Clark University senior Shelby Margolin, of Danville, spends summer examining Holocaust education materials

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Clark University senior Shelby Margolin

WORCESTER, MA (08/10/2012)(readMedia)-- Clark University senior Shelby A. Margolin, of Danville, Calif., spent the past two months interning at Facing History and Ourselves with funding from the University's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program.

Margolin worked under Facing History Director Jack Weinstein. There, she planned, implemented and led two week-long teacher workshops (one on Holocaust and human behavior, and one on race and membership). She also interviewed participants to identify how the organization could further assist teachers in their classrooms. Margolin reviewed and analyzed Facing History's online education materials and provided feedback on their usefulness and accessibility. She conducted independent research on Holocaust perpetrators as preparation for her honors thesis; she plans to use her findings to construct a 'lesson' or 'unit' for individuals at Facing History to review.

"I have had an incredible experience at Facing History," said Margolin. "I have learned so much about Holocaust history and the eugenics movement, but even more-so about the politics and history of Holocaust and genocide education."

Margolin relished the opportunity to research primary documents from the Holocaust and look through Facing History's educational material.

"A large part of my internship was independent research for my thesis, which has been fascinating," she said. "I am in the midst of conducting interviews and finding that process nerve-wracking, exciting, and above all fruitful."

Two other Clark undergraduates also received stipends from the Program this summer to pursue internships or study opportunities in the field of Holocaust and genocide.

"Each of the students clearly benefits from her summer internship or study opportunity. The impact of their experiences, however, extends beyond these three students to the broader Clark community," said Shelly Tenenbaum, chair of the Department of Sociology, and director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Undergraduate Program. "The classroom is transformed when these students return to campus and share their new insights with their peers and professors."

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program has been offering summer internship stipends every other year since 1999. Students are awarded the internship stipend on the basis of their academic record and internship proposal. Margolin was funded by the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Fund for Scholars of Holocaust Studies.

According to Ken MacLean, assistant professor of International Development and Social Change (IDSC), Margolin "is a responsible and mature young women with a bright future ahead of her. She is dynamic, engaging, and a joy to teach or talk with. She also has right combination of personal interest and professional skills to make a real contribution to Facing History and Ourselves."

At Clark, Margolin is involved with the All Kinds of Girls (AKOG) Program; she is a Resident Advisor and was recently promoted to a Housing Complex Manager. Margolin assisted with the Alumni and Parent Admissions Program during her freshman and sophomore year, and currently works at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She has volunteered at St. Peter's (Parish) Mentoring Program, Jeremiah's Inn, the Main South Community Development Center and the Donna Kay Nursing Home.

Margolin is a member of the Class of 2013 at Clark; she majors in international development and social change. She came to Clark as a Making a Difference Scholar. She is a graduate of 2009 graduate of Amador Valley High School in Calif.

Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a small, liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark's pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark's faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to contemporary challenges in the areas of psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University's motto: Challenge convention. Change our world.