Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights

Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights

GRATZ COLLEGE Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights

“Once you bring life into the world, you must protect it.

We must protect it by changing the world.” – ELIE WIESEL THE CENTER FOR

Holocaust Studies and Human Rights

President’s Messag

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The Center for Holocaust and Human Rights represents Gratz College's most profound contribution to Jewish wisdom. The goals of the Center match the multiple ways according to Pew Research Center, that Jews in the United States and elsewhere make meaning of their faith and community: remembering the Holocaust; leading ethical lives, working for justice; and making meaning of their intellectual curiosities. The Center’s myriad programs accomplish this and creatively broaden these core goals beyond the Jewish context and the Jewish community. The Center is home to the world's most robust graduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Its reach, as a fully online program, is peerless. Its MA and PhD students are field leaders, situated in museums, Jewish schools, government agencies and public schools in states with mandatory Holocaust education. These students are part of a vision that includes the biannual Arnold and Esther Tuzman Memorial Teach-In and other public events that anchor research in shared learning and experiences. All this complements the Center’s Human Rights and Interfaith programs. The Center will also be the cornerstone for new initiatives to educate on the complexities of American Antisemitism.”The Center’s offerings are taught by leading figures who place Jewish history and Jewish wisdom in conversation with the lessons of other sensitive and sometimes severe touchpoints of human history. Gratz’s Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights, then, is one of our community’s greatest investments of applied Jewish wisdom for the twenty-first century. And its reach and impact goes even further than that. — DR. ZEV ELEFF, President

Message from the Director

In the world today, the need is especially great for teachers, leaders, and scholars who are prepared with the knowledge and skill to confront the universal human problems of hatred, bigotry, religious intol- erance, inequality, and violence. The Center address- es these problems through its graduate programs

and community programs. The Center brings together faculty and students across Gratz’s doctoral, master’s, and graduate certificate programs in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Interfaith Leadership, and Human Rights. Through its interdisciplinary courses and public programs, the Center promotes learning and critical discourse from a variety of perspectives across three Gratz courses of study. — DR. RUTH SANDBERG, Director

The Center brings together faculty and students across Gratz’s doctoral, master’s, and graduate certificate programs in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Interfaith Leadership, and Human Rights.

HOLOCAUST + GENOCIDE STUDIES

INTERFAITH LEADERSHIP

HUMAN RIGHTS

Distinguished Faculty

Gratz College has an outstanding faculty with expertise in the history of the Holocaust and Holocaust education, as well as a group of instructors specifically chosen for their research on the other modern genocides. Our professors hail from many parts of the world and have published extensively in their fields.

“…To compare is not to equate. Rather, the goal is to analogize, draw parallels, build bridges, and practice empathy.” – DR. JEFF BENVENUTO Dr. Benvenuto teaches courses on Unveiling the Underpinnings of Genocide, The Native American Genocides, Genocide in the Modern World, and Genocide Prevention.

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Antisemitism and Human Rights

Gratz engages learners across the continuum— from graduate students, continuing adult education students, and our Gratz Academy program teens — in challenging content led by outstanding scholars.

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LEARNING WITH COMMUNITY Gratz President Zev Eleff began his teaching at Gratz College with an eight- part community education series on the history of Antisemitism. Students hailing from Toronto, Florida, Philadelphia, and Texas traveled in time with him to Blois, Barcelona, Kishinev, Berlin, and Paducah to investigate the nuances and changes in anti-Jewish violence over the ages.

LEARNING WITH TEENS Gratz Academy provides a variety of courses for teens, including one taught by Gratz alumna, Dr. Samantha Vinokur-Meinrath: “Antisemitism and the Modern Jewish Experience.” This course combines history, contemporary issues, and self-discovery, using antisemitism as a lens for exploring Jewish choices, questions of self esteem, and personal practices.

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In an NPR interview, Gratz President Zev Eleff discusses the need for more study on American Antisemitism and the role Gratz can play in producing a digital repository to advance scholarship and teaching on indig- inous Antisemitism, and how that work can deepen our understanding on all types of hate and violence. LISTEN NOW

LEARNING WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS As Gratz’s inaugural Isaacman Distinguished Visiting Professor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Honourable Irwin Cotler brings his experience combatting genocides around the world to Gratz’s students through seminars and lectures. Cotler is Founder and International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.

Dara Horn’s conversation with President Eleff about her new book, People Love Dead Jews, drew over 1,000 for an event co-sponsored with Drexel University as part of Gratz’s One Book/One Jewish Community program. LEARN MORE

In a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed, President Eleff calls for a deeper understanding of American anti-Semitism in the wake of the January 15 terrorist attack in Colleyville, TX. READ NOW

Read more about Gratz’s graduate- level courses on Antisemitism.

The Barbara and Fred Kort Holocaust Geniza Pro

> The Gratz Holocaust Oral History Archive is of Holocaust testimony in the United State Levin, the Archive documents a wide range Jewish life in pre-Nazi Europe. Holdings inc rescuers, liberators, and other eyewitnesse > The Eric Mandell Collection of Jewish Music Tuttleman Library since the early 1970s, is o materials on a global scale. A German cant Mandell was the last cantor of the Jewish c caust. After surviving the Sachsenhausen c transfer his collection to Holland. He event music at Gratz College. Gratz holds Mande treasured set of cultural artifacts of prewar > The Dr. Lena Allen Shore Collection offers a from a multi-disciplinary dimension. Dr. Sho ed from France to North America, where sh pher, composer, and Holocaust educator. Th and thousands of pages of her literary and will provide a powerful means by which to studies that motivated Dr. Shore to establis Advancement of Human Potential, in partn

THE HOLOCAUST GENIZA PROJECT is an archive digitization, research-based initiative of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights. It aims to preserve primary source materials and other Holocaust-related resources and artifacts—making them accessible to its students, the larger academic communi- ty, and the general public. These assets will be integrated into the curriculum across courses of study; will support graduate-level research; provide critical resources for elementary and secondary level teacher professional development; and support a range of other Center educational initiatives. The Geniza is currently comprised of three major archival assets: the Gratz Holocaust Oral History Archive, the Eric Mandell Collection of Jewish Music, and the Lena Allen Shore Collection.

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Student Coursework includes:

• The History of Antisemitism • Comparative Genocide • Post-Holocaust Theology • Hitler’s Other Victims • Teaching the Holocaust • Rescuers and Righteous Gentiles • Genocide in the Modern World • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights • Patriarchy and Women’s Rights • Ethical Perspectives on Human Rights • Antisemitism and Racism • The Theologies of the Abrahamic Faiths • Comparative Scriptures • Interfaith Social Justice • Successful Interfaith Dialogue

s one of the earliest and largest collections es. Established in 1979 by the late Nora e of experiences during the Nazi era and clude interviews with over 900 survivors, es. c, a special collection of the College’s one of the three major repositories of such tor and significant music collector, Eric community of Bochum before the Holo- concentration camp, Mandell was able to tually settled in Philadelphia and taught ell’s vast music collection, one of the most r European Jewish life. a unique window into Holocaust Studies ore survived the Holocaust and emigrat- he emerged as a writer, a poet, philoso- he collection boasts 350 unique letters d academic work. The Shore Collection o promote the vision for interdisciplinary sh the Dr. Lena Allen-Shore Center for the nership with Gratz College.

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Our Students Make an Impact

Heidi Omlor

Omlor played a advancing Holocaust Her class of high scho with state leaders to sp requiring Holocaust e signed bill, Omlor st Holocaust and genocide results, requiring all M these topics. M I are very More about o Education Works

Currently, 66% of Gratz Holocaust and Genocide Studies students are educators.

Students in our Holocaust and Genocide Studies program include middle school and high school teachers, librarians, military and college instructors, and museum educators. We also have students who wish to deepen their knowledge to speak in the community, such as descendants of survivors, clergy mem- bers, and others from a variety of professions. Students and alumni represent 37 states and the District of Columbia as well as 7 countries outside of the U.S.

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a crucial role in education in Maine. ool students worked ponsor new legislation education. About the tates, “This will add e history to the learning Maine teachers to cover My students and excited!” our Holocaust n Teacher shops

37 states / 7 countries

“I FEEL THAT I HAVE BEEN EMPOWERED TO ASSIST IN BRIDGING THE GAP IN OUR DIVIDED WORLD, AND ADVOCATING FOR EQUALITY, AWARENESS, AND DIVERSITY WITHIN JUDAISM. WHEN WE ADDRESS THESE THINGS HONESTLY, THIS WILL BRING US CLOSER TO TIKKUN OLAM (REPAIR THE WORLD).“

Student Profile: Elijah M. LaPrince, Sr.

Master of Arts Jewish Professional Studies 2020

Elijah graduated in 2020 with an M.A. in Jewish Professional Studies with an emphasis on Interfaith Relations. He is currently enrolled in the Gratz Graduate Certificate in Chaplaincy, a program designed in partnership between Gratz College and Hartford International University.

Faculty Profile: Douglas Irvin-Erickson, Ph.D.

Adjunct Faculty Human Rights, Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Dr. Irvin-Erickson teaches on The Cambodian Genocide and Genocide and the United States at Gratz. He also serves as Assistant Professor at the Jimmy and

Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, and director of the Raphaël Lemkin Genocide Prevention Program. He is the author of books, chapters, and articles on genocide, religion and violence, human security, international criminal law, and political theory. Irvin-Erickson is a Senior Fellow with the Alliance for Peacebuilding, a Board Member of the Institute for the Study of Genocide, and a member of the editorial board of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal. He has worked in DR Congo, Burundi, Cambodia, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Argentina among other places, and has consulted for several governments. He holds a Ph.D. in Global Affairs and an M.A. in English Literature from Rutgers University, in Newark, NJ, USA.

THE CENTER BY THE NUMBERS: 2021 Gratz College Student and Alumni Impact Survey

2/3 Two-thirds of students in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies program require tuition assistance and receive partial scholarship awards. To attract and retain exemplary students, Gratz must significantly grow its scholarship fund.

90% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they had an increased ability to apply Holocaust lessons to other genocides and human problems 71.4 21% 7.5%

9/10

21%

71%

9 out of 10 students surveyed reported an increased ability to contribute to the scholarly advancement of Holocaust and Genocide research. Read about Madeline Vadkerty.

92% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they had an increased ability to discuss and teach about the Holocaust and other genocides

Student Profile: Madeline Vadkerty Madeline Vadkerty is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College thanks to a generous scholarship from the Samuel P. Mandell Foundation. Originally from Washington, DC, Vadkerty currently resides in Bratislava, Slovakia where she conducts research about the Holocaust at the Slovak National Archive and regularly makes presentations about the Holocaust to students and the public.

Vadkerty’s most recent book, Your Honor Mr. President: Letters to Joseph Tiso focuses on letters about the “Jewish question.” She has most recently published articles in PRISM (Yeshiva University), OPREE (Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, George Fox University) and Judaica (Comenius University, Slovakia). Vadkerty’s professional experience includes work with Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the U.S. Department of State.

THE ARNOLD AND ESTHER TUZMAN Memorial Holocaust Teach-In

The biennial program engages teachers and students in a variety of fields and professional spaces in dialogue about the Holocaust. About three- quarters of attendees in the most recent program with illustrator and author Art Spiegelman confirmed that they have already modified their teaching or plan to change it based on the lessons learned at the 2021 Teach-In. The program is planned in full partnership with a multi-generational committee of Arnold and Esther Tuzman’s family. Beginning in 2010, these collaborative efforts have provoked continued thought and learning about the Holocaust and its attendant messages for humanity. Participants leave the Teach-In with powerful educational tools and inspiration to make meaning in their lives and the lives of their students.

Attendees by Field

n School/University n Online Teaching n Museum

n Non-Profit n Graduate Student n Self-Interest

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