{"id":206605,"date":"2011-09-21T09:25:42","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T13:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=206605"},"modified":"2023-11-06T09:28:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:28:35","slug":"neag-professor-leads-european-embarkment-on-world-war-ii-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/09\/neag-professor-leads-european-embarkment-on-world-war-ii-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag Professor Leads European Embarkment on World War II Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past May,\u00a0Neag School of Education<\/a>\u00a0faculty member, Alan Marcus, paid tribute to the school\u2019s mission of embracing worldwide diversity by leading a global leader study abroad program as part of a course titled: \u201cTeaching World War II: Multiple Perspectives on the War in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-week program was designed to immerse students into rich historical and culture experiences, enhance their understanding of international perspectives and facilitate productive teaching strategies for their professional lives. The trip established a foundation for the exploration of teaching history through film and museums, a course the students are enrolled in for this fall.<\/p>\n

The Secondary Social Studies Program invited graduating seniors and fifth year integrated bachelor\u2019s\/master\u2019s students with concentrations in history to embark on the Western European trip. Dr. David Moss, associate professor in the Neag School of Education, also accompanied the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to be a culturally aware, sensitive and curious,\u201d said Gabrielle Lataille. \u201cNothing is free of bias and there are always more questions, details and perspectives that need to be explored\u2026The same event can be interpreted and analyzed in thousands of different ways, depending on who you are, where you live and your surrounding influences and interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summer experience enabled students to visit historical sites and museums in Great Britain, France and Holland where they investigated the different European perspectives of WWII. The students looked at the museums\u2019 different narratives, interviewed museum staff and critically evaluated historic films to better grasp the war\u2019s impact on global affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe European perspective of the war is very different from the American perspective,\u201d explained Michael Stroneski. \u201cAmericans tend to focus on the battles, the statistics of the war and strategy and machinery. Europeans focus on the humanity of the war. By that I mean they look at the effect the war had on soldiers, families, children and everybody in between. It seems to be more about understanding \u2018why\u2019 rather than \u2018how.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The trip abroad was an eye-opening experience for the 15 Neag student participants, providing them more insight than textbooks or online sources could deliver. Collectively, the travelers attest that their acquired personal anecdotes will be the most powerful classroom reference.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassion and the potential for passion in what you teach is the single most incredible tool teachers have in their tool box. Teachers have to bring what they love into the classroom because that honestly is something that students truly do latch on to,\u201d said Adam Nemeroff.<\/p>\n

For the students, visiting the WWII sites manifested an appreciation of history, further developing their overall cultural understanding of information and education, alike. For Lataille, it was physically setting foot in Anne Frank\u2019s home where her senses of history and reality aligned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter reading the\u00a0Diary of Anne Frank<\/em>, I was both in love with the main character and devastated with the outcome of her story. However, it was the actual presence at the house in which she hid for two years that left me with the deep feeling of historical empathy,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cI was able to feel and touch the place in which she experienced love, hope and suffering throughout WWII and the Holocaust, and immediately preceding her tragic torment and death at the concentration camps.\u201d<\/p>\n

This particular international experience, alongside other Neag student scholarship and faculty, has been made possible thanks to the generous financial support of Robert E. (M.A. \u201951 Ph.D. \u201955) \u00a0and Gladys Dunn. The couple, who has devoted their lives to serve their passion for international studies, granted $100,000 to Neag to assist study and travel abroad for educational development. Some of these funds supported students participating in Marcus\u2019 program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years we have had opportunities to travel to all corners of the globe and realize how broadening our experiences have been. The many\u00a0friendships and memories have enriched our lives, and we think of them every day. Our scholarship is intended to afford Neag students the chance to see first hand what is out there in this amazing world beyond U.S. shores,\u201d said Mrs. Dunn.<\/p>\n

Whether their favorite part of the experience was standing on the beaches of Normandy or picnicking in front of the shimmering Eiffel Tower, the trip had an enormous impact on the Neag students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were invited to meet and hear a few of them,\u201d Mr. Dunn said. \u201cIt was clear from their remarks that the outcomes that they experienced made as much of an impact on them as we felt. Their backgrounds of mutual understanding and respect earn them the role of citizens of the world who contribute to peace. They are unofficial ambassadors of good will.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Marcus, the trip will change how his students will teach WWII by affecting their approach to teaching empathy across all topics, incorporating their own lessons along the way.\u00a0 To further reinforce the goals of the course, the students will participate in a follow-up journey to Washington D.C. where they will visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the WWII Memorial, and the National Archives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am optimistic that as teachers they will include field trip experience in the curriculum for their own students and will design effective activities for these trips,\u201d said Marcus. \u201cThey certainly understand the power of a successful field trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis trip opened my eyes, my heart, and my head to so much about the world, education, history, learning, memory, the future, people, diversity, and even happiness. I was challenged in ways I never have been before and I experienced what most do not get to experience in a lifetime,\u201d said Meaghan Davis. \u201cI was constantly learning, thinking, and asking questions. I reflected on this trip as a student, as a future teacher, as an American, as a 21-year-old, as a woman, as a history dork, as a human being and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on \u201cTeaching World War II: Multiple Perspectives on the War in Europe,\u201d contact Professor Marcus at\u00a0alan.marcus@uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past May,\u00a0Neag School of Education\u00a0faculty member, Alan Marcus, paid tribute to the school\u2019s mission of embracing worldwide diversity by leading a global leader study abroad program as part of a course titled: \u201cTeaching World War II: Multiple Perspectives on the War in Europe.\u201d The two-week program was designed to immerse students into rich historical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":206606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2455],"class_list":["post-206605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 00:37:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206607,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206605\/revisions\/206607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/206606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206605"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=206605"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=206605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}