Ideas This Week
Ideas This Week is your hub for updates on all things Facing History—from announcements and featured press to expert interviews, impact stories, and essays on the ideas driving our work.
412 Results
Why and How to Teach Brown Girl Dreaming
Facing History offers an overview and guide for Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming, an ideal book to teach in the middle school classroom.
![The Book Cover of Brown Girl Dreaming.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/brown_girl_dreaming_cover_graphic.jpeg?h=d7fada95&itok=N_RjYI_j)
What I've Learned Along the Way
After 25 years of distinguished service to our organization, Dr. Karen Murphy, Facing History’s Director of International Strategy, will join our partner organization High Resolves as CEO of an initiative called The Human Responsibility Accelerator. In this article, we invited Karen to share a bit of what she has learned in more than two decades at Facing History.
![Photo of Dr. Karen Murphy teaching](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/karen_murphy_teaching_hands_raised.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=0XtPSmhB)
7 Classroom Resources on the Holocaust
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is Thursday, January 27th. This is a day when we remember the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, their loved ones, and the ways in which this incalculable tragedy has transformed our world. It is also a time for educators to ensure their readiness to integrate instruction on the Holocaust into their annual teaching plans.
![An image of a Samuel Bak Painting Man Reading by Giant Spoon](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/sameul_bak_painting_FH2ORD7891.jpg?h=bf0d9a15&itok=CT_zN84y)
Holocaust Denial: How Teachers Can Turn the Tide
Research released by the Claims Conference found that 49% of U.S. millennials and generation Z have seen Holocaust denial or distortion content online—and that one in five U.S. millennials and generation Z surveyed in New York believe that Jews caused the Holocaust. This toxic combination of ignorance allied with antisemitic hatred continue to permeate global consciousness, and teachers have an important part to play in turning the tide.
![Auschwitz photos taken of imprisoned children](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/holocaust_auschwitz_photos_of_children_imprisoned.png?h=a6c55029&itok=zvFo4qM3)
Contracting and Re-Contracting in the New Year
Elizabeth Carroll, New England Program Director at Facing History, explores the value of contracting and re-contracting in January each year.
![Photo of students smiling in class with a teacher](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/students_smiling_class_teacher_photo.png?h=a6c55029&itok=m-jGZ2IZ)
9 Resources for Teaching about MLK's Legacy
Here are 9 Facing History resources that can help you reflect on your own teaching practices, teach the history of the Civil Rights Movement, and explore contemporary issues around racial justice and democracy in the United States.
![Black and white photo of MLK and Mathew Ahmann in a Crowd](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Civil_Rights_March_MLK_Mathew_Ahmann_crowd.jpeg?h=c652c7b1&itok=wD55zs-I)
Facing History on Martin Luther King Day: A message to our educators
Martin Luther King Day is a moment for reflection and service; for considering the life and legacy of an extraordinary individual; and for recommitting ourselves to the unfinished work he championed. At a time of extraordinary bigotry and violence, Dr. King challenged all Americans to confront our history of racial discrimination, to open our eyes to injustice, and to be intentional about building a better future.
![B&W photo of Martin Luther King Junior giving a speech](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/martin_luther_king_jr_speech_b%26w.jpeg?h=243ab64f&itok=KywjX2nD)
bell hooks Taught Us to Transgress
Like many people of my generation who cut their teeth on the critical insights of bell hooks, news of her passing in December unleashed a wave of reflection for me about the ways she’s impacted me as a person and public scholar. Beyond the many moments of resonance I experienced while reading her writings over the years, her impact on me is most powerfully encapsulated in an experience I had in 2008 when I met her.
![bell hooks standing on stage and speaking while holding a microphone.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/bellhooks.jpeg?itok=jpRETw0k)
COP26, Environmental Justice, and Human Rights
The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) that took place in Glasgow, Scotland from October to November 2021 was, in many ways, a historic event. However, even though the COP remains a crucial space for international cooperation in the fight against climate disaster, there is notable consternation over the unique burdens that various policies may place on poorer nations and those most vulnerable to adverse climate events.
![Photo of Earth and African continent from space](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/photo_earth_from_space.jpeg?h=a8d93925&itok=dhi2SXIm)
6 New Books on Human Rights
Below are 6 books published in 2021 that speak to underacknowledged dimensions of human rights in history, teaching, and contemporary global society.
![The words, "human rights" are highlighted within a text.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/istock-178100128_human_rights_text.png?h=a6c55029&itok=rh8-tcu0)
African Americans and the History of "Human Rights"
As a United Nations panel of experts is set up to investigate systemic racism and human rights abuses against Black people around the world, we explore a series of African American leaders who have invoked the language of “human rights” to underscore the urgency of their situation here in the U.S.
![Olympians on the podium, bowing their heads and raising a fist with a black glove.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Fist_raised_Olympics_1968public_domain.jpeg?h=96687ce6&itok=yaBd2oCU)
13 Teaching Ideas on Human Rights
During Universal Human Rights Month, in December, we invite you to use any of these Teaching Ideas grounded in social-emotional learning (SEL) that provide ample social and historical context while being concise and easy to integrate into your classroom conversations.
![Paper cut outs of face profiles in different skin tones.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/graphical_diversity_paper_faces_1894061167.jpeg?h=3a5dff94&itok=qAstbdWw)