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The cornerstone of JFR’s in-person academic programs is the Summer Institute for Teachers (SIT). The SIT is held the last week in June and brings together a small group of master teachers from across the United States to study with leading Holocaust scholars and to exchange pedagogy and teaching approaches with other educators. The text for the SIT is How Was It Possible? A Holocaust Reader, introduced and edited by Professor Peter Hayes, a leading Holocaust historian.
The Summer Institute for Teachers (SIT) examines the Holocaust from the precedents found in the history of anti-Judaism and antisemitism, through the rise of the Nazi Party, to the killers and their methods, and rescue, to the aftermath of the Holocaust. The program is a high-level, intensive academic seminar in which participants are exposed to noted Holocaust scholars including Doris Bergen, Lawrence Douglas, Daniel Greene, Peter Hayes, Robert Jan van Pelt, and other equally well-known and respected academics. The Institute is designed to allow participants to meet in small groups following each lecture. These small groups enable participants to share teaching concepts and to develop approaches to introducing the subject matter to their students.
All participants selected to attend the JFR Summer Institute for Teachers must be nominated by one of the centers in the JFR Holocaust Centers of Excellence Program and are known as Alfred Lerner Fellows.
In order to participate in other JFR educational programs, a teacher must be an Alfred Lerner Fellow and have remained involved with their local Holocaust center. While there is a participant fee, the JFR provides each Lerner Fellow with a significant scholarship to attend the SIT. The program is a residential program – all participants stay at the Hilton Newark Airport, the venue for the SIT. Participants are expected to complete readings prior to the start of the program. The JFR Summer Institute for Teachers provides the foundation for other JFR education programs, such as the Advanced Seminar and European Study Program in Europe, which delve deeply into specific aspects of the Holocaust.
The European Study Program offers participants an intensive educational experience. The first European Study Program was held in July 2003, it was a two-week study program to Germany and Poland with Professor Robert Jan van Pelt as the accompanying scholar. The JFR continued to offer this study program through 2023. Starting in 2025, the JFR will be offering a nine-day study program to the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Denmark and a nine-day study program to Poland. Professor Robert Jan van Pelt is the accompanying scholar for both study programs. Participation is open to Alfred Lerner Fellows who have been nominated by their local Holocaust center.
The JFR holds its Advanced Seminar at the Hilton NewarkAirport over the birthday weekend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This two-day intensive program is open only to Alfred Lerner Fellows. The Advanced Seminar focuses on specific topics within the history of the Holocaust. Participants are expected to complete readings prior to the start of the program. TheAdvanced Seminar is limited to 22 Lerner Fellows who have been nominated by their local Holocaust center. While there is a participant fee, the JFR subsidizes most of the costs associated with this program.
JFR Seminars and Institutes are open to educators who meet the following eligibility requirements and who have first attended the Summer Institute for Teachers.
- be nominated by one of the centers in our Holocaust Centers of Excellence Program;
- teach English language arts or social studies at the middle or high school level or work in an educational capacity at your nominating center;
- have taught for at least three years;
- be at least five years from retirement – this includes age retirement, leaving the field of education, or no longer teaching the Holocaust in your classroom (changing subjects);
- currently teach the Holocaust in your classroom;
- have attended at least one Holocaust-related professional development program; and
- agree to serve as a resource for the JFR and for the center that nominates you.
To qualify for the Advanced Seminar and/or the European Study Program, one must have completed the JFR Summer Institute for Teachers. Please see our Holocaust Centers of Excellence page for participating centers. If you have any questions about our seminars and institutes, please contact us at 973.736.1800, or send us an e-mail.
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