ERIC Number: ED420076
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1998-Apr
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
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Ethics, Dialogue, and Denial: Responding to Anti-Semitic Discourse on the Web.
Borrowman, Shane
Holocaust denial, like hate speech in general, is reaching far larger audiences on the World Wide Web that it was ever able to do in the past. The Internet is the most free press imaginable, and Holocaust deniers can publish their works as widely as they like and construct their message in any way they choose--they have great latitude when constructing their ethos, both academic ethos and "techno-ethos." When academic ethos is at work, a reader is convinced that the writer is a rational, reasonable, intelligent individual who is engaging in an honest dialogue with his or her audience. This is important for Holocaust deniers such as the Institute for Historical Review. Their mission statement displays a "scholarly," academic ethos which an instructor can use for discussions of Holocaust denial and of academic ethos in the classroom. The Committee for the Open Discussion of the Holocaust Story (CODOH), however, epitomizes techno-ethos and maintains a Web site filled with color, both easy-to-read and visually appealing. CODOH relies on the public's blanket acceptance of well packaged information on the Web to lend credibility to its view of the "Holocaust Story." Discussing Holocaust denial in the classroom may not be something that all teachers are comfortable with, but the Internet must be discussed. Composition teachers will spend endless energy teaching students to read critically; students also need to be taught how to "surf" critically. (Contains seven references.) (NKA)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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