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Chicago

Opened in 1990, our Chicago office provides professional development and resources to more than 5,761 educators.

@FacingCHI

Since the Chicago office opened in 1990, more than 5,761 local educators have participated in Facing History's professional development programs. These teachers annually reach over 372,800 middle and high school students in over 727 public, religious, and independent schools in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Our training enables students to deepen their knowledge of history, their understanding of the origins of hatred and violence, and their ability to relate history to their own lives. And this collection of resources helps educators address sensitive topics, like the 2016 election, in the classroom. A strong alliance with Chicago Public Schools and growing partnerships with suburban, religious, and charter schools enables us to have critical and significant impact. 

See more of our work in our Chicago Regional Profile

Address

2 North LaSalle Street
Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60602
United States

Contact

[email protected]
312-726-4500

Get Inspired by a Chicago Facing History Student

More Videos:

Maureen Loughnane at the 2017 Chicago Benefit Dinner

Maureen Loughnane, Facing History’s Executive Director in Chicago, tells a powerful story from her days as a student that helped steer her, ultimately, to work at Facing History.
Stories Matter: A Facing History Teacher Uses Her Own Story to Connect with Students

Lydia Kurkjian Mantis recounts her family's harrowing experience during the Armenian Genocide and shares how she draws on her own childhood experiences to connect with her students today.
Michael Soffer, Oak Park and River Forest High School - Oak Park, IL

Students come to understand how their family narratives—and those of their classmates—fit into the larger context of American history through the use of auto-ethnography.

Pages

Inside a Chicago Facing History Classroom

The walls of Jenna Forton’s classroom are filled with student-driven classroom contracts, identity charts, and a student-made “People Make Choices, Choices Make History” poster. Jenna came to Facing History this summer as a 7th/8th-grade social studies teacher at Ravenswood Elementary, a new Facing History Partner School. After attending two seminars, her classes are already filled with vibrant connections to Facing History ideas. 

She introduced her students to Facing History's Bullying and Ostracism case study, which sparked a thought-provoking classroom-wide discussion to the question "Are events such as these inevitable?"

Her students will soon begin to explore Facing History units on Holocaust and Human Behavior, the Reconstruction Era in the United States, the American Civil Rights Era, and Immigration. 

Upcoming Events

2017

September

  • 13
    Fostering Civil Discourse, Part 1
    Webinar
    Online

    Fostering Civil Discourse, Part 1

    There has been much conversation about the need to foster civil discourse: in our government, in our media and in our classrooms and communities. As we consider ongoing issues related to race, justice, and policing, educators are rightly concerned about the lessons that today’s middle and high school students might be absorbing.
    9.13.17
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

  • 28
    Fostering Civil Discourse, Part 2
    Webinar
    Online

    Fostering Civil Discourse, Part 2

    There has been much conversation about the need to foster civil discourse: in our government, in our media and in our classrooms and communities. As we consider ongoing issues related to race, justice, and policing, educators are rightly concerned about the lessons that today’s middle and high school students might be absorbing.
    9.28.17
    3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

October

  • 11
    Choices in Little Rock
    Workshop
    Illinois
    $220.00

    Find details on how to register or pay for Facing History professional development, payment options, help with costs, refunds, and the Facing History Educator Network.

    Choices in Little Rock: An Approach to Teaching the Civil Rights Movement

    This workshop explores the desegregation of Central High School in 1957, a defining moment in the American civil rights movement.

     

    10.11.17 - 10.12.17
    8:30 am - 3:30 pm
    Wells Community Academy High School
    936 N Ashland Ave
    Chicago, IL 60622

  • 19
    Race and Science
    Workshop
    Illinois
    $10.00

    Find details on how to register or pay for Facing History professional development, payment options, help with costs, refunds, and the Facing History Educator Network.

    Race and Science: Teaching The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

    In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman, died of cervical cancer in a public, segregated Baltimore hospital. Before her death, doctors removed some of her tumor cells, which they soon discovered could thrive in a lab—something no human cells had done previously.
    10.19.17
    4:30 pm - 7:00 pm
    Open Books
    651 W Lake St
    Chicago, IL 60661

  • 23
    Democracy at Risk: Holocaust and Human Behavior
    Seminar
    Illinois
    $330.00

    Find details on how to register or pay for Facing History professional development, payment options, help with costs, refunds, and the Facing History Educator Network.

    Democracy at Risk: Holocaust and Human Behavior

    In today’s world, questions of how to best build and maintain democratic societies that are pluralistic, open, and resilient to violence are more relevant than ever. Studying the Holocaust using Facing History’s approach allows students to wrestle with profound moral questions raised by this history and fosters their skills in ethical reasoning, critical thinking, empathy, and civic engagement—all of which are critical for sustaining democracy. This seminar features the fully revised, digital edition of Holocaust and Human Behavior and is intended for upper middle and high school social studies, civics, and humanities teachers.

     

    10.23.17 - 10.25.17
    8:30 am - 3:30 pm
    Wells Community Academy High School
    936 N Ashland Ave
    Chicago, IL 60622

November

  • 7
    Classroom Tools for Everyday Empathy
    Workshop
    Illinois
    $110.00

    Find details on how to register or pay for Facing History professional development, payment options, help with costs, refunds, and the Facing History Educator Network.

    Classroom Tools for Everyday Empathy and Civil Discourse

    One year out from a divisive election, there is continuing conversation about the need to foster civil discourse: in our government, in our media, and in our classrooms and communities. How can we create spaces in our classrooms to understand and engage with a diversity of identities and perspectives? How can we foster reflective civic engagement, especially in times of divisiveness?

    11.7.17
    8:30 am - 3:30 pm
    Wells Community Academy High School
    936 N. Ashland
    Chicago, IL 60622

  • 30
    Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird
    Workshop
    Illinois
    $220.00

    Find details on how to register or pay for Facing History professional development, payment options, help with costs, refunds, and the Facing History Educator Network.

    A New Approach to Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird

    This workshop introduces educators to Facing History's new resource, Teaching Mockingbird, which incorporates civic education, ethical reflection, and historical context into a literary exploration of Harper Lee's beloved novel.

     

    11.30.17 - 12.1.17
    8:30 am - 3:30 pm
    Wells Community Academy
    936 N Ashland Ave
    Chicago, IL 60622

News

Washington Post Journalist Wesley Lowery To Speak with Students about News and Democracy in the Digital Age
March 14, 2017

Over 200 students from across the Chicagoland area will gather to hear journalist Wesley Lowery discuss the changing landscape of journalism and the rise of social media on March 15 at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event will be live-streamed.

Participating Schools

Facing History and Ourselves is actively used in history, literature, interdisciplinary, government, and specially designed Facing History electives. In addition to being incorporated into K-12 schools, Facing History is also taught in colleges and universities. Our program associates work with educators to help them use these materials in the most appropriate ways.

See the Chicago Participating Schools

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Everything you need to get started teaching your students about racism, antisemitism and prejudice.