Violence Overload? Promoting Sensitivity to Human Suffering: The Case of Bosnia
In 2011, REEEC brought together a group of scholars and educators to design a campus workshop to support secondary school teachers and community college faculty in developing curriculum material that addresses crimes of genocide. Reflecting on the case of the Bosnian War of the 1990s, the workshop explored the challenge of teaching students to think about the complex social and psychological dynamics of national, ethnic, and religious violence in a way that avoids reinforcing stereotypes about the social groups involved, and that which promotes sensitivity to human suffering. The material encompasses Illinois Compiles Statues 105 ILCS 5 School Code, Section 27-20.3, the mandate to address in public school curriculum, crimes of genocide across the globe in order to “defer indifference to human suffering.”
This content is now available online, and is accessible to any scholar or educator at no cost. In order to gain access to the materials, users are asked to fill out a request form: https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/4638216. Once the form is completed, users will be directed to the materials via a link on the form’s thank-you screen. REEEC will send any additional materials needed (films, books, etc.) at no charge.
These curricula were designed to be used within 9-12 and Community College courses. Additionally, the curricula can serve as supplemental material for collegiate survey courses.
REEEC would like to thank Judith Pintar, Rob Whiting, Richelle Bernazolli, and Elena Jakel for developing the content for the original workshop, and Adam Schmitt for developing the curriculum guides. REEEC also appreciates the efforts of Adam and Judith to convert the content for online access.
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