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Helping Students Select Characters Is One of the More Challenging Parts of Being a JCAT Facilitator

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Helping Students Select Characters Is One of the More Challenging Parts of Being a JCAT Facilitator Helping students select characters is one of the more challenging parts of being a JCAT facilitator. The parameters of their choices are totally up to you, and teachers set these parameters following criteria ranging from “giving as much opportunity for choice as possible” to “building opportunities for curricular connections” later in the year. As you know by now, some teachers require their students to choose Jewish characters and some teachers do not. The guiding principle we suggest for everyone is to have a diverse collection of characters in your class group to help with modeling, responding to multiple perspectives, and making any in-character discussions you might have among your students more interesting. You want each student or pair of students to have a character they’re excited about, and that presents them with rich learning opportunities as they research and then portray them. Of course, since every character can only be portrayed once in the simulation, it can be hard to come up with ideas for engaging characters…so we’re here to help! The attached list is a compendium of suggestions for interesting, and perhaps somewhat lesser-known characters. You’ll find a simple list of Jewish characters from many walks of life, as well as more detailed suggestions for people who led interesting but less heralded lives, as well as a list in the format of alternate suggestions for our most-commonly requested characters (“instead of Abraham Lincoln, consider Frederick Douglass or Andrew Johnson…”). In addition, we also offer some suggestions specific to the 2020 simulation, made up of notable figures from French history. We hope this list (and terrific resources on the web like the Jewish Women’s Archive: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia) will help you ​ ​ more easily fulfill our request that you not duplicate characters on the list of character requests you’ll be submitting to us by the end of September, and will also help you find intriguing characters for your students to portray and learn about. As always, let us know how we can help you to navigate this process. JCAT CHARACTERS 2020 (additional suggestions below table) NO. NAME Nationality/Eth. DESCRIPTION LINK 1 Charlie Chaplin British, Romani Film director, actor, and one of the leading Chaplin: (1889-1977) comedians of all time, Chaplin was also http://www.charliechaplin.com/biogr notorious for his leftist political aphy/articles sympathies and his initially controversial film ‘The Great Dictator’ (1940) which The Great Dictator: openly mocked Hitler and criticized his http://brattleblog.brattlefilm.org/?p=9 treatment of Jews long before anyone else 8 in America was willing to speak of it. He reportedly made the film for his half brother, Sydney, who was Jewish. 2 Buffy Sainte-Marie Cree, Canadian Indigenous musician, songwriter, poet, Her site: (1941—present) educator and activist, Buffy Sainte-Marie http://www.creative-native.com/ is well known for her protest songs “Universal Soldier”, and her activism on behalf of Indigenous Americans. It would be interesting to get an indigenous cultural perspective on matters such as reparations. 3 Tecumseh Shawnee, Native In the early 1800s, as Native Americans http://www.history.com/this-day-in- (1768-1813) American were being pushed further West by white history/chief-tecumseh-urges-indians- settlers, their population decimated by to-unite-against-whites disease, Tecumseh tried to unite different tribes to fight back. He wanted to create We Shall Remain documentary: an Indian nation separate from the U.S. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/wesh allremain/the_films/episode_2_about 4 Michael Collins Irish Irish freedom fighter (as head of http://www.notablebiographies.com/ (1890-1922) intelligence for the IRA) who was Co-Da/Collins-Michael.html instrumental in establishing the Irish Free State. He helped bring the British Empire http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic ‘to its knees’ and signed the truce that _figures/collins_michael.shtml established the partition. 5 Frederick Douglass African-American African-American activist who fought for http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4 (1818-1895) the abolition of slavery, the rights of p1539.html African Americans, and women. His speeches and writings among the best known and most powerful arguments against slavery. After the Civil War, he fought for civil rights for all. 6 Diego Rivera Mexican Mexican painter/muralist who, after the http://www.moma.org/collection/obje (1886-1957) Mexican Revolution, focused his work on ct.php?object_id=80682 the lives of the working class and the native people of Mexico. His works were http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanma controversial because of their political sters/episodes/diego-rivera/about-the- perspective (Communist). artist/64/ 7 Simon Bolivar Venezuelan Key military and political leader who led http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/Si (1783-1830) the fight for independence from the mon_Bolivar.htm Spanish Empire for various Latin American countries and helped establish nationhood in Latin America. He is called the “Liberator” of South America. 8 John Ross Cherokee, Native Chief of the Cherokees. He conceived of http://www.georgiatribeofeasterncher (1790-1866) American the tribe as a sovereign, independent okee.com/chiefjohnross.htm nation –a Republic with a written constitution. He fought against the Indian Removal that was beginning in the 1800s, eventually being forced with them to Oklahoma. 9 Studs Terkel American, Jewish Author, radio broadcaster, and oral http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/200 (1912-2008) historian who is well-known for his 8/nov/01/studs-terkel-usa bottom-up, oral histories of average Americans. Blacklisted during the http://www.studsterkel.org/bio.php McCarthy era, he is also well known for his progressive political stances for Civil Rights, against the war in Iraq, and many more. 10 Aunt Molly American “Miner's wife, mother, widow, midwife, http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA05/luc Jackson union organizer, political activist, and key/amj/kentucky.htm (1880-1960) ballad singer” who was briefly famous for her folk songs recounting the hard lives and injustices faced by Miners, farmers, union workers, and their families. 11 Bartolome de las Spanish 16th century Spanish priest and colonist in http://www.lascasas.org/manissues.ht Casas Latin America who ended up chronicling m#BdelasCasas:Brief Outline of His (1484-1566) the atrocities committed by the Spanish Life and Labor against the Indigenous peoples. He was one of the first human rights activists. 12 Polish, Jewish Famous musician and composer who, with http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhi Władysław his family, was forced to live in the bit/focus/pianist/ Szpilman Warsaw Ghetto. His family was sent to a (1911-2000) concentration camp but he was left behind. He managed to survive outside the ‘ghetto’, overcoming violence and hunger. After the war, he continued to be a musician 13 Kathe Kollwitz German Artist whose work captured the plight of http://www.nmwa.org/collection/prof (1867-1945) poor mothers and children, and the human ile.asp?LinkID=511 cost of poverty and war. She was considered subversive by Kaiser Wilhelm and her work was banned by Hitler. 14 Marlon Brando American One of the most famous actors of all time, http://www.google.com/search?sourc (1924-2004) known for his performances in The Wild eid=chrome&ie=UTF- One, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The 8&q=Marlon+Brando Godfather. He was equally controversial for his support of the Civil Rights http://www.contactmusic.com/news- Movement, Native American rights, and article/native-americans-pay-tribute- Israel. to-marlon-brando 15 Helen Keller American Author and activist, Helen Keller was well http://www.biography.com/articles/K (1880-1960) known for working with teacher Annie eller-Helen-9361967 Sullivan to learn to communicate although being deaf and blind. Not as well known is her advocacy of socialism, pacificism, worker’s rights, and women’s rights. 16 Howard Zinn American, Jewish Historian, playwright, activist who wrote http://www.howardzinn.org/zinn/bio (1922-2010) the bottom-up “A People’s History of the United States.” During World War II, he http://www.boston.com/ae/books/arti was a flew bomber missions—an cles/2010/01/31/alice_walker_says_g experience that turned him against war. oodbye_to_her_friend_howard_zinn/ He studied history and became a professor, as well as an outspoken supporter of Civil Rights, labor rights, and against war. 17 Mark Twain American Great American writer and humorist, best http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twai (1835-1910) known for his work, The Adventures of n/about/bio.htm Huckleberry Finn. He wrote extensively against imperialism and colonialism, slavery, and questioned organized religion. He also championed women’s suffrage and labor unions. 18 Kurt Vonnegut American Author well-known for his humanist http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/abou (1922-2007) writing that explored the impact of t/ technology, war, media, and inequality. 19 Dalton Trumbo American Screenwriter and author who was http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanma (1906-1976) blacklisted during the 1950s for his sters/episodes/dalton-trumbo/about- membership in the American Communist dalton-trumbo/1166/ Party, his anti-war messages. He was an unfriendly witness who was subsequently blacklisted and jailed. He continued to write screenplays, without credit. 20 Salvadore Allende Chilean The first democratically elected Marxist http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk (1908-1973) president in Latin American history, he /COLDallende.htm was President of Chile from 1970-1973. He redistributed wealth and land to address some of the economic inequity in Chile. When he nationalized some of the industries and banks, the U.S. supported a military coup that eventually led to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. 21 Ruby Dee African American Actress, Writer, and activist. She began http://www.ossieandruby.com/ (1924—present) her award-winning acting career in the 1950s in theatre and jumped into film to http://www.notablebiographies.com/ play Jackie Robinson’s wife.
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