To be eligible, you must be a student at one of the participating universities — in Canada: York University and selected partner universities; in Europe: Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan or Pedagogical University of Kraków in Poland; or a university or pädagogische Hochschule in Germany (particularly in Baden-Württemberg). In addition, you must be planning a career in education, and the subjects you plan to teach must be relevant to the goals of the project. You must continue to study at your university in the 2009-2010 academic year.

By looking at the Holocaust and related phenomena, we want to educate against racism, including antisemitism. To educate future generations, we have to educate future teachers. Hence the project's title: "Learning from the Past — Teaching for the Future."

Students will be selected on the basis of their academic record; the relevance of their prospective career in education to the mandate of the project; their personal qualities; and their potential for benefiting from and contributing to the project. An interview is part of the selection process. Students must have a very good command of English. The Project Coordinators reserve the right to ensure balance in gender, fields of study, and the like.

You need to be able to attend the orientation activities, participate fully and actively in the 26-day  Field Study in July/August 2009, prepare a curricular project or teaching module during the fall/winter of 2009-2010, and participate fully and actively in the 10-day
 Symposium in Toronto in February 2010. Canadian students must also enrol in a  York University course on the Holocaust in Cross-Cultural Comparison, which gives them 6 credits.

We estimate that the 26 days in Europe and 10 days in Canada, plus the orientation activities, will cost approximately $7500 (in Canadian dollars) per student. This cost does not include tuition for the 6-credit York University course required of Canadian participants.

The project was conceived by York University Professors Michael Brown (past Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies) and Mark Webber (past Director of The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies / Le Centre canadien d’études allemandes et européennes). They now coordinate the project. Both have taught courses and conducted research on the Holocaust and on the history and present state of racism and antisemitism in Canada. Both have extensive experience working with young people in less formal academic settings (Professor Brown as director of the National Leadership Training Institute of the Ramah Camps, Professor Webber through coordinating the Ontario / Baden-Württemberg ["OBW"] Student Exchange Program). Both have worked in international and intercultural endeavours (Professor Brown through York’s exchanges with Russia and Israel, Professor Webber through the Holocaust and Hope program of the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada and with OBW exchange). Both have been honoured for their work (Professor Brown with the Lifetime Achievement Award of Toronto Jewish Campus Service, and Professor Webber with the German equivalent of the Order of Canada [Bundesverdienstkreuz Erster Klasse] and the "Staufer"-Medal of the Government of Baden-Württemberg).

The official Patron of the Project is Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Jutta Limbach, immediate past President of the Goethe Institute and former President of the German Federal Constitutional Court

Obviously we will be flying between Europe and Canada, but within Europe, we will use a combination of trains and chartered buses between cities, and public transit and walking (with a few chartered buses) within cities. For more information, consult the tentative itinerary and route map for the Field Study.

We will have a mixture of activities. Some involve classroom-like instruction and discussions. We will visit important teaching and memorial sites relating to World War II, National Socialism, and the Holocaust. We will meet with teacher-trainers and take part in workshops conducted by German and Polish.  And there will be time for formal and informal discussion and for individual group members to explore on their own. In short, ours is a serious subject, but we approach it with verve, and if the experience of previous groups is any indication, the Field Study will be both fun and rewarding, notwithstanding the serious and often tragic background.

We will require students accepted into the project to complete and return a questionnaire on which they indicate needs, concerns, or problems relating to diet, allergy, or general health issues. We will also discuss general issues at the Orientation Seminars. Students are responsible for ensuring that they have adequate health insurance.

We will include time for worship services for Christian and Jewish members of the project, and will do our best to accommodate the religious needs of others. There is no travel planned for Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), and synagogues and churches (though not of all Christian denominations) are accessible. Part of the Field Study includes visits to Jewish and Christian houses of worship, and we expect all project members to participate in such visits.

Participants design their own projects. These could be a bibliographical module, a teaching module, or an interactive website (these examples are not exhaustive); both individual and group projects are possible. We will hold a workshop in Gniezno, Poland, towards the end of the European Field Study to help students settle on a project of their liking.

In February 2010 the group will reassemble in Toronto for a 10-day symposium. Part of the time will be spent getting reacquainted. But we will also participate in a Conference, visit school classes and faith and ethnic communities (including houses of worship) in Toronto, experience workshops and discussions, and probably visit Niagara Falls.

We will meet separately with the Canadian, German and Polish students in May or June of 2009 to ensure that everyone has an equivalent background and that all concerns are addressed. Many of the members of previous groups will be happy to advise you on their experience, and we can put you in touch with them.

The "official" language of the project is English, but French, German, and Polish will no doubt be spoken at times. To ensure communication within the group, everyone must have an adequate command of English.

We will likely meet as a group on Monday, July 20, 2009 (which means those flying from Canada will leave Sunday, July 19); the Field Study continues through Friday, August 14. The Toronto Symposium is scheduled for mid-February 2010 (dates to be agreed on).