Teaching About War and Genocide

Abstract

This chapter explores the different but complementary approaches I apply when teaching about war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in the twentieth century. Some of the potential pitfalls in courses dealing with these topics are oversimplification or trivialisation, instrumentalisation, and politicisation. The historiography of these subjects is so complex, and the material so sensitive, that the temptation is to discourage the expression of diverse opinions in the classroom. Research on Holocaust education programs has shown that the conflation of presentist concerns and civic instruction with the study of traumatic pasts can lead to superficial explanations which have little resonance beyond the classroom. My courses are structured around key historical debates and build students’ capacity in critical and independent thinking through comparison as well as through intensive research on case studies. I have found the use of film and witness testimony particularly effective in my teaching. The chapter will suggest that rigorous historical process has a more important role to play in equipping students with the capacity to make their way in the world as ethical, active, and engaged citizens than mere exposure to traumatic history.