Regional Institutes
HEFNU offers Regional Institutes in order to develop regional networks of Holocaust scholars and teachers. Each intensive seminar brings together experts on Holocaust-related topics with professors who teach or want to teach a Holocaust course on that topic. In addition to deep and focused discussion, attendees have the opportunity to learn from and engage with each other, and to build support for Holocaust education locally.
Bellingham, WA
“Witness: Mediating Holocaust Testimony in the Arts”
HEFNU/RWI Regional Institute
Bellingham, Washington
April 17-19, 2024
Applications have closed
The Holocaust Educational Foundation of Northwestern University (HEFNU) and the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University are pleased to announce the Regional Institute “Witness: Mediating Holocaust Testimony in the Arts” with support from the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Victoria. The Regional Institute will take place April 17-19, 2024 at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
The spring Regional Institute will focus on mediation of Holocaust testimony in literature, music, and the visual arts. Institute faculty will explore the transformation of traumatic histories, memories, and stories into multi-layered, polyvalent sites of representation during and after the genocide. They will analyze the intersections of autobiography, fiction, graphic novels, memorials, photography, poetry, music, sound, and voice with testimony and provide examples for use in multi-disciplinary, multi-modal and multi-lingual postsecondary classrooms. Fellows will participate in faculty-led discussions, not present their own work. Teaching faculty include Charlotte Schallié (University of Victoria), award-winning graphic novelist Miriam Libicki (Vancouver, BC), Sandra Alfers (Western Washington University), Kathryn Huether (Vanderbilt University), Helga Thorson (University of Victoria), and Kristin Semmens (University of Victoria). Tabea Linhardt (Washington University in St. Louis) will deliver the keynote.
The Regional Institute offers an opportunity for university-level instructors and museum professionals to expand their knowledge of Holocaust Studies and pedagogy. Higher education faculty and graduate students who have attended a HEFNU Summer Institute or who have previously integrated the Holocaust into their teaching in various disciplines are encouraged to apply to become Regional Institute fellows. We particularly welcome those who live in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia and/or work at two-year institutions. A fellowship includes the cost of tuition, room, and board during the Institute. Fellowships do not cover travel expenses to and from Bellingham, WA, or the possible minimal cost of assigned materials.
