December 15, 2003
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM’S CENTER FOR ADVANCED HOLOCAUST STUDIES HOSTS SEMINAR FOR EDUCATORS AT HISPANIC–SERVING HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Jack and Anita Hess Seminar Is Museum’s First For Educators from Hispanic–Serving Colleges and Universities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies (CAHS) is hosting the 2004 Jack and Anita Hess Faculty Seminar from January 5 – 9, 2004. Nineteen professors who teach Holocaust-related courses from colleges and universities serving Hispanic students will participate in an intensive five-day seminar examining the implementation of Holocaust education in Hispanic institutions. This is the Museum’s first seminar developed exclusively for educators from Hispanic-serving institutions.
The seminar will feature lectures and discussions on Holocaust history in conjunction with broader academic perspectives. These will include literature and music as transmitters of heritage; and social and political strategies adopted by individuals and communities in the midst of ethnic violence, victimization, and exile.
Sessions will focus on Holocaust history; contemporary genocide and crimes against humanity; Holocaust curriculum development; and more. Seminar leaders will be Dr. Wolf Gruner, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Webster University and Dr. Elaine Leeder, Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Sonoma State University. Gruner, Leeder, and Museum scholars and staff will all lead individual sessions.
“Reaching audiences who traditionally have had little exposure to Holocaust history is a primary goal of the Museum,” says Paul Shapiro, Director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies. “We hope participants will gain new insight about the significance and relevance of this history for Hispanic audiences, especially Hispanic college students.”
This seminar has been endowed by Edward and David Hess in memory of their parents, Jack and Anita Hess, who believed passionately in the power of education to overcome racial and religious prejudice.
The Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies promotes the development of the field of Holocaust studies through research, fellowship programs, publications, and conferences. The Center is also linked with institutions of higher education through activities that foster quality teaching about the Holocaust at American colleges and universities.
A public-private partnership, the Museum is a federal institution whose educational activities and outreach are made possible through private donations. More than 250,000 individuals, foundations, and corporations helped build the institution and currently support its programs and operations. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.
Media: Media interested in attending any of the sessions or interviewing any of the organizers or participants should contact Andy Hollinger at 202-488-6133 or ahollinger@ushmm.org.
