2026 Annual Seminar on Religion and the Holocaust

American Religious Response to the Holocaust

July 20 - 24, 2026

The 2026 Annual Faculty Seminar on Religion and the Holocaust will explore American religious responses to the Holocaust from a variety of faith traditions. To that end, the Seminar will discuss the American religious context from the 1920 to 1960s and examine individual and institutional religious responses of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews to antisemitism, the rise of Christian nationalism and Nazism, the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism, and the Holocaust. The seminar will also consider postwar reckoning and memorialization by American religious communities. The seminar will introduce strategies and resources (including the Museum's extensive collections and digital resources)  for teaching these topics in university levels, integrating historical, literary, and theological approaches. We will also address how the seminar themes relate to common pedagogical concerns, including AI and the Holocaust, teaching sensitive topics, and teaching with visual sources. Seminar participants will be introduced to the USHMM’s vast collection of teaching resources.  

Topics will include, but may not be limited to: 

• Antisemitism in American Society

• Judeo-Christianity in the Mid-Twentieth Century  

• Christian Nationalism and the Rise of Nazism 

• Christian and Jewish relief, aid, and immigration assistance 

• Transnational Religious Networks 

• Interfaith Relations from the 1920s to 1960s

• Postwar Responses and Memorialization 

• Religious Imagery in Wartime Propaganda 

Seminar Leaders

The seminar will be led by Dr. Rachel Gordan, Shorstein Professor of American Jewish Culture and Society at the University of Florida, and Dr. Charles R. Gallagher, S.J., Professor of History at Boston College. 

Dr. Rachel Gordan is the Shorstein Professor of American Jewish Culture and Society in the Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida and author of Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American.  Her research interests include Judaism and Jewish culture from the early twentieth century to the present. 

Dr. Charles R. Gallagher, S.J. is Professor of History at Boston College and author of Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten History of the Christian Front, 1939-1945 and Vatican Secret Diplomacy: Joseph P. Hurley and Pope Pius XII, which won the John Gilmary Shea Prize from the American Catholic Historical Association. His research interests include American Catholicism, papal diplomacy, international relations, the Holocaust, and intelligence history. 

Guest speakers will include: Dr. Maria Mazzenga, Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Sciences at The Catholic University of America, Dr. David Harrington Watt, the Douglas and Dorothy Steere Professor of Quaker Studies at Haverford College, and Dr. Daniel Greene, curator of Americans and the Holocaust and Adjunct Professor of History at Northwestern University. 

Seminar Format

The seminar will include five days on-site at the Museum: Monday, July 20 - Friday, July 24, 2026. A follow-up virtual session will be scheduled for Fall 2026. 

Participants can expect assigned reading for each day of the seminar, supplemented by audio-visual material, pedagogical tools, and focused discussions. A full agenda and reading list will be provided one month before the start of the seminar. 

Eligibility

The seminar is designed to help faculty, instructors, and advanced doctoral students who are currently teaching or preparing to teach courses in higher education settings that focus on or integrate curricula material related to the Holocaust and religion, history, literature, theology, and/or interreligious relations. Prior knowledge of the Holocaust is not required. Applications are welcome from instructors across disciplines, including but not limited to History; Anthropology; Theology and Religious Studies; Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Jewish Studies; Philosophy; Art; Political Science; and Gender Studies. Faculty based at institutions outside North America will also be considered if they meet the criteria above.

Application Details

Applications must include (1) a short curriculum vitae; (2) a 1-2 page statement of interest (no more than 750 words); and (3) a draft syllabus or course description on a topic that could potentially incorporate any of the topics that the seminar will address. 

In your statement of interest, please specifically address: 

• How the seminar would augment or impact the course(s) you anticipate teaching; 

• How the seminar would help to meet your institution’s needs and/or expand your institution’s curricular offerings; 

• How your perspective, experiences, and/or disciplinary approach will enhance the seminar discussions. 

Applications must be received in electronic form by March 20, 2026. 

For more information or inquiries, please contact Dr. Kathryn Julian, Program Officer: kjulian@ushmm.org

Travel and Lodging 

For non-local participants, the Mandel Center will cover the cost of (1) direct travel to and from the participant’s home institution and Washington, DC, and (2) lodging for the duration of the seminar. All participants will also be provided $250 to defray the cost of meals and incidentals. 

The Programs on Religion and the Holocaust are supported by Lilly Endowment Inc; the Hoffberger Family Foundation; and by Joseph A. and Janeal Cannon and Family.