Course Outline

This Blended Intensive Programme offers a multidisciplinary exploration of Anne Frank’s legacy through literature, history, philosophy, and the performing arts. Anchored in a critical reflection on memory, identity, and freedom, the programme invites students to engage with excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank. In a collaborative writing workshop the participants will produce personal texts and creative responses through writing and performance.

Drawing on intercultural, linguistic, and artistic perspectives, the BIP culminates in a public theatrical performance where the participants’ creative productions will be read on stage as a counterpoint to Anne Frank’s diary. A video retracing the life of Anne Frank and its contemporary resonances will be projected during the representation which will take place in the historical theater of the “Grand Chateau”, the seat of the presidency of the University Côte d’Azur. Participants also co-develop a communication campaign and contribute to the audiovisual recording of the play. The participating staff will observe, follow and accompany the project to acquire competences in theater pedagogy.

Course Content

The BIP aims to deepen students’ understanding of the Holocaust and its transmission through the lens of Anne Frank’s testimony. The virtual component (Feb–April) combines lectures, collaborative writing, and digital production. The physical mobility week (April 7–12, 2026) includes rehearsals, a staged performance, and workshops in creative writing, voice, and theater pedagogy. Students work on:

Thematic reflection on memory, freedom, exile, and adolescence;
Comparative analysis of Anne Frank’s writings and those of other authors such as Benjamin Fondane;
Creative writing workshops with multilingual production (French, German, English);
A public performance integrating texts by Anne Frank and original student texts;
A communication campaign (poster design, flyers, digital media);
Audiovisual documentation of the theatrical event.

This project is embedded in partnerships between university students and high school pupils (Abibac programme), promoting vertical collaboration and peer learning.

Academic and non-academic staff from Haaga Helia and other Ulysseus Partners are participating in the project, provide an outside perspective, engage in the reflection process, in order to develop educational projects to be transferred to their language classes.

Learning Outcomes

Following this course, students will be able to:

Analyse Anne Frank’s diary in its historical, philosophical, and literary dimensions;
Reflect critically on the processes of exclusion, persecution, and the mechanisms of genocide;
Understand the past as a construct based on traces, archives, and testimonies;
Gain insight in the transmission of the Holocaust and the work of memory,
Produce original multilingual texts inspired by Anne Frank’s writing;
Collaborate in the design and performance of a creative, multilingual theatrical piece;
Develop transversal skills: intercultural communication, teamwork, creative expression;
Contribute to a public dissemination campaign using audiovisual and digital tools.

During and following this course, staff will be able to:

Observe an entire theatre pedagogy project with all pedagogical tasks and activities;
Learn about social, historical and language competences a transnational memorial theatre project calls for;
Transfer techniques of artistic pedagogy (theater, voice, staging) into language or humanities teaching (for future educators and academic staff).

Requirements

Study level: Bachelor or Master (Humanities, Languages, Arts, Education)
Language level: Minimum B1 in German and/or French, and English
Interest in memory studies, intercultural communication, and artistic creation

Agenda

Day 1 (Tuesday 7th April)

Afternoon only:

Welcome of participants
Presentation of the physical mobility programme (organization, logistic, goals).
Roundtable: presentation of participating partners- participants present the online work and outcomes of the virtual component (script of the play, communication campaign

Day 2 (Wednesday 8th April)

Morning:

Lecture on memory and testimony;
Ice-breaker –team workshops, theatre preps, warm ups, voice exercices, “Let’s move, lets hear our voices”

Afternoon:

Rehearsal of the play (I)
General feedback, individual feedback, exchange, distribution of organizational roles (flyers, entry, filming, reception)

Day 3 (Thursday 9th April)

Morning:

Theater workshop (expression voice, interaction)
Guided reflection: transmission of lost voices, lost lifes, of memory, vocal coaching

Afternoon:

rehearsal of the play (II)

Day 4 (Friday 10th April)

Morning:

Stage work and technical setup

Afternoon:

Theater Premiere/ final rehearsal
Public representation
Reception

Day 5 (Saturday 11th April)

Morning:

Reflection and feedback on the theater representation
Intercultural seminar and creative debrief for students and staff

Afternoon:

Presentation of the video
Workshop on digital tools for Portfolio

Day 6 (Sunday 12th April)

Morning:

Cultural visit and memory walk in Nice
General feedback and exchange about the week
Presentation of guidelines on participants evaluation
Closing

Afternoon:

Departure time

Virtual Component

The virtual component will take place from February 1 to March 29, and from April 13 to 18.

Organisation:

Platform: Moodle/Teams
Format: Hybrid lectures, asynchronous forums, peer feedback
Activities before the physical mobility:

Webinar 1
General Introduction, Information, Organizational Procedures, Ice-Breaker, Presentation of the project: Seminar on “Memory, History, and Testimony in Holocaust Education”
Webinar 2
Seminar on “Writing as Resistance: Anne Frank, Theodore Fondane and Beyond”
Webinar 3
Workshop on “Collaborative Writing across Languages – Anne Frank et moi – echos of a lost voice
Webinar 4
Project Work on “Communication strategy and visual identity for cultural events”
Webinar 5
“Student Evaluation, Feedback (questionnaire, focus group interviews), sustainable project word – portfolio” (after the physical mobility). Staff feedback