Introduction

The Facing History and Ourselves course is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, as well as World War II and the Armenian Genocide. The structure of the class starts of with addressing yourself and your own identity. We were taught the importance of our identity and what we are capable of. Identity ties into the course directly throughout each unit. For example the Jews were separated from their families and put through death camps just because they were Jewish. Facing History and Ourselves taught me not only historical facts but it addressed the problems we have today in society and how we as individuals can be better people. “Bystander” was a word that was constantly thrown around in class. Bystanders are people who see something they know is wrong, like bullying and do nothing to stop it, whether the reason they hold back is fear or to simply save them selves, doing nothing is just as bad as doing the pushing. In reality bystanders are more dangerous than the bully. Facing History and Ourselves shows cases throughout History where bystanders contributed to horrific evens like the Holocaust. Millions were dying in gas chambers while those who had the power to do something either blocked it out or failed to do anything about it.

 The majority class is conducted through video, making it easier to visually connect to what we were learning. Group discussions and blogging are two vital parts of the class. They give everyone a chance to participate in discussions inside as well as outside of the classroom. I took this class because I wanted to explore my own intellectual curiosity, The Holocaust. Before this class I knew only the basics about the Holocaust; Jews were forced from their homes and separated from their families, millions of prisoners were gassed and cremated, and Hitler was the leader of all this destruction. After taking Facing History and Ourselves I knew I benefited from it on a personal level. This course taught me how to effectively deal with problems and how important it is to represent your self in the best way possible.       imet.csus.edu