Project Description
A detailed study guide created by Facing History and Ourselves helps teachers and students connect the events described in the film Schindler's List to present-day events by focusing on issues of choice, group behavior, and racial and ethnic hatred. Facing History and Ourselves is a national organization that engages students in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism, and often employs the arts to stimulate discussion. The use of Schindler's List, directed by Steven Spielberg, provides an opportunity to both preserve and judge the past through a medium that is accessible to every high school student. The film and readings suggested by the project's curriculum materials help teachers to stimulate students to think about the complexities of good and evil, the choices they have as individuals within a society, the consequences of those decisions, and their responsibilities to self and others.

Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
Through seminars conducted by Facing History staff and resource speakers, teachers learn to use the tools of the humanities—inquiry, analysis, and interpretation—to help students analyze events and issues. At workshops and follow-up sessions, teachers are offered a wide range of materials to engage and challenge their students' most advanced thinking and promote individual reflection and group discussion. Facing History is committed to producing programs and teaching materials that further democratic values and beliefs and challenge students to deepen their thinking by not accepting simple solutions to complex questions. They keep a journal that becomes a "silent conversation with themselves" and come together to share insights and perspectives as they form judgments about human behavior and events in history.

Information Sources
A Guide to the Film Schindler's List, Facing History and Ourselves; interview, Christine Stokes, Facing History and Ourselves.