2025 North Carolina Council for the Social Studies Conference

This session will explore the mutation of antisemitism from its historical roots to its contemporary manifestations and how to best teach students today to recognize antisemitism online, in the news, and in the world today. This session is a must for any educator teaching the Holocaust, WWII, World Religions, Media Literacy, Contemporary Events, US History, and/or leading inclusion initiatives at their schools. School administrators should also consider attending or order to ensure Jewish students feel safe in schools today.

In 2021, North Carolina’s General Assembly enacted the Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act, requiring Holocaust studies in grades 6–12. This session highlights how Judaica can serve as a rich entry point for teaching the Holocaust by blending broader cultural heritage with individual stories from the Shoah. By using Judaica as primary sources, educators can provide a Jewish-centered perspective while fostering discussions on survival and resilience with a tangible link to the present. Ashley Low, a North Carolina Museum of Art educator and UNCG PhD candidate, will demonstrate how objects from NCMA’s Judaica Gallery inspire thought-provoking conversations about survival and resistance during the Holocaust. Participants will engage in object-based learning activities to spark curiosity about Jewish culture and Holocaust studies. During this session, they will access NCMA’s online and print resources while learning strategies for integrating Jewish life, ritual, and resilience in the classroom. For six months, Ashley has created digital resources that incorporate Jewish art into North Carolina curriculums, merging art, history, and social studies to bring accessible, interdisciplinary studies into classrooms statewide. This session empowers educators to integrate object-based learning into Holocaust education, expanding on themes of Jewish ritual, survival, and resilience and enriching middle and high school curricula.

Participants explore the events of the Holocaust through the lens of media, by examining propaganda deployed by the Nazis to discriminate against Jews and other minorities. Educators gain tools to facilitate classroom discussions and support students to analyze media in today’s world. This session would be most appropriate for NC social studies courses in grades 6-11.

Join us in exploring historical inquiry using a Micro-Q created through NCDPI’s 2024 NC History Unfolded’s Summer DBQ Inquiry-Based Project. This session will explore ethical and historical questions surrounding the Nuremberg Trials. Through engaging activities, participants will critically analyze primary sources while delving into the compelling question of whether the trials should have focused on the individual perpetrators or on the systemic failures that enabled the Holocaust. Leave with a ready to use Micro-Q and primary sources aligned with the NC Standards for grade 8, World, and the new Holocaust elective.