This workshop presents selected primary sources from the
Rockefeller Foundation holdings at the Rockefeller Archive
Center. This collection is intended for use in facilitating a
classroom exercise on the Rockefeller Foundation’s
1933-1945 refugee scholar program. The exercise asks
students to consider what foundations can do in times
of global crisis by placing them in the role of Rockefeller
Foundation (RF) program officers during World War II. As
were the real program officers, students will be tasked with
selecting a limited number of scholar applicants for aid in a
life-threatening situation. Working in groups, students will
read documents related to ten scholars who represent
a variety of nationalities, backgrounds, and scholarly
disciplines. Students will then select four candidates, and
must be prepared to articulate the reasoning behind their
decisions. This exercise enables students to imagine and
grapple with the difficult choices RF officials had to make in
one historical example of how foundation philanthropy has
responded to humanitarian crisis. Students are encouraged
to use this exercise as a springboard for further research
into current scholar rescue initiatives, and/or policies
and practices pertaining to refugees today.
- Subject:
- Arts and Humanities
- Education
- Higher Education
- History
- Political Science
- Social Science
- U.S. History
- World Cultures
- World History
- Material Type:
- Activity/Lab
- Case Study
- Lesson
- Primary Source
- Reading
- Date Added:
- 09/16/2019