VOC Launches New Curriculum on Communism

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is excited to announce the launch of our new digital curriculum, Communism: A History of Repression, Violence, and Victims. VOC is proud to offer a reimagined approach for rising generations of teachers and students to study the violent past and enduring legacy of communism.

Building on the impact of VOC’s 3rd Edition of the curriculum, this new curriculum provides 10 sections and 33 chapters of material. Each chapter contains its own set of classroom activities, and adds brand-new, digitally focused supplementary resources for students to read, watch, and listen, as well as fully sourced and peer-reviewed essays by leading experts. “The content of the curriculum covers a myriad of topics from Communism 101 and the basic theory and ideology to the nations that are still suffering under the yoke of communism today,” said Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, VOC’s Vice Chairman and Editor of the curriculum.

Launching with Section 1, Introduction to Communism, the first module explores what communism is, how is it implemented and maintained, and how it represses or eliminates religion. Each chapter presents students with short stories, essays, and a wealth of supplementary materials including videos, suggested books, and podcasts, as well as classroom and take-home exercises. “We designed the curriculum for upper middle school through high school, with the 10th-grade level as our target, and the material is accessible at the educator’s discretion for other grades and age groups,” said Ken Pope, VOC’s CEO.

The curriculum builds on VOC’s mission to expose the truth behind the brutal ideology, history, and legacy of communism. “For almost 30 years, VOC has been educating all ages about the horrors of communism. The foundation has trained over 650 middle and high school educators to effectively communicate this complicated history to students,” said Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, VOC’s President. “Every year we also connect schools and other organizations with victims and survivors of communist regimes through our annual National Educators Seminar and host visits to our new museum to educate these groups and the public by sharing their powerful stories.”

For press inquiries, please contact Michal Harmata, VOC’s Director of Communications, at michal.harmata@victimsofcommunism.org or (202) 629-9500.