Comparative Genocide Pedagogy and Survivor Testimony: Lessons from a Unit on the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide

In this article, the authors detail a curriculum unit used by Ms. Brown and a second English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, Ms. Smith, with their high school students. The unit centered on a comparative genocide framework developed by the Comparative Genocide Project at Arizona State University. The framework detailed seven key themes common across genocides and was designed to extend genocide study beyond investigating single genocide events. Students analyzed survivor testimonies from the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide for evidence of those seven themes. They also completed a "reporting form" and a graphic organizer as part of the unit. While this article identifies aspects of the comparative genocide framework that were found beneficial for the students in this study, the authors also make clear the limitations of this study and plans for future iterations of this work.