Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies

"New Voices" Appalachian State University P.O. Box 32146,1011 Old Library Classroom Building Boone, NC 28608-2021 828-262-2311   holocaust@appstate.edu DOWNLOAD .DOC VERSION
Spring 2007	Newsletter # 4

Mission Statement:  The Center seeks to strengthen tolerance, understanding, and remembrance by increasing the knowledge of Jewish culture and religion, teaching the history and meaning of the Holocaust, and utilizing these experiences to explore peaceful avenues for stopping current genocides and preventing them in the future. To achieve these goals, the Center works to develop new educational opportunities for students, teachers, and the community.

I.  Objectives:  The Center has three major areas of activity:

1. Academic:

• Sponsorship of the “Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium” for public school teachers, Appalachian students and faculty, and the community.
• Support of undergraduate curricular offerings in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies both on and off campus.
• Development of an undergraduate concentration or minor in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace studies.
• Support and implementation of study abroad opportunities.
• Development of a visiting scholars program that regularly brings both international and American scholars to campus.

2. Research:

• Facilitation and support of student and faculty research and publication on Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.
• Development of a Teaching Resource Center that collects, develops, and markets new educational materials to teachers, libraries, and educational organizations.
• Creation of a library acquisitions program in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.

3. Community Service:

• Organization of public lectures, enrichment seminars, weekend workshops, campus exhibits, and special events for academic and community audiences.
• Sponsorship of outreach presentations and teacher development workshops for public school teachers, and the community.
• Film presentations for the university and the community.
• Encouragement of cross-campus, interdisciplinary cooperation and faculty development.
• Maintenance of Center website publicizing activities, programs, and teaching resources.

II. Organizational Structure:

On March 31, 2006, Appalachian State University’s Board of Trustees approved our request to elevate the Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies to a Center.  This important step brings new recognition, status, and additional resources.

The Center for 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 co-directors Dr. Zohara Boyd, Dr. Rennie Brantz, and Dr. Rosemary Horowitz, who report to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  The co-directors develop, implement, and evaluate all Center programs, supervise Center 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:

1. Faculty Advisory Committee:  A nine-member Campus Advisory Committee representing each college, administrators, and students, assists the co-directors in developing and reviewing Center 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 Center’s co-directors convene committee meetings and serve as non-voting members.
2. 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 Center’s co-directors with program development and fundraising.  This committee also serves as the Steering Committee for the private fundraising organization entitled Friends of the Center 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 twice a year.  The Center’s co-directors convene committee meetings and serve as non-voting members.

III. Funding:  Center Funding comes from several sources:

1. Private donations:  These have been our primary source of support. We are deeply grateful to the Friends of the Center, the Rosen family, Molle Grad, and other individuals whose generosity has made the creation of the Center possible.
2. Appalachian State University:  The College of Arts and Sciences has provided between $17,000 and $20,000 in annual support, including released time for Drs. Boyd, Brantz, and Horowitz, office space, equipment, Xeroxing, and other office expenses.  The Hubbard Center provided $1,500 for the purchase of site licenses for the 2006-2007 film series on Judaism, genocides, and peacemaking.
3. The North Carolina Governor’s Council on the Holocaust:  The Council has contributed $500 each year to support the annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium on “Remembering the Holocaust.”
4.  Grants: 
   • Grants from the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany provided $24,000 to support the 2006 Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium on “Remembering the Holocaust,” and will provide $24,000 for the 2007 Summer Symposium.
   • The Levine Family Foundation provided a grant of $5,000 in 2006.

IV. Activity Report for 2006-2007:

1. Academic:
• Fifth Annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium “Remembering the Holocaust.”  June 18-June 23, 2006:  For teachers and the community.  Thirty-eight participating teachers received Symposium Scholarships. An average of 55 persons attended each session during the week.  Most attendees came from North Carolina, but one also attended from Arizona, two from West Virginia, and two from Hungary.  The Symposium received partial funding ($24,000) from the Claims Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
• Class Offerings:  Drs. Rennie Brantz and Zohara Boyd co-taught one freshman honors class on Genocide throughout History and one upper division honors class in Holocaust Studies.  Dr. Alan Hauser taught a special topics class on Judaism in America in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. Ms. Amy Hudnall, adjunct instructor in the History Department, taught a class on Modern Genocide.
• Minor in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies:  Drs. Boyd, Brantz, Horowitz, and several other members of the Center’s Faculty Advisory Committee are working with Dr. Harriette Buchanan, member of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department to develop a minor in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.
• Summer Study Abroad Course on the Holocaust:  Dr. Brantz took thirteen Appalachian students to France, Germany, and Austria May   21-June 13, 2006 to study the Holocaust on site in Europe.  This was the eighth annual trip of the Summer Study Abroad Program, which is entirely self-supported through participant fees.
• Student Exchanges with Israel:  Dr. Brantz traveled to Israel March 9-17 to explore student exchange opportunities with four universities (Tel Aviv, Ben-Gurion, Haifa, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem).  This new opportunity grew out of Dr. Brantz’s membership on the University of North Carolina Committee (UNC Faculty Advisory Committee for Israel) charged with developing student exchanges with Israel.  The exchange program has been delayed by the wars in Gaza and Lebanon that took place this past summer, but steps toward its implementation will resume in the spring of 2007.
2. Research: 
• Yad Vashem Conference “Teaching the Holocaust to Future Generations:  Drs. Boyd and Brantz attended this international conference in Jerusalem June 26-29 and made a presentation on Appalachian’s program entitled “Teaching the Holocaust in the Rural South.”
• Dr. Rosemary Horowitz’s book Elie Wiesel and the Art of Storytelling appeared in November 2006.  Dr. Horowitz also made presentations at the National Conference of Teachers of English (“Revenge, Uplift, Action as Responses to Elie Wiesel’s Night,” in Nashville, Tn. (Nov. 17), and “Change and Continuity in the Piotrkow Trybunalski Ysker Books,” at the Association for Jewish Studies in San Diego (Dec. 18).  She also attended a Hess Faculty Seminar at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on “Teaching Holocaust Literature,” Jan. 3-9, 2007; and will be working on a book through the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on Sources and Studies on Ysker Books in the summer of 2007.                                                                                   
• Dr. Peter Petschauer’s book, Der Vater und die SS,  was published in October 2006 by Weger Verlag in Brixon, Italy
• Amy Hudnall, Adjunct Professor in the History Department and Coordinator of Peace Studies for the Center continues as Book Review editor for H-Genocide and was recently appointed co-editor of the Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies.  She made presentations at conferences in Costa Rica (Sept. 6-9, 2006), the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in Hollywood, CA (Nov. 11-13), and at Appalachian on Oct. 23, on cultural trauma.  She will be making a presentation on cultural trauma in July 2007 at the International Association of Genocide Scholars in Auschwitz, Poland.
• Center continues to donate books and video tapes on Judaism and the Holocaust to Belk Library.
3. Community Service:
• Speakers’ Bureau:  Drs. Zohara Boyd and Peter Petschauer gave presentations on the Holocaust to several public school, high school, and community college classes.  Dr. Boyd gave a presentation on Judaism to a student group at Lees McRae College.
• Statewide Activities:  Dr. Brantz and Boyd continued to serve on the North Carolina Governor’s Council on the Holocaust.
• Holocaust/Genocide Film Series:  Drs. Boyd and Brantz presented another series of commercial films fall semester on the Holocaust, genocides, and peacemaking each Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the Greenbriar Theater of the Appalachian Student Union.  Each of the eleven films was introduced by one of the presenters who answered questions after the showing.  All films were free and open to the public.
• Armenian Genocide:  On Thursday, October 12, Dr. Berge Markarian presented a personal account of his family’s experience during the Armenian Genocide of 1915-16.  The presentation to approximated 80 students and faculty concluded with a wonderful musical duet by Melanie and Berge Markarian that included traditional Armenian songs and selected numbers from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
• Cultural Trauma:  On Monday, October 23, the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace studies presented a two-hour workshop from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in Room 118 Belk Library on overcoming cultural trauma.  Led by Adjunct History Instructor Amy Hudnall, along with her sister Dr. Beth Hudnall Stamm, Director of Idaho State University’s Institute of Rural Health, and Dr. Hank Stamm, Adjunct Professor of History at Idaho State University, this activity demonstrated how communities can be rebuilt after traumatic events such as genocide or natural disaster.
• Faculty Advisory Committee:  A meeting of the Center’s Faculty Advisory Committee was held on Wednesday, November 1 at the Hubbard Center.  The purpose of the meeting was to receive interdisciplinary faculty input on Center programs and activities, select new members for the 12-person committee, and report to interested faculty on the mission and activities of the Center.

The Center also participated in several special events in conjunction with the Friends of the Center, the High Country Havurah, and the Appalachian State University community:  

• Chancellor’s Reception:  Appalachian State University’s Chancellor Kenneth Peacock hosted a reception for over 100 Friends of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies on Wednesday, July 26.  Chancellor Peacock thanked the Friends for their continuing support for this important program.  Kenneth Stern, President of the Governing Council of the American Jewish Committee, provided an overview of international issues.  The reception was followed by a showing of Kristallnacht art at the Turchin Center and a lecture on the works displayed by Hank Foreman, director of the Turchin Center.
• Paper Clip Trip: On August 14-15, thirty-nine members of the High Country Havurah and Dr. Brantz traveled to Whitwell, Tenn., to visit Whitwell Middle School where students have collected over 29 million paper clips in remembrance of those who perished in the Holocaust.  The trip, arranged by Jack and Ruth Lubin, turned out to be a very special experience for everyone involved.  The reception and presentation by project initiator and assistant principal David Smith demonstrated how teaching the Holocaust can make a profound difference in the lives of students, teachers, and an entire community.
• Special Event:  On Wednesday, September 6, over 100 Friends of the Center of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies enjoyed an elegant dinner at the Wildflower restaurant in Boone and an auction to benefit the Center organized by Marilyn Ramo.  The dinner was followed by a musical performance presented jointly by Appalachian State University’s School of Music and Lees McRae’s Performing Arts department.

Spring Semester 2007
Programs and Events Coordinated or Sponsored by the Center

• Judaism in America: Dr. Alan Hauser offered a special topics course in the Department of Philosophy and Religion on this topic. The Center provided funding to release Dr. Hauser from another class in order to teach this course.

• Judaism in America – Dr. Robert Cabelli: On February 15th, Dr. Cabelli presented a lecture on “Judaism in America” for Dr. Hauser’s course.  This event was co-sponsored by the Philosophy and Religion Department and the Center.

• Genocide and Peace Studies Film Series: Amy Hudnall, adjunct professor in the History Department, presented a series of six films on contemporary genocides. Each film was introduced by Ms. Hudnall who led a follow-up discussion after the film. The series was co-sponsored by the Center and the College of Arts and Sciences.

• After the American Empire…What? - Johan Galtung: On March 30th, Galtung, the founder of the Peace Studies discipline and world renowned conflict-resolution specialist, presented a lecture on what shall become of the world when America declines in power and status. This event was organized by Watauga College/IDS and was co-sponsored by the Center and the College of Arts and Sciences among other ASU organizations.

• The Listening Project - Herb Walters: On March 20th, Herb Walters, founder and director of Rural Southern Voice for Peace, presented a lecture and led a discussion about conflict resolution using the Listening Project approach. This approach opens communication and finds common ground to aid in personal growth and the betterment of interpersonal relations.

• The Chagall Biblical Windows – St. Stephen’s Church, Mainz, Germany- Vivian Jacobson: On April 12th, Ms. Jacobson, who worked with Marc Chagall on various international projects, presented a slide presentation showing each section of the St. Stephen’s Church stained-glass windows and gave a detailed analysis of how this artwork coincides with Chagall’s passion for the Bible.

• “Remembering the Holocaust” - Ralph Jacobson: On April 11th, Mr. Jacobson presented a lecture regarding his childhood in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, topics included Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938 and the murder of his father by the Nazis the same year.

• Speak Truth to Power – Photograph Exhibit: Ms. Brenda Boozer from Lees-McRae, helped bring this exhibit to the Carol Grotnes Belk Library on behalf of the mission of the Center during the month of April. The exhibit included photographs and biographies of human rights activists around the world.

• Speak Truth to Power - Helen Lewis: On April 24th, Ms. Lewis, a local human rights defender and activist, spoke about her life as an activist. This lecture was sponsored in conjunction with the photograph exhibit to provide acknowledgement of local activism.

• Sixth Annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium on “Remembering the Holocaust” will be held June 24-29, 2007.

In Memoriam:

The Center and all its friends grieve the passing of Ed Grad, who died on September 28, 2006.  His wisdom and gentle presence will be missed by all who knew him.  Our thoughts and hearts go out to Molle Grad, his wife and life’s companion. The Center offers condolences to Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, the facilitator and chief educator for the Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Symposium on the passing of her brother U.S. Magistrate Ted Klein, September 27, 2006.