Introducing: Calendar of Special Days

3 Responses to Introducing: Calendar of Special Days

1. 

   Bill Templer January 26, 2017 at 6:49 pm #

   International Holocaust Memorial Day is Jan. 27 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Holocaust_Remembrance_Day

   Here materials to learn about the Holocaust from USHMM in Washington: https://www.ushmm.org/learn

   Here an article students could read: http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/20/when-is-holocaust-memorial-day-2017-and-why-is-it-important-6394055/

   Here on our GISIG site ‘Addressing the Issue of the Holocaust’: http://gisig.iatefl.org/resources/elt-for-social-justice-addressing-the-issue-of-the-holocaust#comment-241551

   THE ONLY DAY WE HAVE MARKED IN jANUARY ON THIS CALENDAR AT PRESENT IS jAN. 28: http://gisig.iatefl.org/special-days/data-privacy-day

   Should International Holocaust Memorial Day on Jan. 27th be marked as well?

   Reply
2. 

   Bill Templer October 9, 2017 at 5:43 am #

   The second Monday in October is a national holiday in the US, Columbus Day. It is one of the most controversial official holidays, you can imagine why. Many Native Americans openly oppose its celebration.

   Here something in simpler English: http://goo.gl/XGsz7v Here a very detailed book for teachers with many suggested activities, RETHINKING COLUMBUS: http://goo.gl/sSuRre You can see the Table of Contents, get some idea of the thrust of the book, meant for teachers mainly in US schools.

   The discussion around Columbus Day in the US, often heated and very political, raises the questions: what is national history, how can and should it be rewritten, taught critically in the schools? How should it be officially memorialized, through commemorative days, statues of ‘great men’, etc.? It also touches centrally on the whole complex of violence in US settlement and colonization.

   It is a sign of the times that the memory of a famous Italian explorer like Columbus, working for the imperial Spanish crown, should be fundamentally questioned.

   So Columbus Day is in a category of special days ever more people feel should NOT be marked. Maybe there are such days in other countries as well.

   Reply

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