“Teaching history and teaching students how to be historians is
interwoven.” Ken Slepyan wants his students to become
historians, not just experts on the most prominent names and
dates of history. He believes that will make them more self-
aware and better contributors to society. For Slepyan, becoming
a historian starts with empathy. “Good historians can put
themselves in other people’s shoes,” he says. But as a historian
of World War II, he knows how difficult that can be. “I have to
be able to see through the eyes of the Nazi leadership. I need
to be able to figure out how Stalin would see the war. That’s
not easy. "Seeing through multiple perspectives is important not
because one agrees or sympathizes with these positions but
because without it, it is very difficult to understand
historical protagonists and the reasons why they did what they
did. I emphasize to students that understanding is not the same
as justifying.” This ability to see multiple perspectives is a
skill that all students—and all citizens