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Center Programs, 2022-2023

“Survivors about Surviving the Holocaust in Ukraine”
With Dr. Svitlana Telukha

Thursday, September 22 / 1:00 – 2:30 pm / Online
With additional comments by Prof. Tanya Domi
Co-Sponsored by the Harriman Institute, Columbia University

More Information

“The Digitization of Genocide Memory: Consequences and Contestations”
With Dr. David J. Simon

Wednesday, September 28 / 12:00 – 1:00 pm / Online
Organized by the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College, CUNY
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Ramapo College

Registration and More Information

Film Screening and Discussion, Who Will Write our History? (2018)
With Director Roberta Grossman

Friday, October 7 / 10:00 – 11:35 am & 11:45 am – 12:30 pm / In Person with Online Option
In-Person Film Screening: 10:00 – 11:35 am (Room ASB-135; Additional Options Forthcoming)
Discussion with Director Grossman via WebEx: 11:45 am – 12:30 pm (Room ASB-135 or Online)

Part of our “Open Classroom” series—You will join the students in Dr. Labendz’s course on the Holocaust as they discuss the week’s theme and assignments (including watching the documentary) with Dr. Erbelding of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Please allow our students to speak and ask questions first.

Co-Sponsored by Hillel of Northern New Jersey

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“Mapping the Holocaust by Bullets”
With Ewa Schaller

Thursday, October 13 / 12:00 – 1:30 / Online
Organized by the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College, CUNY
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Ramapo College

Registration and More Information

“Where are the Nazis? Memory and Myth in Russia, Ukraine, and the USA”
With Dr. Ben Rifkin

Monday, October 24 / 4:00 pm / Friends Hall with Online Option

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Kristallnacht Commemoration Featuring Ramapo College Students

Wednesday, November 9 / 7:00 pm / Congregation Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah
In partnership with Congregation Beth Haverim Shir Shalom

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Film Discussion: The U.S. and the Holocaust, dir. Ken Burns
With Dr. Rebecca Erbelding

Tuesday, November 15 / 9:55 – 11:35 / Online
Part of our “Open Classroom” series—You will join the students in Dr. Labendz’s course on the Holocaust as they discuss the week’s theme and assignments (including watching the documentary) with Dr. Erbelding of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Please allow our students to speak and ask questions first.

More Information

Film Screening and Discussion: Mann vs. Ford (2011)
Panel moderated by Dr. Sarah Koenig (RCNJ)

Tuesday, November 15 / 4:00 – 7:00 PM / Friends Hall
Part of Ramapo’s events for Native American Heritage Month
Co-Sponsored by the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Compliance
Co-Sponsored by the American Studies Program

Panelists:

  • Vincent Mann, Turtle Clan Chief, Ramapough Munsee Lenape Nation
  • Dr. Chuck Stead, Environmental Educator and Former Adjunct Professor at Ramapo College
  • Dr. Michael Edelstein, Retired Professor of Environmental Psychology at Ramapo College

More Information

Student Trip to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC

Sunday, November 20th
Students in Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz’ course on the Holocaust visited the museum to learn more about Holocaust memory and commemoration in our region.

Panel Discussion on US and the Holocaust

Thursday, December 1 at 4:00 pm eastern time, via Zoom
An important conversation reflecting on the recent documentary, The US and the Holocaust, organized and Hosted by NJ-PBS in partnership with the Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest.

More information / Watch the Recording (via NJ-PBS)

“Blackness and Jewishness in the USA: Racism, Antisemitism and Community Building”

Wednesday, December 7 at 12:00
Ramapo students gathered in the Black Student Union for a discussion of vital challenges and opportunities, facilitated by Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz and Rachel Sawyer. Co-sponsored by the Black Student Union and the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Compliance.

“The Ongoing Legacy and Impact of the Holocaust in U.S. Foreign Policy”
Ellen Germain

Thursday, January 26 at 6:00 PM (Online)
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2023
Organized by Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College.

Co-Sponsored by the Holocaust Museum & Center For Tolerance and Education at Rockland Community College; the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey; the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education at Saint Elizabeth University; the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College; the Holocaust & Human Rights Center in White Plains; the Center for Social Justice and Human Understanding at Suffolk County Community College; the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the US Military Academy West Point; and the Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College.

More information / Register for free

“Civic Engagement, Fair Trade & Indigenous Gender Politics in Guatemala”
Caryn Maxim

Tuesday, January 31 at Ramapo College, Room G126
This inaugural lecture will cover the Guatemalan Genocide

Sponsored by Humanities and Global Studies, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Presidential Committee on Campus Sustainability, Ramapo Green, and the Women’s Center

More information / Direct inquiries to Neriko Doerr

“Holocaust Restitution and Reparations: Past and Future Challenges”
Dr. Avi Weber

Monday, February 13 at 7:00 PM at the YMCA in Wayne
Co-organized with the Israel S. Dresner Memorial Library & Lecture Series
Co-sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey, the Wayne YMCA, and Jewish Federation of Northern NJ

More information / Space is limited. Register by emailing holgen@ramapo.edu

“Saving the Jewish Cemeteries of Eastern Europe”
Rabbi Moshe J. Rubin

Tuesday, February 28 at 6:00 PM at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center
Co-organized by the Fair Lawn Jewish Center

More information / Register by emailing to info@fljc.com

“Persecuted Identities of Rohingyas in India: State and Media Complicity”
Dr. Priyanca Mathur

Wednesday, March 8 at 6:30 –  8:00 PM, Friends Hall or Online (with advanced registration)
Co-sponsored by the Law and Society Program and the Schomburg Scholars Fund

Pizza and refreshments will be served.

Part of our “Open Classroom Series.” Dr. Mathur will visit Dr. Jacob Labendz’s “Holocaust Media” course. Center guests are invited to view the livestream and, with deference to Ramapo students, ask questions of Dr. Mathur.

More information / Register in advance to attend online

“Stuck in Limbo: Lives of Rohingya and other Myanamarese Refugees in India”
Dr. Priyanca Mathur

Thursday, March 9 at Ramapo College, 4:00 – 5:30 PM, SC-156
Organized by the Law and Society Program at Ramapo College with the Schomburg Scholars Fund and Co-sponsored by the Center

More information

“The 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: Resistance and Survival in the Holocaust”
Dr. Zachary Mazur

Thursday, March 16, 7:30 – 900 pm at Temple Emanu-El, Closter
Co-sponsored by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Temple Emanu-El

This event commemorates the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It is cosponsored by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

More information

“The Suicides of Two Holocaust Survivors: Primo Levi and Jean Améry”
Dr. Yochai Ataria

Tuesday, March 21 at 1:45 – 3:25 pm, Room H-129 and Online
Co-sponsored by the Center and the Psychology Program with funding from the Schomburg Visiting Scholars Program

Part of our “Open Classroom Series.” Dr. Ataria will visit Dr. James Morley’s “Abnormal Psychology” course. Center guests are invited to join the lecture in person or via livestream and, with deference to Ramapo students, ask questions of Dr. Ataria.

Dr. Ataria will be available for an informal colloquium at 5:00 pm in the Special Collections Reading Room/Center, Room LC-215.

More information / Register in advance for the Open Classroom Lecture

“Czech Scrolls of the Holocaust and Our Brno Torah”
Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz

Tuesday, March 21 at 7:00 – 8:30 PM at Temple Beth Tikvah in Wayne
Co-organized with the Israel S. Dresner Memorial Library & Lecture Series
Discussion will be followed by a reception with refreshments

More information / Watch Online

The Racism of People Who Love You: What it Means not to be Like Your Family”
Dr. Samira Mehta

Monday, April 3 at 1:00 PM at Ramapo College, Friends Hall / Or on Zoom with pre-registration
Come join the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Ramapo College Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Compliance, and Ramapo Hillel in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

Pizza and refreshments will be served.

More information / Register to Join via Zoom / Purchase Dr. Mehta’s Book

Hillel Discussion in Honor of Yom HaShoah: Contemporary Antisemitism

Monday, April 10 at 1:00 PM in the Center, Learning Commons 215
Ramapo students are invited to meet with Jacob Ari Labendz who directs Ramapo’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. We will begin with a tour of the Center and then move to a nearby location for a free kosher lunch and conversation with Dr. Labendz about contemporary antisemitism.

This event is co-sponsored by Ramapo Hillel.

Please RSVP by April 7, so that we can order sufficient food. (If you forget, come anyway!)

Remnants: Embodied Archives of the Armenian Genocide
Dr. Elyse Semerdjian

Tuesday, April 25 on Zoom, 8:00 – 9:00 pm
In commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and in partnership with the Armenian National Committee of New Jersey

More information / Register in Advance / Pre-Order Dr. Semerdjian’s Book

Welcoming our Czech-Holocaust Torah Scroll

Monday, May 1 at Ramapo College, Friends Hall, 4:00 – 6:00 pm

Join the Center as we welcome and exhibit a Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the Czech lands) during WWII. The 18th-century scroll from the City of Kolín has been provided on permanent loan by the Memorial Scrolls Trust.

This event is invitation only. Email holgen@ramapo.edu if you would like to attend.

More information / Register to Join via Zoom

Yom HaShoah in River Edge (Online Only)

Tuesday, May 2 at 7:00 pm via Zoom

Holocaust survivor Peter Adler will offer a presentation about his experiences in Germany of the 1930s, entitled “My Life in Nazi Germany: From Persecution to Flight.” Center director, Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz, will moderate the discussion. This event is cosponsored by the River Edge Cultural Center, the River Edge Library, and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College.

More information / Register for Zoom in advance

Holocaust and Genocide Educators Workshop

Monday, May 8 at Ramapo College, Trustees Pavilion
Open and free to teachers and educational professionals, this daylong workshop will feature a virtual tour of Auschwitz with veteran guide Jerzy Wojcik, as well as a pedagogy workshop featuring Heather Lutz and Colleen Tambuscio. Lunch and refreshments will be served.

More information / Register here (space is limited)