Transcending all Disciplines

Combating antisemitism today: Holocaust education in the era of Twitter and TikTok by Alan Marcus
The Conversation, January 24, 2023

It is worthy and timely to consider how the Holocaust is taught in our schools, as well as how educators should engage this topic within the broader curriculum of media literacy. “Rather than teaching the Holocaust as an isolated event,” Alan Marcus contends, “educators must grapple with how it connects to antisemitism past and present. That means adapting to how people learn and live today: online.” Much has been written about the bedeviling uses and misuses of artificial intelligence and apps like TikTok, including how these tools are factories of bigotry. Yet these same technologies and others, like virtual reality, have productively expanded the scope of Holocaust education, at a time when the need is urgent with the rise of antisemitism and the ongoing passing of survivors. By connecting Holocaust education to media literacy, Marcus calls on educators to have their students grapple with the horrors of the past while equipping themselves with the tools to grasp their ever-changing technological present. Like the Holocaust, media literacy is a topic that transcends a single discipline or grade level, making this combination a lesson that can be tailored and applied throughout our schools.