Organized for Genocide: Student Reactions and Learning From Use of Emotive Documentaries on the Holocaust

This article reports the qualitative analysis of the use of highly emotive documentaries of the Holocaust in a graduate-level organizational theory class. Specifically, the article looks at student reactions and impacts on learning. Student-produced work captured a broad range of reactions that led to increased insights about organizations (the macro level) and behavior within them (the micro level). Students exhibited strong internal drives to apply knowledge gained in their work to their own organizations. Student engagement increased markedly. Reports of data include numerous vivid accounts of their experiences written by the students themselves. Reflections on the scaffolding used to support this emotionally based learning are included to support readers who choose to apply the findings in their own teaching practices.