Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies

Appalachian State University New Voices Spring 2005

Newsletter # 1

With this first newsletter, we want to introduce Appalachian's Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies; outline our future direction and plans; and report on activities sponsored by the Office. We invite your participation, support, and suggestions as we embark on this important new venture.

I. Mission Statement

Appalachian State University's Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies was founded in 2002 to develop new educational opportunities for students, teachers, and the community. Located administratively within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office seeks to strengthen tolerance, understanding, and remembrance by increasing the knowledge of Jewish culture and history, teaching the history and meaning of the Holocaust, and utilizing these experiences to explore peaceful avenues for human improvement.

Specific objectives include:
1. Develop and present programs related to the Offices public and academic mission.
2. Continue to sponsor the annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Holocaust Symposium for public school teachers, Appalachian students and faculty, and the community.
3. Organize public lectures, enrichment seminars, weekend workshops, campus exhibits, and special events for academic and community audiences.
4. Sponsor outreach presentations and teacher development workshops for public school teachers and the community.
5. Support undergraduate curricular offerings in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies both on an off campus.
6. Develop an undergraduate concentration or minor in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.
7. Support study broad opportunities.
8. Develop a visiting scholars program that regularly brings both international and American scholars to campus.
9. Encourage cross campus, interdisciplinary cooperation and faculty development.
10. Facilitate and support student and faculty research and publication on Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.
11. Develop a Teaching Resource Center that collects, develops, and markets new educational materials to teachers, libraries, and educational organizations.
12. Create a Website that publicizes Office activities, programs, and teaching resources.
13. Create a library acquisitions program in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.
14. Establish a fundraising, grant writing, and endowment program that ensures the Office's continued operation and development into a Center.

II. Organizational Structure

The Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies is located administratively within the College of Arts and Sciences. Its programs serve the entire University community and service area. All activities are coordinated by two Co-Directors (Dr. Zohara Boyd, Dr. Rennie Brantz) who report to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Co-Directors develop, implement, and evaluate all Office programs, supervise Office staff, convene advisory committee meetings, prepare grant applications, complete University reports, prepare newsletters, and issue public information announcements. The Co-Directors are appointed by and report to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Two Advisory Committees support Center activity.

Faculty Advisory Committee
A nine-member Campus Advisory Committee representing each college, administrators, and students assists the Co-Directors in developing and reviewing Office policies and programs. Members serve staggered three-year terms and may be reappointed upon recommendation of the Co-Directors and approval of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. The Campus Advisory Committee meets at least one time each semester. The Offices Co-Directors convene committee meetings and serve as non-voting members.

Community Advisory Committee
A Community Advisory Committee made up of twelve interested individuals recommended by the Co-Directors and approved by the Dean of Arts and Sciences assists the Offices Co-Directors with program development and fundraising. This committee also serves as the Steering Committee for the private fundraising organization entitled Friends of the Office for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies. Members serve three-year terms and may be reappointed upon recommendation of the Co-Directors and approval of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. This committee meets least twice a year. The Offices Co-Directors convene committee meetings and serve as non-voting members.

III. Funding

Over the past two years, Office programs have been funded primarily by private donations. For the continuing support of the Friends of the Office and other individuals we are deeply grateful. The College of Arts and Sciences is providing between $17,000 and $20,000 in annual support, including released time for Drs. Boyd and Brantz. The Reich College of Education has also supported the annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium on Remembering the Holocaust for the past two years. The North Carolina Governors Council on the Holocaust has contributed between $500 and $2,500 each of the last three years to support the Summer Symposium.

Program development and expansion will continue as new gifts and grants become available. The Community Advisory Committee will be consulted about new programs and the development of a permanent endowment of $1,000,000. It will also be asked to recommend ways to recognize generous donors to the program.

IV. Activity Report for 2004-2005

The following is a summary of activities sponsored this academic year.

1. Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium "Remembering the Holocaust," June 27-July 2, 2004. Twenty-seven teachers from North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida participated.

2. Musical Presentation: "Let's Sing! Let's Dance! Let's Make a Joyful Noise!" This fundraising event was a joint effort of Lees-McRae College and Appalachian State University and was organized by the Friends of the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies, took place on September 8, 2004 in the Rosen Concert Hall. About 250 persons attended.

3. Faculty Advisory Committee A dozen interested faculty members met on September 14, in the Hubbard Center to discuss the future of the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies. Participants are being invited to serve as members of a Faculty Advisory Committee for the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies. Among those attending were former Chancellors John Thomas and Frank Borkowski and faculty members from every college at Appalachian.

4. Community Advisory Committee Leaders of the Friends of the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies met on September 30, 2004 to evaluate the summer symposium and plan for the future. Those present agreed to serve as a Community Advisory Committee for the Office and Steering Committee for the Friends of the Office.

5. Public Lecture Dr. Severin Hochberg, Director of the Center for Advanced Study at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, presented a lecture on "America and the Holocaust" to GH 2515 (honors Holocaust class), and a public presentation entitled "The Holocaust and Anti-Semitism Today" to an audience of approximately 115 students and community members on Oct. 19, 2004 in 106 Whitener Hall.

6. The N.C. Governor's Council on the Holocaust held its quarterly meeting at
the Broyhill Inn on Nov. 12. This is the first time the Council has
ventured this far west in NC. Drs. Boyd and Brantz are both members of the Council.

7. Lecture by Dr. Susan Cernyk-Spatz on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004. Dr. Spatz, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, spoke to about 110 students and members of the University community at 7:30 p.m. in 103 Whitener Hall.

8. Public School Outreach Drs. Zohara Boyd, Peter Petschauer, and Rennie Brantz have presented a number of public forums on the Holocaust to middle and high school groups, and to church Sunday school classes fall semester. This continues a program begun two years ago by Drs. Boyd and Petschauer.

9. Nazi Holocaust Film Series The seventh fall semester film series on the Nazi Holocaust presented nine films on Sunday afternoons in the Greenbriar Theater of the Student Union. Each film was introduced by either Dr. Brantz or Dr. Boyd who answered questions after the showings. The series complements the Honors Holocaust class team taught by Drs. Boyd and Brantz.

10. Nazi Holocaust Honors Course Drs. Boyd and Brantz offered their honors Holocaust class (GH 2515) for the seventh year. The course enrolls approximately 25 outstanding students each fall semester, and is a cornerstone of the Office's academic programs. The Director of Honors at Appalachian has asked Brantz and Boyd to offer two sections of this honors course fall semester 2005.

11. Drs. Boyd and Brantz Activities Dr. Boyd presented a paper at the Modern Language Association meeting in Roanoke, Virginia on the film "Triumph of the Spirit," a film about a Greek boxer in Auschwitz on November 14. Dr. Brantz attended a national conference on the Holocaust entitled "Lessons and Legacies" at Brown University, Providence, R.I., Nov. 4-7, 2004

Spring Semester, 2005

12. Two New Classes Spring Semester The Office is supporting two new classes spring semester. The first is History 3530, "A History of War and Peace," taught by Amy Hudnall (repeat of a pilot course offered last summer). The second is being taught in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies by Mary Babcock from the Art Dept. and is entitled "Art and Conflict Resolution."

13. Dr. Brantz participated in a US Holocaust Memorial Museum faculty development seminar Jan. 4-11, 2005 in Washington DC. The twenty faculty participants from across the country examined the Holocaust in France.

14. Outreach Programs Drs. Boyd, Brantz, and Petschauer have been invited thus far to make presentations at three middle and high schools spring semester.

15. Special Film Presentation: No. 17 (Haharug ha-17) Award winning Israeli Filmographer Elinor Kowarsky and Playwright Savyon Liebrecht will show and discuss a documentary film about the one unidentified Israeli victim of a bus bombing in June 2002. The film takes the form of a detective investigation, but also pursues the stories of several people who were affected directly or indirectly by this bombing, creating a portrait of a society living in the shadow of death.

16. Holocaust Survivor Speaks. Susan Cernyk-Spatz, a survivor of the Auschwitz Death Camp, will return to Appalachian on April 13, 2005, to tell her story to students and the Appalachian Community. Spatzs presentation will be in the Table Rock Room of the Student Union at 7:30 p.m.

17. Summer Study Abroad Program Dr. Brantz will take Appalachian students to France, Germany, and Austria to study the Holocaust for the seventh year. The trip takes place from May 21 to June 14, 2005, and has enrolled 14 students.

18. Course on Modern Genocides Amy Hudnall, an adjunct instructor in the History Department, will pilot a new course on Modern Genocides during the first summer school session.

19. Fourth Annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium "Remembering the Holocaust" for teachers and the community, June 26-July 1, 2005. We have already received thirty teacher registrations. Three teachers from Eastern Europe will participate this year thanks to the Association of Holocaust Organizations.

V. Contact Information

There are a number of ways to keep in touch with the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies. We welcome your questions, suggestions, and ideas.
1. Website: (Holocaust.appstate.edu) Our website is expanding. We have added a current events page, program descriptions, a page outlining the purpose and agenda for the Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium Remembering the Holocaust, and a page with links to other resources. We hope to begin adding resources developed by our staff and Summer Symposium participants this summer.
2. Email: You can always reach us by email: Holocaust@appstate.edu
3. Phone: 828-262-2311 We have an answering machine to receive your calls if we are not in the office. Calls will be answered as quickly as possible.
4. Mailing address: Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies, P.O 32146. 155 Whitener Hall, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608.


Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies
Appalachian State University

Categories of Giving


We hope you will consider supporting this program. You can become a member of the Friends of the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies by filling out this form and sending it, along with your tax deductible donation to:

Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies
P.O. Box 32146
Room 255, Whitener Hall
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608

(Please Circle one Category)

Student $18
Family/Individual $54-99
Friend $100-499
Sponsor $500-999
Benefactor $1000-4,999
Patron $5000 and up


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