Episode 60: Bill Fernekes, Part One

William R. “Bill” Fernekes taught social studies and Spanish from 1974-1987 at Hunterdon Central Regional HS in Flemington NJ, later serving as supervisor of social studies from 1987 to his retirement in 2010. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, and numerous other scholarly institutions.  He is a recipient of the Mel Miller Award from the National Social Studies Supervisors Association as the outstanding social studies supervisor in the U.S., the Distinguished Service Award from the Rutgers Graduate School of Education Alumni Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Human Rights Education from HRE USA. 

In Part One, Bill Fernekes shares his journey into human rights education, beginning with his early exposure to Holocaust education and activism through organizations like Amnesty International and Facing History and Ourselves. He reflects on how these experiences shaped his teaching practice and views on the need for early, comprehensive human rights education, especially as a more inclusive alternative to traditional U.S. civics frameworks. As a founding member of Human Rights Educators USA, Bill discusses the organization’s growth and potential areas for expansion. He highlights the power of storytelling and testimony in Holocaust education, the challenges of teaching sensitive topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the growing threats to democracy and human rights in schools. He also addresses the gap between human rights education and policy, citing Bernie Sanders as an example of rights-based political discourse. The episode closes with a preview of Part Two.

Topics Discussed:

• Early influences: Holocaust education, Amnesty International, and teaching integration
  
  
• Education & human rights: Need for early, holistic, and inclusive human rights education
  
  
• HRE USA: Founding, achievements, and growth opportunities
  
  
• Teaching challenges: Using testimony, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and community resistance
  
  
• Policy & advocacy: Bridging education with rights-based policymaking
  
  
• Preview of Part Two and closing acknowledgements

Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE.

Listen on our HREUSA podcast website HERE. 

Introduction and Closing Music Credit: “Awakening-Spring” by Ketsa, from the Album Night Vision. Available at the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/night-vision/awakening-spring/

This music is used in accordance with this Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Information about that license is available here https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Human Rights Education Now! is produced and distributed in accordance with Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. Information about this license is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/