The Educational Outreach Program at Vanderbilt University, sponsored by the Irwin and Elizabeth Limor Foundation and the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, was yesterday. We went early and met with some of the other Fellows and their students where we had Nerf gun fights and played poker for Starburst. :) All in all, it was a great trip. I will admit that I had envisioned us sitting around in a big circle, discussing Holocaust literature and the genocide in Darfur, which did not happen. :) However, the kids were great and we had a lot of fun together. 
The Program was so wonderful. The theme was Hidden Messages: Nazi Propaganda and it was such a timely theme with our election coming up. (Not that either of our parties compare to the Nazi's, but you certainly see major propaganda during an election year!) We had three breakout sessions, one with Ann Miller from the USHMM where we analyzed propaganda posters in small groups, one with Paul Fleming from the THC and principal at Humme-Fogg Magnet School where we discussed contemporary genocides and the role that science and "true, proven facts" play in propaganda, and one with Jan Hattleberg who is an art teacher where we created our own advertisements using quotes from Obama, McCain, or Hitler. The hands-on work was very enjoyable. 
After lunch, we ended the day by hearing from Frances Cutler. She is a Holocaust survivor who was a hidden child. She was three years old when her mother sent her to an orphanage in Paris to save her life. Her mother was murdered at Auschwitz and her father died as a French resistance fighter. Her story was so moving and she was such a sweet, approachable lady. More of her story can be read on the "Living On" site. 
The two day trip was wonderful and I am so glad that we went. Thanks to Josh, Ashley, Adam, Elizabeth, Isaac, and Paulina, for going with me. You guys were great and I was proud to be represented by you! :)
Lit Terms 2
6 years ago
1 comments:
What can I say? The trip was just amaizng!
Meeting and hanging out with everyone the night before was really fun. That was a very intense Nerf gun fight! haha. It went on forever. I still think the students won that one. haha. Dinner was delicious and Target was just huge. haha.
The program was so much fun and very interesting. All of the breakout sessions were great and very informative. I learned a ton of stuff just in those few short hours. The artwork idea was pretty cool. Even though I'm not a fan of creating my own piece of artwork it was fun. Got to meet some quite interesting people while working. haha.
I loved Frances Cutler! :) Her story was very moving. It was a blessing to get to talk about Paris with her afterwards. :)
Don't think I told some of you about the this but I asked which part of Paris Frances grew up in...and she grew up near where I stayed when I went to Paris this summer! Frances and I both thought that was very cool. :)
Thank you for inviting us Mrs. Davis! I really appreciate all that you've done!!!! :)
-Josh
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