On-site or virtual field trips help students understand the impact of the Holocaust, genocide, human rights violations, and standing up for others. Pre and post-visit activities aid educators in extending students’ learning and fostering meaningful learning experiences.
Choose from a variety of on-site or virtual learning experiences to engage your students with subject matter related to the Holocaust, genocide, universal human and civil rights, and other important topics.
All field trips listed below support Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts and Literacy in History Social Studies, Illinois Social Science Standards, and the C2 Framework for Social Studies Standards.
In Our Voices
Field Trip for Grades 7-12 | Available On-Site
In Our Voices transforms history into lessons for today, inviting students to consider the power of choice, responsibility, citizenship, and human rights, with the goal of discovering what influences our decisions to act as bystanders or Upstanders. Through guided exploration, students investigate the history of the Holocaust as told through the personal belongings, photographs, historical records, and stories of Chicagoland Survivors and eyewitnesses. Students are encouraged to use this knowledge to make connections to their world today. The field trip includes suggested pre and post-visit activities.
On-site field trips include:
Docent-led tour of Zev & Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition
Tour of the Act of Art gallery or special exhibition
Presentation by a member of the Museum’s Speakers’ Bureau or other comparable content.
FEBRUARY-MAY 2024: Please note that all In Our Voices field trips booked on Tuesdays or Fridays between February and May 2024 will be teacher-led with gallery attendants. In Our Voices field trips booked outside those months, or on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and weekends, will be docent-led.
On-site Group Size:
10 students minimum, 160 students maximum
On-site Times Offered:
Monday – Friday | 9:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM
Saturday – Sunday | 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM
On-site Tour Length: 2 hours and 15 minutes (with optional speaker, 3 hours)
Virtual field trips include:
- Pre-recorded exploration of the history of the Holocaust through artifacts and stories in the Zev & Shifra Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition
- Tour divided into four segments, each with discussion prompts, reflection questions, and supplemental activities
- Flexibility for use within in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments
- Optional virtual presentation by a member of the Speakers’ Bureau and/or a Q&A session with a Museum docent
Voices of Genocide
Field Trip for Grades 7-12 | Exclusively Available On-Site
As the distance between the Holocaust and the generations we teach expands, students increasingly seek to understand how and why a genocide could happen. In this field trip, combining two of the Museum’s core exhibitions, participants engage with the new Voices of Genocide Exhibition to learn about common conditions that exist across genocides and how to recognize warning signs. In the Take a Stand Center, students develop agency and explore strategies to work toward intervention and prevention of genocide and the promotion of human rights, locally and around the world.
On-Site Group Size:
10 students minimum, 80 students maximum
On-Site Tour Length: 1 hour 45 minutes
Dedicated VOG field trips will take place July-October; and weekends. Please reach out to us directly if you are interestred in booking a VOG field trip at education@ilhmec.org
KINDERTRANSPORT – RESCUING CHILDREN ON THE BRINK OF WAR
(AVAILABLE MAY 19-NOVEMBER 17, 2024)
Field Trip for Grades 6-12 | Exclusively Available On-Site
This field trip showcases the astonishing rescue effort that, in only nine months, brought thousands of unaccompanied children from Nazi Europe to the United Kingdom. In this field trip, the history of the Kindertransport program is told through personal artifacts, stories, and firsthand testimony from those who lived through it. Students will explore the experiences of local Survivors and the conditions in Germany that led parents to make the difficult decision to send their children into the unknown. This field trip includes the Kindertransport exhibition and portions of the Karkomi Holocaust Exhibition.
On-site Group Size: 10 students minimum, 80 students maximum
On-site Times Offered: Monday – Friday | 10 AM, 12 PM, 2:00 PM
On-site Tour Length: 85 Minutes
Photo credits: Scott Edwards; Kathleen Hinkel; Emily Mohney