The Jewish Experience in Comparative Perspective: Europe and America Dr. Nancy Rosenbloom and Dr. Larry Jones
The grant will be used to establish a coordinated program of courses, guest lectures, student internships, and related activities. A cycle of three courses will be designed and offered during the period of the grant: "'The American Jewish Experience in Comparative Perspective" will focus on the social and cultural experience of American Jews from the end of the eighteenth century through the founding of the state of Israel in 1948; "The Holocaust, 1933-45," will examine the theory and practice of nazi racial policy from the time of Hitler's appointment as German Chancellor in January 1933 to the mass murder of approximately six million Jews; "The Holocaust in Art, Film, Literature, and Music," will present a multi -discip I inary study of how the Holocaust has been represented during the past half-century in works of art, film, literature, and music in Europe, America, and Israel. The courses will provide Canisius College students a better understanding of the Holocaust, its causes, history, and implications for the future of western civilization and introduce them to the Jewish experience in the United States, with particular emphasis on the history of the Buffalo Jewish community and its place in the social and cultural life of Western New York.
Dr. Jones & Dr. Rosenbloom will organize student field trips to the Jewish Museum and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City and to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., to be undertaken in conjunction with the courses. Each student enrolled in one of the three courses would be offered the opportunity to travel to either New York or Washington as part of an organized group where visits to museums would enhance the learning experience.
A series of six guest lectures and visits by resident scholars will be held in conjunction with the anniversary of Crystal Night to commemorate the destruction of European Jewish life in the late 1930s and early 1940s and to commemorate Yom H'shoah (The Day of Remembrance). Guest Scholars will spend two to three days at Canisius College and will give a public lecture, conduct one or more workshops for prospective elementary and secondary social studies teachers, and hold a special seminar for students enrolled in the "Jewish Experience" courses.
The program will provide internship opportunities for interested students both in the local area and at other sites located throughout the country to promote Christian-Jewish understanding.