Educator Resources
Obedience and Conformity
As we prepare to launch our first online workshop on Red Scarf Girl on January 23, we want to think more broadly about notions of obedience and conformity and how our students might encounter these themes through history, as well as in their own lives. How might young people respond to strong cultural forces sweeping through their societies?
For Our Network Teachers
Read Red Scarf Girl, the memoir of a young girl growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution, and use the accompanying study guide and DVD to explore themes of conformity, obedience, prejudice, and justice.
View The Wave, a film that recreates a classroom “experiment” in which a high school teacher and his students become involved in lessons of obedience and community.
Borrow Parallel Journeys to explore the contrasting experiences of two young Germans, one Jewish and one a member of the Hitler Youth, living in a totalitarian society.
Watch Obedience, the documentary that depicts the experiment conducted at Yale University by Dr. Stanley Milgram that tested the willingness of several volunteers to obey orders requiring them to inflict pain on others.
Facing Today »
French Lawmakers Pass Bill Penalizing Genocide Denial
This week, the French legislature passes a bill criminalizing denial of recognized genocides, including the Armenian genocide.
Learn more about the difficult evolution of genocide as a concept, and the emergence of international protections against mass violence, in our resource book Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians.
View all of our themes:
Featured Resource »
Finding a Voice: Musicians in Terezin Study Guide
The music created by prisoners of the Terezín concentration camp remains a symbol not only of creativity, but also of courage, resilience, and resistance.
Featured Online Module »
Be the Change: Upstanders for Human Rights
Connect with a growing global
network of peers who care about creating a more just world.
