The Morris and Judy Sarna Breaking Bias and Creating Community Program is housed within the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. In partnership with local secondary schools, the educational program uses cutting-edge technology to reduce racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bias through helping students to understand other people’s perspectives, to strengthen their community, and to explore connections between past events and today’s society.

In the era of social media, antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and racism are no longer hidden in the margins, spewed by fringe hate groups. Antisemitic incidents and hate crimes in the U.S. have reached an all-time high. In addition, our society is experiencing an epidemic of extremism that encourages intolerance and polarization. By promoting the understanding of others’ perspectives and studying past examples of antisemitism and racism – and the connections to events today, the program seeks to counter societal fragmentation and build better communities within schools and beyond.

Led by Dr. Alan Marcus and supported by Judy Sarna and her late husband Morris the program is designed to meet state-mandated Holocaust education requirements and draws on the Connecticut State Social Studies Standards. The program will collaborate with multiple school districts in Connecticut over the next several years reaching thousands of secondary students and hundreds of teachers and administrators as well as enhance the education of pre-service teachers at UConn.

This project is inspired by a program created by the non-profit Common Circles in White Plains, New York, but is not affiliated with Common Circles. Common Circles works to "make a difference in our world by creating research-based interactive experiences that combine techniques from psychology with cutting-edge technology, the arts, and story-telling."