Daniel Osborn

Cognoscenti contributor

Daniel Osborn, Ed.D., is a history educator, education researcher, and nonprofit professional dedicated to multicultural and global visions of education. He is the author of "Representing the Middle East and Africa in Social Studies Education: Teacher Discourse and Otherness" and the forthcoming "Levantine Vignettes: An Educator's Account of Border Crossing in the Middle East;" the founder of Project Mosaics, an education nonprofit focused on the diversity and global nature of Jewish identity and culture; the creator and host of "Joy and Conversation," a podcast about Jewish history and culture.

Recently published

A family takes part in a Passover Seder meal. (Getty Images)

There is no unifying story for Passover this year

The cohesion that Passover has provided Jews for millennia is currently strained in ways I cannot remember and cannot fathom, writes Daniel Osborn. We are telling different stories and speaking...

Cognoscenti

Apr 22, 2024

The author and his son in early 2023. (Courtesy Daniel Osborn)

I believe we can 'heal this world, together' — that is what I'll teach my son

Daniel Osborn was raised in an interfaith home, and when he became a father, he wanted to instill in his son an affinity for cultural exchange. He built reminders of...

Cognoscenti

Apr 1, 2024

Students ask questions in the CORE History and English class of teacher Jessica Valera at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy: Dr. Michelle King School for STEM students in Los Angeles on the first day of in-class instruction on August 16. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

How My High School History Classes Failed Me

James Loewen, who died recently, helped me understand that history teachers and textbooks can etch myths that stoke patriotism into the minds of students, writes Daniel Osborn.

Cognoscenti

Sep 14, 2021

A photo taken by the author while playing soccer in a village outside of Bethlehem in the West Bank. (Courtesy)

I’m An American Jew. Let Me Tell You Stories Of Palestine

I am fixated on the intimate moments I’ve shared because I refuse to erase the humanity of those caught in this most recent episode of inhumanity, writes Daniel Osborn.

Cognoscenti

May 20, 2021

A view of the Matterhorn over a meal. (Courtesy of Daniel Osborn)

An Educator Confronts 'Casual Bigotry' — Abroad And At Home

These stereotypes are part of the social ether, circulating in public and private, abroad and at home. They surround students inside and out of school — and they can define...

Local Coverage

May 23, 2017

African migrants hold matzo, unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, as they protest outside the Holot detention center, southern Israel, in April 2014. (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

At Passover, Reckoning With The Refugees Of Our Time

To tell the story of Passover divorced from the refugee crisis today is to the profound detriment of the tens of millions of people who have been uprooted by conflict,...

Cognoscenti

Apr 11, 2017