The UMass Amherst Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies hosts a daylong symposium honoring the work of James Young, Distinguished Professor emeritus of English and Judaic and Near Eastern studies and founding director of the institute.
The symposium, “Edges, Textures, Stages: James Young and the Field of Memory Studies,” will be followed by a reception until 6:30 p.m. The symposium and reception are free and open to the public.
Young, an important figure in the field of memory studies, taught at UMass Amherst from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He also has consulted with municipal agencies in developing memorials and was a jury member for the National 9/11 Memorial competition.
He is the author of “Writing and Rewriting the Holocaust,” “The Texture of Memory,” “At Memory’s Edge: After-images of the Holocaust in Contemporary Art and Architecture,” and “The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss, and the Spaces Between.”
The symposium will feature panel talks by visiting scholars, including:
- Lawrence Douglas, James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst College and author of “The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial”
- Alice M. Greenwald, president and chief executive officer of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum
- Debórah Dwork, Rose Professor of Holocaust History, founding director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University and co-author of “Flight from the Reich: Refugee Jews, 1933-1946” and “Auschwitz”
- Horst Hoheisel, sculpture artist and designer of “counter-monuments” such as “The Crushed Brandenburg Gate”
- Laura Levitt, professor of religion, Jewish studies and gender at Temple University and author of “American Jewish Loss after the Holocaust”
- Samuel Kassow, Charles H. Northam Professor of History at Trinity College and author of “Who will Write our History: Emanuel Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes Archive”
At Lag B’Omer, a training seminar for tour guides on Hasidic history and heritage will be held — in English, sponsored by several institutions and organizations in cooperation with local Jewish bodies and Bar Ilan University.
The aims are:
- to improve knowledge about Hasidism, especially Seer of Lublin and his students
- to improve guiding and storytelling skills
- to visit sites most important for the history of Hasidism in eastern Poland
- to meet people from all over Poland, Israel and abroad
The seminar will include:
- Study Groups Relating to “The Seer of Lublin” and His Hasidic Court: Historical and Theological Background
- Lectures of Israeli and Polish experts
- Hasidic Tales and Music
- Lag Baomer Celebration
- Study tours in: Lublin – Leżajsk – Łańcut – Kock
Registration is open till March 31, 2019.
For more information and registration:
Agata Radkowska-Parka : agata@rootkatours.com
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Click here to find full details, program, and application process
Click here for a pdf leaflet about the seminar
Click here for full program PDF
As part of its “House of Life” project to open the cemetery to the public, nine families will be coming to the historic Willesden Jewish cemetery on May 26 to tell stories of people buried there.
The synagogue in Hârlâu, Romania will be rededicated following restoration.
A day-long program of events starts at 10:30 a.m. (See photo)
The historic Jewish cemetery in Tarnow, Poland will be ceremonially rededicated after years of extensive restoration work.
The rededication ceremony on June 26 takes places within the context of the two-day Tarnow Jewish Reunion.
Other events include a walking tour of Jewish Tarnow, photography exhibit, Jewish cemetery tour and visit to family graves.
See program below.
One-day seminar to discuss ideas for the future use of the former synaogue in Pacov, CZ, followed by a tour of the building.
Program:
5–6pm: Synagogue tour
The the third edition of the Czech Republic’s Day of Jewish Monuments takes place August 11 — and this year there is a smartphone app as well as an interactive map on the web site to help visitors.
On the Day, some 50 selected Jewish heritage sites in more than 40 towns in Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia will be open to visitors. They include synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, museums, and other sites. Some of them are generally closed to the public; some have recently undergone extensive renovation or are in the process of restoration.
The annual European Day (or Days) of Jewish Culture kicks off September 1st.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the event — which takes place in hundreds of locations all over Europe.
JHE Director Ruth Ellen Gruber took part in the meeting in Paris in 1999 that established the EDJC, and she will be writing about it in a post on the web site.
January 27 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
It is marked as Holocaust Remembrance Day in many countries, with many events scheduled.
Organized by the Jewish Museum in Frankfurt, an excellent line-up or scholars, activists, and professionals will discuss some of the changes Jews and Jewish life have undergone in Europe over the past 30 years (or so).
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