Spotlight on Undergraduate Research: Tyler Goldberger (T'19)

Tyler Goldberger (T'19)  shares some of his experiences interning at Yad Vashem through the Shore Undergraduate Research Scholars Program:

"This summer, I was working at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Museum, in Jerusalem, Israel. More specifically, I was working in the New Education Building for an organization called Echoes and Reflections (echoesandreflections.org). Their work mostly focuses on giving middle and high school teachers the knowledge and information to educate their students about the Holocaust. This work culminates to a ten-day seminar hosted at Yad Vashem, where teachers from the States come for free to learn from the top experts in the field. I served as the head resource for this ten-day seminar which renewed my hope of public education and the passion teachers have. Coming from a public school in Raleigh, I had never experienced a teacher's true love for a subject until engaging with these teachers at Yad Vashem. I was also able to attend any and all sessions from this conference and learning amongst the brightest minds in Holocaust education.

My work did not just deal with these organizational efforts, and in fact, it only took up a little of my time. My main project dealt with the publication of Echoes and Reflections's sixth educational video toolbox for teachers. These videos highlight the more important aspects of a particular Holocaust subject in 15 minutes so that they can then relay this information to their students in the way they deem best. This one focuses on the first moments after liberation, and I was able to add my input and write parts of the script that will eventually be published into a video. More than that, I was in charge of using the visual archives to supplement the script. This means that I sorted through thousands of photos and videos in Yad Vashem's private archives to choose which images best represented the words being said. It was a very meaningful job and I was able to learn so much through this process. The video is projected to come out in late-November, and I truly could not be more excited! 

I had full access to the museum, its archives, its galleries and its staff, so I made a note to always ask questions and eavesdrop whenever I could. This internship really peaked my interest into a career based on genocide education/awareness/prevention.

Jerusalem is a special city, and I was so fortunate to spend a summer there. I traveled to Tel Aviv often for the beaches, but a majority of my summer was spent strolling the streets of Jerusalem, buying groceries at the shuk (literally "market" in Hebrew but imagine a huge outdoor farmer's market), and making memories with newfound friends. I truly count my blessings every day that I was able to engage with such an experience, which is why I am so thrilled to explain to anyone and everyone who is willing to listen what I did this summer!"

photo by Tyler Goldberger
Tyler photographed the entrance to Yad Vashem's Children's Memorial.