In a Facing History and Ourselves classroom, teachers are often developing creative ways to engage students in learning history. In this blog post, Elise Bigley tells us how she created a digital game- and invites students to create their own digital game- to deepen student learning from primary testimonies and source documents. She introduces us to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre's incredible archive of the experiences of Jewish refugees who were deported from Great Britain as enemy aliens during WW2 and interned in prison camps in Canada. These stories allow us to uncover a lesser-known moment in Canadian history and raise important questions about stereotypes, racism and the choices we make towards those who arrive at our borders.
Elise Bigley
Elise holds a Master of Arts in History with a Specialization in Digital Humanities from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Simon Fraser University. Her research area of focus is on the internment of Jewish refugees in Canada during the Second World War. Previously, Elise worked at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) as a Finding Aid Writer and Researcher. Elise is a former member of the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) in Ottawa, where she helped organize an annual teacher's workshop on the Holocaust. Elise currently works as a Researcher at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI).