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.
4 Tools for Teaching with Poetry
Facing History invites educators to weave poetry into classroom instruction using four of our teaching resources to shed light on historical and contemporary experiences and to help students process their own identities and emotions.
![Wood lettered poetry graphic.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Untitled%20design%20%2834%29.png?h=a6c55029&itok=ynpvxtcP)
Why Genocide Recognition Matters
Facing History Sr. Director of Marketing & Analytics Jen Langley reflects on her personal connection to the Armenian Genocide.
![Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of The Armenians cover.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/CAHCGOA.jpeg?h=c58b31e4&itok=04yJPKcV)
5 Timely Reads on Genocide
In response to the outpouring of discussion and debate following President Biden’s statement that Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine constitutes genocide, Facing History provides five reads to address crucial questions educators and their students may be asking.
![Bouquet of flowers wrapped in purple fabric placed on monument.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Untitled%20design%20%2831%29.png?h=a6c55029&itok=xECBucxP)
5 Tools for Teaching About Genocide
Facing History grants educators the opportunity to take advantage of five virtual tours, exhibitions, and professional development resources to navigate the challenges that arise when teaching about genocide.
![Definition of genocide stock photo.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/iStock-1082625266.jpeg?h=140710cd&itok=m-S9-c2_)
6 New Books on Genocide
Facing History identifies six books that elevate understudied aspects of multiple historical genocides and the connections between them to aid efforts of genocide prevention within a global climate of rising hate.
![Cropped Messengers of Disaster: Raphael Lemkin, Jan Karski, and Twentieth Century Genocides book cover.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/messengersofdisaster_large.jpeg?h=3e076d8c&itok=mTbBqYhr)
5 New Books on Black History
These titles cover themes in Black history that are closely connected to the themes of our educator resources including the significant roles of Black people in the construction of the U.S. and the implications of decisions to memorialize (or not memorialize) those events.
![Book cover images of The South and Black Hands, White House](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/south_black_hands_book_covers.jpeg?h=cabca9e9&itok=Jexh0Mbc)
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)
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)
More Than Monsters: The Deeper Significance of Wendigo Stories
The wendigo stories of Algonquian peoples offer a window into the endurance of cultural resources used to transmit significant moral values, and underscore the power of Native people using these stories to engage in social critique.
![Deer antlers cage a child, burying their face in their hands in fear.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-04/Antlers_2021_poster.jpeg?h=aff6c105&itok=7m2YY2cJ)
7 Must-See Films on Native American History and Life
The seven documentaries series listed below cover wide-ranging subject matter including Native American peoples’ roles within and perspectives about the film medium, the women’s rights movement, K-12 education, political leadership, literary arts, musical performance, and language protection efforts.
![A portion of the Without a Whisper documentary film poster.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/without_whisper_film_poster.jpeg?h=e2256408&itok=3Pm57673)
6 Indigenous-Led COP26 Events You Can Stream
With the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) currently taking place, Facing History hand-selected a curated list of conference events that speak to the Indigenous ways of conceiving of the natural world and its relationship to humanity.
![Indigenous Justice is Climate Justice sign in crowd protesting for environmental justice.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/ijicj_large.jpeg?h=5dc822d2&itok=9Da4VNUE)