Combating hate, USC Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education teach students about genocide

Hate is a snake that can rear its head in any generation.

To combat this evil, USC Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education started a project to educate students about the history of genocide.

Drawing upon the foundation’s library of audiovisual testimony from survivors and witnesses of genocides, the Teaching with Testimony project empowers students to act for a better future.

The program invites educators, students, parents and communities to view powerful testimony from survivors and witnesses to evoke of sense of shared global citizenship and a call to make the world a better place. The effort includes a virtual field trip titled “Our Stories are Stronger Than Hate,” building off Discovery Communications’ “Why We Hate” show.

A marketing campaign—including social media, banner ads, blog posts and Twitter chats—exposed middle and high school teachers to program resources, which also included classroom activities and student community projects.

Since its launch, Teaching with Testimony has reached over 2 million students. The virtual field trip secured 94,000 views across 2,030 classrooms, and the companion curriculum was downloaded 765 times. On social media, the virtual field trip garnered more than 86,400 owned impressions. The campaign resulted in coverage in approximately 180 education trade outlets, garnering 50 million press impressions.