SYMPOSIUM

Protesting Prejudice after the Holocaust: The American Experience

November 3, 2005
Helena Rubinstein Auditorium

Marking the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, this symposium highlights the legacy of the Holocaust in the efforts of postwar activists to combat religious, racial, ethnic, and gender prejudice. Stunned by the atrocities in Europe, many Americans turned to the fight against prejudice and discrimination at home. Panelists will provide comparative analyses of early responses to the Holocaust, the impact of the Holocaust on efforts to challenge religious intolerance, and civil activism as a legacy of the Holocaust.

10 - 11 a.m.
Introduction
Paul A. Shapiro, Director, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)

Keynote Address
Hubert Locke, Dean Emeritus and John and Marguerite Corbally Professor Emeritus, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle

11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
SESSION I - AWAKENING TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF PREJUDICE: ACTIVIST RESPONSES TO THE HOLOCAUST

Moderator - Elisabeth Yavnai, Director, Visiting Scholars Program, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, USHMM

Discussing the Legacy of the Holocaust for American Jews - Michael Staub, Professor of English, Baruch College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

Consumerism as Activism: The Boycott of German Goods in Response to the Holocaust - Aleisa Fishman, Editorial Coordinator, Academic Publications, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, USHMM

No Longer the “Other”? American Jewish Life after World War II - Deborah Dash Moore, Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History and Judaic Studies and Director, Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The Legacies of American Slavery and the Holocaust: A Philosopher’s Perspective - Laurence Mordekhai Thomas, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, New York

1 - 2 p.m.
BREAK

2 - 3:30 p.m.
SESSION II - COMBATING RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE: INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

Moderator - Suzanne Brown-Fleming, Senior Program Officer, University Programs, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, USHMM

Religion and Antisemitism: New Insights among Jews in the Aftermath - Rochelle L. Millen, Professor of Religion, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio

Practical Ethical Lessons on Prejudice and the Shoah - David Blumenthal, Jay and Leslie Cohen Professor of Judaic Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

The Holocaust as an Agent of Change in Christian Sensibilities - John Roth, Edward J. Sexton Professor of Philosophy and Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California; and 2004 - 2005 Ina Levine Scholar, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, USHMM

The Impact of the Holocaust on Interfaith Relationships - Victoria Barnett, Staff Director, Committee on Church Relations and the Holocaust, USHMM

3:30 - 3:45 p.m.
BREAK

3:45 - 5:15 p.m.
ROUNDTABLE - CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM AS A LEGACY OF THE HOLOCAUST

Moderator - Margaret Obrecht, Staff Director Emeritus, Committee on Church Relations and the Holocaust, USHMM

Clayborne Carson, Professor, Department of History, and Director, Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California

Marc Dollinger, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility, San Francisco State University, California

Georg Iggers, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Hubert Locke, University of Washington, Symposium Keynote Speaker

Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and Director, Sarnat Center for the Study of Anti-Jewishness, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts

The organization of this symposium has been supported by Richard and Barbara Schiffrin and the Helena Rubinstein Foundation.