The Borders of Historical Empathy: Students Encounter the Holocaust through Film

This case study explores potential educational tensions in historical empathy for learning about emotionally difficult topics through lessons that use dramatic feature films (movies). It investigates one case of historical empathy in the classroom by analyzing what a high-school teacher and her students do and talk about in class. The observed lesson was part of the teacher’s unit on World War II and the Holocaust in a World History course using the 2002 Academy Awardwinning film The Pianist. The conclusion interprets this case as an example of how the visual and emotional power of movies may lead some students to “overempathize “ and feel that they can “really” know what a historical perspective must have been like. The “caring” aspect of historical empathy has the potential to overrun historical context and override other educational goals like learning and applying content knowledge.