The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation will host the 7th annual National Seminar for Middle and High School Educators from July 18-22, 2022 at the Victims of Communism Museum located at 900 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005.

 

The professional development program is free to middle school and high school educators interested in teaching about the history of communism and its collectivist legacy. Admission to the program includes all classroom materials.

 

The seminar blends together scholarly lectures, peer discussions, and pedagogical sessions to carefully balance content and pedagogy. These components are supplemented with short biographical films and in-person testimonials from witnesses and dissidents who resided in communist countries both past and present.

 

Past seminar participants state they experience significant growth in their confidence and capability to teach about a wide range of subjects, such as: communist ideology and history; the character of totalitarian governmental systems and practices; and the legacy of communist and post-communist states today, including the personal stories of witnesses, dissidents, and victims.

 

Seminar participants also receive and have the opportunity to work through the third edition of the Foundation's curricular supplement—Communism: Its Ideology, Its History, and Its Legacy—developed by Dr. Lee Edwards, Dr. Paul Kengor, and Claire McCaffery Griffin, and used in schools across the nation.

 

A majority of past participants have rated the seminar as better than other professional development programs in which they’ve participated.