Humanities at Goodwin University

A deficiency of genocide education exists within the American school system. Teachers often express that they lack curricular opportunities to teach the topic, and even when they do, the Holocaust serves as a sole framework, limiting what knowledge students might gain about other genocides. Part of why genocide education focuses so much on the Holocaust—besides its incomparable place in the concept’s history—is due to the availability of pre-existing curricula on it via museums, non-profits, and individual educators. Meanwhile, one can find little material on an event like the Bosnian genocide. To combat this absence, Professor Sarah Snyder and Bekir Hodzic, a former Goodwin University student, have developed a curricula portfolio on the Bosnian genocide that includes lesson plans about the region’s history prior to the genocide, the concentration camps system throughout Bosnia including in Prijedor, the Siege of Sarajevo, the Srebrenica genocide, and other related issues.

These plans include background materials, classroom activities, and primary source packets. The two aim to broadly diffuse these materials to encourage Bosnia’s greater integration into current genocide pedagogy and enable more students to learn from the nation’s past. This project holds special significance within Connecticut, as the state houses a large Bosniak diaspora and was the first state to pass a Bosnian Genocide Remembrance Day into law. And it comes at a critical time, with the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide approaching and denial of the atrocities that occurred in Bosnia festering globally.