FAQs
What makes Project Mosaics’ content unique? Project Mosaics focuses on under-told and underrepresented stories of Jewish history, culture, and identity around the world. Our approach emphasizes Jewish diversity and the varied experiences of Jewish people. We illuminate the global nature of Jewish existence and the range of Jewish expressiveness in different times and places. For each of our case studies, we partner with memoirists and historians. Memoirists share their personal accounts and historians offer broader context. These intimate and expert voices are found in the short films that are the centerpieces of our lesson plans and reading guides. Our films and resources ensure that Jewish people are not presented as monolithic and that Jewish identity is not represented as static. Our name reflects this–Jewish history and identity is like a mosaic, an assemblance of differently textured and shaped pieces that coalesce to create a whole but are each distinctive and deserving of their own appreciation. While Jewish history is often taught as chapter after chapter of oppression and persecution, Project Mosaics honors the hardships of Jewish experience while also uplifting examples of Jewish joy so that the representation of Jewish people in classrooms and community centers is rich with examples of Jewish life, not only Jewish death. It is in this space that Project Mosaics centers Jewish humanity and does so in accordance with the principles of multiculturalism, global education, and culturally affirming pedagogies.
What types of resources does Project Mosaics offer teachers and students? Project Mosaics provides digital multimedia teaching and learning resources that showcase the diversity, vibrancy, joy, and global dimensions of Jewish history, identity, and culture. Our cornerstone resources are our short films, featuring memoirists and historians, which ensure students can learn from and listen to the voices of Jewish people from around the world. Project Mosaics weaves these short films into digital lesson plans and reading guides which revolve around inquiry, interaction, and multimodal and multimedia teaching and learning. All of our short films, lesson plans, and reading guides are available free-of-charge for all. Cost should never interfere with learning and all students deserve the most holistically inclusive curriculum possible.
What services does Project Mosaics offer? Project Mosaics provides webinars, half-day and full-day workshops for teachers, presentations for students, presentations at informal and after-school settings, community conversations, custom lesson and unit plans for schools, and consulting services for schools looking to expand their representation of Jewish history and identity in their curriculum.
When is there time to teach about Jewish history and culture? Teachers have constraints on their work with students and Project Mosaics respects this reality. There are only so many hours in the day and days in the school year. We believe that Jewish history, culture, and identity can be woven into the broad themes and issues that are central to history, social studies, English, and humanities education. Jewish history, culture, and identity can be integrated into thematic lessons focused on community, identity, diversity, intergroup relations, cultural preservation and adaptation, migration, diaspora, gender relations, modernization, urbanization, and so much more. Jewish representation can add new perspectives and dimensions to topics that are staples in classrooms already. Because Jewish history is global history, there are ample opportunities to include a voice or two (or more) from Jewish people in lessons that may not already have such voices represented. Even without time for an entire unit on the Jews of Iran, there are still opportunities to show a short film, introduce a reading, or offer a lesson on Jewish life in 20th century Iran. This can happen in the context of discussing the 1979 Iranian Revolution, for example. Even without time for an entire unit on American Jewish life, there are still opportunities to show a short film, introduce a reading, or offer a lesson on Persian Jewish immigration to the United States, for example. Project Mosaics works with teachers to help them find ways to bring more Jewish representation into classrooms. We do this through our short films, lesson plans, and reading guides that focus on our case studies but also through consulting, lesson and unit plan writing, and collaboration with schools and districts.
Does Project Mosaics only focus on the Jews of Iran? Project Mosaics takes a case study approach to our digital multimedia content development. We thoroughly research each case study, ensuring there is a depth of scholarship at our disposal as we develop our materials. Our first and current case study focuses on the Jews of Iran, in all their depth and complexity. This is where we are launching our resources but we will continue to develop even more case studies, each featuring memoirists and historians who will be featured in short films, lesson plans, and reading guides. Soon, we’ll travel to Cuba, Iraq, Lebanon, Mexico, Greece, and beyond in order to tell even more diverse and dynamic stories featuring joy, life, and humanity.
Is there a cost to Project Mosaics’ content and services? All Project Mosaics’ short films, lesson plans, and reading guides are free-of-cost. There are costs associated with Project Mosaics’ professional learning, presentations for students, community conversations, and consulting services. For pricing information and service inquiries, please contact Project Mosaics at danosborn@projectmosaics.org.