Pacific Lutheran University news story.
The 2021 Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pacific Lutheran University. The conference will be available online and will offer limited in-person attendance. Registration is currently open.
This year the conference theme is Holocaust Distortion and Denial. Events will include presentations by two of the most prominent Holocaust scholars in the world, Dr. Yehuda Bauer and Dr. Christopher Browning. The conference will close with a panel featuring research projects by student recipients of the Kurt Mayer Summer Scholarship. Events will include presentations from two guest speakers and a student panel.
The annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education provides educators, students, and community members a way to use the lessons of the Holocaust to empower themselves and others to challenge prejudices, violence, and other forms of dehumanization.
Each conference offers opportunities to learn from major scholars whose research focuses on the Holocaust. Conference sessions also highlight interdisciplinary approaches to Holocaust and Genocide Studies, with especially strong attention given to the arts, humanities, social sciences, health sciences and education.
This year’s conference will be the first official collaboration with the Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, since the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year.
Notable Speakers
Dr. Yehuda Bauer, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, is the doyen of Holocaust studies. At the age of 95, Dr. Bauer continues to drive academic discussion and research with his numerous publications and lectures.
Dr. Christopher Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, began his academic career in 1974 at PLU, offering the university’s first college-level Holocaust course. Dr. Browning’s research and teaching excellence put PLU on the academic landscape of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. His work continues to influence the field of Holocaust scholarship worldwide.
The Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education is made possible by the Powell Family Foundation, with special thanks to Nancy Powell and Carol Heller. We greatly appreciate the Mayer family for their support of the Powell-Heller Conference and the Kurt Mayer Summer Scholars Fellowship.
