About the Chapter:
This chapter discusses how the author taught a unit on the Holocaust, genocide, and mass atrocity in a community college literature course. This unit included a talk by a Holocaust survivor, a guided tour of our campus’s Holocaust center, and a multimedia “museum” curating project in which students curated collections of literary, artistic, and historical sources related to the Holocaust, genocide, and mass atrocity. By contextualizing study of the Holocaust within different historical and societal contexts, students learned how Holocaust history remains relevant today. The unit’s interdisciplinary, creative, and student-directed nature, which encouraged exploration of historical and political issues through literary works and first-person narratives, also helped students understand why we study literature and how it plays a role in preserving historical memory.
About the Author:
Melissa Dennihy, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of English at Queensborough Community College, CUNY. Her research focuses on multi-ethnic U.S. literature, community college pedagogies, and the teaching of writing and literature. Dr. Dennihy’s work has been published in Pedagogy, Teaching English in the Two-Year College, MELUS, and Southern Studies, as well as numerous essay collections.
Moustafa Bayoumi, “American Girl”
222-05 56 Avenue, Bayside, New York 11364