Barbara Vacarr - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Barbara Vacarr

Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of t... more Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of the Holocaust course. The idea of teaching the Holocaust through first person narratives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers took shape during a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with my father, a survivor of the Holocaust. It was in this visit that I fully realized the power of narratives as I uncovered the hidden narrative I share with my father. His inability to speak his experiences shaped my personal vision of who I am, of my father, and of the world. My father's silence kept me from fully knowing him and myself. In the absence of my father's stories, I shaped him in the image of Holocaust stereotypes. I perceived his silence in my life as the helpless weakness of the victim. Amidst the haunting images housed in the museum, my father began to tell me his escape stories. In his stories, I encountered my father the hero, and saw him as I had never seen him before, through eyes of compassion and deep admiration. This encounter with my father's heroism put me in touch with my own and I was moved to create the Stories of the Holocaust course.

Journal of Museum Education, Dec 1, 1990

... Luke Baldwin, Sharlene Cochrane, Constance Counts, Joan Dolamore, Martha McKenna, and Barbara... more ... Luke Baldwin, Sharlene Cochrane, Constance Counts, Joan Dolamore, Martha McKenna, and Barbara Vacan ... adults rework prior learn-ing, reformulate their identity, and reaffirm or renegotiate previous resolutions.3 This period of vulnerability pro-vides opportunities to ...

Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of t... more Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of the Holocaust course. The idea of teaching the Holocaust through first person narratives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers took shape during a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with my father, a survivor of the Holocaust. It was in this visit that I fully realized the power of narratives as I uncovered the hidden narrative I share with my father. His inability to speak his experiences shaped my personal vision of who I am, of my father, and of the world. My father's silence kept me from fully knowing him and myself. In the absence of my father's stories, I shaped him in the image of Holocaust stereotypes. I perceived his silence in my life as the helpless weakness of the victim. Amidst the haunting images housed in the museum, my father began to tell me his escape stories. In his stories, I encountered my father the hero, and saw him as I had never seen him before, through eyes of compassion and deep admiration. This encounter with my father's heroism put me in touch with my own and I was moved to create the Stories of the Holocaust course.

Harvard Educational Review, 2001

Harvard Educational Review, 2001

Journal of Museum Education, 1990

Harvard Educational Review, 2001

Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of t... more Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of the Holocaust course. The idea of teaching the Holocaust through first person narratives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers took shape during a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with my father, a survivor of the Holocaust. It was in this visit that I fully realized the power of narratives as I uncovered the hidden narrative I share with my father. His inability to speak his experiences shaped my personal vision of who I am, of my father, and of the world. My father's silence kept me from fully knowing him and myself. In the absence of my father's stories, I shaped him in the image of Holocaust stereotypes. I perceived his silence in my life as the helpless weakness of the victim. Amidst the haunting images housed in the museum, my father began to tell me his escape stories. In his stories, I encountered my father the hero, and saw him as I had never seen him before, through eyes of compassion and deep admiration. This encounter with my father's heroism put me in touch with my own and I was moved to create the Stories of the Holocaust course.

Journal of Museum Education, Dec 1, 1990

... Luke Baldwin, Sharlene Cochrane, Constance Counts, Joan Dolamore, Martha McKenna, and Barbara... more ... Luke Baldwin, Sharlene Cochrane, Constance Counts, Joan Dolamore, Martha McKenna, and Barbara Vacan ... adults rework prior learn-ing, reformulate their identity, and reaffirm or renegotiate previous resolutions.3 This period of vulnerability pro-vides opportunities to ...

Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of t... more Every November, as the world remembers the devastation of Kristallnacht, I teach the Stories of the Holocaust course. The idea of teaching the Holocaust through first person narratives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers took shape during a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with my father, a survivor of the Holocaust. It was in this visit that I fully realized the power of narratives as I uncovered the hidden narrative I share with my father. His inability to speak his experiences shaped my personal vision of who I am, of my father, and of the world. My father's silence kept me from fully knowing him and myself. In the absence of my father's stories, I shaped him in the image of Holocaust stereotypes. I perceived his silence in my life as the helpless weakness of the victim. Amidst the haunting images housed in the museum, my father began to tell me his escape stories. In his stories, I encountered my father the hero, and saw him as I had never seen him before, through eyes of compassion and deep admiration. This encounter with my father's heroism put me in touch with my own and I was moved to create the Stories of the Holocaust course.

Harvard Educational Review, 2001

Harvard Educational Review, 2001

Journal of Museum Education, 1990

Harvard Educational Review, 2001