including JWA's new Living the Legacy social justice curriculum, featuring the stories of Jewish women and men involved in the Civil Rights Movement
- DEVELOP strategies for using the material with students.
The Institute program included:
- seminars
- experiential education workshops
- hands on computer sessions
- time for developing individualized curriculum materials
Presenters included:
- Dr. Joyce Antler, Professor of American Jewish History and Culture, Brandeis University, author of The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern America, and JWA Board member;
- Rabbi Jill Jacobs, author of There Shall Be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice Through Jewish Law and Tradition; and former Rabbi-in-Residence of Jewish Funds for Justice;
- Barbara Rosenblit, Humanities and Judaics teacher at the Weber Jewish High School in Atlanta, 2004 recipient of the Covenant Award for Exceptional Jewish Educators, and JWA Board member;
- Dr. Debra Schultz, author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement.
Eligibility
The Institute was open to educators of all genders who work with students in grades 8–12 in formal and/or informal settings.
- Participants' expenses, including travel and hotel accommodations, were covered by a generous grant from the Dorot Foundation.
Applications
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From Past Institute Participants:
"A brain spa…. The Institute was stimulating, with many different opportunities to learn."
"The Institute was the best training or conference I've been to in 20 years of teaching. The teachers were fantastic, the topics relevant, the variety of topics and resources extraordinary."
"I tend to be more of a listener and take things in, and this Institute has made me want to stand up and shout out to everyone what I've learned and what they can take away from the experience."
"The opportunity to be exposed to this caliber of facilitators and presenters is something I've never had in the past and might not ever have again."
"The Institute had a paradigm-shifting impact in terms of expanding my view of meaningful Jewish source materials to include historical documents and oral histories."
Blogging the Institute
Read reflections from participants.
- Kicking off the 2010 Institute for Educators
- Sharing Artifacts, Sharing Stories
- What's Going On Here?
- The Freedom Riders
- A Night of Jewish Gospel
- What a week!
Go to jwa.org/teach for information on other educational resources offered by the Jewish Women's Archive
