Page Herrlinger and Natasha Goldman

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Bowdoin College nearly $90,000 to offer a seminar next summer for middle and high school teachers, from across the U.S., on using art objects to enrich their lessons about the Holocaust.

“Teaching the Holocaust through Visual Culture” has been supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Education Programs

The July workshop, Teaching the Holocaust through Visual Culture, was proposed by and will be led by two faculty: Natasha Goldman, a research associate and adjunct lecturer in the art history department, and Page Herrlinger, an associate professor of history.

“The Holocaust left behind an emotionally powerful, aesthetically diverse, and ethically challenging visual landscape,” write Goldman and Herrlinger in their proposal abstract. These objects include photography, sculpture, paintings, book art, and film, and “more mundane” posters, uniforms, flags, and magazine illustrations.

“Participants will be introduced to teaching and viewing this topic through the visual lens and be encouraged to share their own teaching experiences and how they have confronted the challenges unique to the visual legacy of the Holocaust and genocide,” they add.

The National Endowment for the Humanities adds that any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily represent those of the agency.