Honors Course Visit to Holocaust Museum Extends Learning

Trinity Christian College’s Honors Program extends learning beyond the classroom.

The Honors Seminar course “Representing the Tragic: Considering History, Aesthetics, and Resistance in Holocaust Drama,” taught by Dr. John Sebestyen, associate professor of communication arts, is an example of that. Sebestyen took his class to Skokie, Illinois to visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

“I thought it would be useful for our students to know some more detail about that time period and have a shared vocabulary from which to talk about the history,” Sebestyen said. “Art works provoke reflective thought about how art can represent a tragic time period.”

On this trip the students were able to walk through an art gallery, a history exhibit, and a timeline of the Holocaust, before ending their trip listening to the testimony of a Holocaust survivor.

Students found that they were confronted at the museum with a reality that pushed them beyond a textbook. Students such as Jamey Otte ’16 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin found that the trip helped him to further apply class material.

“The experience we had at the museum will orient our thoughts and our studies in a way that allows us to approach the material in a way that honors the identity of the victims,” Otte said. “It has allowed the darkness of the tragedy to become more real to us.”

Going outside of the classroom is nothing new for Trinity professors who accompany their students to Chicago museums, theaters, galleries, and places of business.

“Chicago is an excellent resource for the classroom,” Sebestyen said. “There is always something happening downtown, and there are a variety of events that our students can experience to enhance their education.”