Violence Overload? Promoting Sensitivity to Human Suffering: The Case of Bosnia
Subject: Social Studies/History, Political Science, Media
Themes: Genocide, Human Rights, Memory, Balkans
Time: 11 (50-minute) class periods
Target Audience: High School Students, Community College, or Supplementary to Collegiate Survey Courses
Workshop Developed by: Judith Pintar, Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology, UIUC
Rob Whiting, Course Mentor, General Education: Geography, Western Governor’s State University
Elana Jakel, PhD in the Department of History, UIUC
Lesson Plans Developed by: Adam Schmitt, Social Studies Teacher at Lincoln Junior High School, Naperville, IL
This module has been designed to help secondary school teachers and community college faculty develop curriculum material that addresses crimes of genocide. Reflecting on the case of the Bosnian War of the 1990s, the module will explore 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 promotes sensitivity to human suffering.