The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is an interdisciplinary academic center committed to advancing research, education and public programming in the fields of Holocaust education, comparative genocide, conflict studies and human rights. Its academic, professional development and public programs aim to educate and empower students, teachers and the community to combat racism, prejudice, ethnic hatred and abuse of authority—the root causes of mass violence and atrocities.
In 2024, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies celebrated its 10-year anniversary. To learn more about the history of the Center, please view our Ten-Year Retrospective.
CHGS Offerings
International Study and Travel Institutes
Each summer, the CHGS organizes a study and travel course to international sites of genocide and mass atrocities for students and professional educators. Students visit museums and historical sites, learn from local academic experts, and share ideas about curriculum and teaching.
Teacher Workshops and Seminars
The CHGS holds a number of curriculum and educator workshops and seminars each year that prepare teachers to engage students on difficult topics including teaching the Holocaust, civil rights, Native American history and LGBTQ history.
Sonia Schreiber Weitz Lecture Series and Public Events
The Sonia Schreiber Weitz Lecture series, Research Conversations series and public events bring international, national and local scholars and public figures to engage our audiences on issues in comparative genocide, human rights and combatting ignorance, racism and prejudice in our world.
Salem State students visit the National Memorial Fort Breendonk in Belgium, which served as a Nazi prison camp during the German occupation.
Interdisciplinary CHGS Courses
Salem State students visit the Track 17 Memorial in Berlin which commemorates Jewish men, women, and children who were deported by the Duetsche Reichsbahn during the Nazi Era.
Transformational Experiences
Salem State University students take pictures from their Jeeps during a safari in the Akagera National Park. Students report that their travel courses have transformed their view of the world and left them with memories that will last a lifetime.
Watch CHGS Event Recordings
- May 5, 2025 Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony featuring Holocaust survivor Janet Singer Applefield
- April 14, 2025 - Genocide and Famine in Sudan: What’s New? What’s to be Done? delivered by Dr. Alex de Waal, Tufts University
- March 6, 2025 - Queer Activism in Cold War Germany delivered by Dr. Samuel Clowes Huneke, George Mason University
- September 23, 2024 -The International Criminal Court and the Application for Arrest Warrants Against Named Hamas and Israeli Leaders - with Prof. Milena Sterio and Prof. Robert McAndrews.
- November 29, 2023 - The Seventh Heaven: A Conversation with Ilan Stavans on Jewish Latin America
- April 27, 2023 - Yom Hashoah Commemoration of the Holocaust
- February 8, 2023 - The War in Ukraine: Displacement and its Impact on Children. Zoë Kessler, Dmytro Say, and Yvonne Vissing, Salem State University.
- November 17, 2022 - Holocaust Distortion and Holocaust Denial: The Attacks on the Memory of the Holocaust in Poland. Jan Grabowski, University of Ottowa.
- November 2, 2022 - The War in Ukraine: On the Screen and On the Ground. Alisa Sopova and Vladimir Petrovich.
- November 3, 2021 - Toward Climate Justice: Centering Wabanaki Tribal Nations in Adaptation to Climate Change. Featuring Professors Darren Ranco and Steven Silvern.
- April 6, 2021 - Yom HaShoah Commemoration of the Holocaust
- March 9, 2021 - Running and Hiding from the Nazis featuring Dr. Miriam Kassenoff, Holocaust survivor and educator
- February 24, 2021 - Picturing Hidden Stories: A Visual Artist’s Approach to Excavating the Neglected Past featuring Renee Billingslea
- January 27, 2021 - The COVID-19 Pandemic and Healthcare Disparities: Contemporary Perspective, Historical Context featuring Dr. Bisola Ojikutu and Professor Samuel Roberts
Supporters
CHGS is generously supported by the Cummings Foundation and Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
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Email chgs@salemstate.edu for more information or to be put on our mailing list.
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
352 Lafayette St.
Salem, MA 01970