Resources for Teachers

Area teachers and Oberlin faculty are invited to bring their classes to visit the Courage and Compassion exhibit during its month-long stay in Oberlin.

Each class that visits will spend approximately an hour at the public history exhibit, which is professionally designed and interactive; it encourages visitors to consider how fear can contribute to discriminatory government policies and to consider how and why this history of internment remains relevant today. The Oberlin section of the exhibit will tell the story not only of the nearly 40 Japanese American students who studied at Oberlin during the war—nearly twenty of whom came directly from internment camps—but will also highlight the response of town residents to their presence. During their visit, students will be introduced to the history of World War II and Japanese American internment, will engage with questions about what courage means to them, and will explore connections between historical events and contemporary issues. A trained upper-class student, staff or faculty member will facilitate class visits to the exhibit.

If you would like to schedule a class visit, please contact field trip coordinator Ava Prince at aprince@oberlin.edu.

Curricular materials with lesson plans that connect to common core standards are available from the Go for Broke Foundation:

Download the educator’s packet

Notes on terminology related to the Japanese American wartime experience can be found at densho.org/terminology/ .