KSU Professor Receives $50,000 Grant to Better Train Educators for Teaching the Holocaust

KENNESAW, Ga. | Jan. 29, 2024

In an ever-changing academic world, teachers are always in need of support, especially when it comes to teaching difficult subjects; and doctoral candidate Andrea Miskewicz along with her team have received a $50,000 grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta to do just that.

Miskewicz, interim executive director of the Museum of History and Holocaust Education in the Department of Museums, Archives, and Rare Books, partnered with the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, where she and Rabbi Joe Prass, the director of the Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education, lead a summer program called the Summer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust.

Miskewicz and her team were approached in 2023 by the Federation and encouraged to apply for one of their innovation grants.

“The summer program allows us to engage with teachers across the nation and help them better teach the Holocaust through a 3-day in-person workshop,” she said. “Each participant joins us on KSU's campus, at the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, and at the Temple in Atlanta, and are accompanied by an expert group of scholars, museum professionals and master educators to develop a community of learners that teach students in K-12 schools across the United States.”

During the program, teachers will learn about the history of antisemitism, the rise of Nazism, Jewish culture, other victim groups, how to use artifacts and exhibits in the classroom, and more. Then with their deeper understanding of the Holocaust and how to teach it, the teachers will be able to bring in new lesson ideas in to use with their students.

“As a KSU entity, we're very lucky to be able to offer what we do to 180,000 plus people at little to no cost. We don't charge for any of our resources including our traveling exhibits, and we're really, really proud of that. It allows us to show educators and students that we and KSU care about furthering education at the museum by making it as accessible to as many people as possible.”

Miskewicz, in what she described as her “former life,” worked as a middle school teacher after earning her degree in history education, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. She held her first position at a museum during her senior year of college as a tour guide at the historic Pabst Mansion of Pabst Blue Ribbon fame. She later received her master’s degree in heritage preservation from Georgia State University, and when a museum professional position opened at KSU, she said that the time was right. So, in 2016, Miskewicz joined the KSU faculty and has no plans of leaving any time soon. She earned her Educational Specialist degree at KSU in 2021 and plans to defend her dissertation in history education later this year.

“Teachers have one of the hardest jobs imaginable, whether they’re elementary school teachers, middle school teachers, high school teachers, or even college professors. As educators, we all are a resource for the  students first and foremost, and what my team and I are trying to do is create a community that then reverberates into smaller communities,” said Miskewicz.

Miskewicz and her team are excited about the expansion of the summer program to a year-round program with the support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and they look forward to traveling to New York City with many of their teacher partners in June.

— Alyssa Ozment

Photos submitted