Hildebrandt Award for Excellence in Holocaust Studies
This award honors Keene State College’s Charles Hildebrandt, professor emeritus in Sociology and founder of the Holocaust Resource Center (now the Cohen Institute) at Keene State College in 1983. It is given in recognition of excellence in Holocaust Studies.
Keene State College students are invited to submit essays, historical analyses, stories, poems, musical compositions, dance, film, theatre, and/or visual arts that demonstrate deep knowledge of the Holocaust.
The award ceremony takes place in April, which is Genocide Awareness Month.
Schedule and Submissions for 2025 Awards
- Submissions are due by March 24, 2025.
- Award winners will be notified by April 7, 2025.
- Award ceremony will be held on April 17, 2025.
For additional information about the Awards, please contact the Cohen Institute team at cohencenter@keene.edu
Who is Eligible?
- Keene State College undergraduate students are eligible to receive a monetary prize.
Submissions may include:
- Artistic entries – dance compositions, musical creations, poems, short stories, visual works of art, film, or plays
- Scholarly entries – research projects/papers, essays
Entries will be judged by committee and evaluated based upon:
- Accurate historical context
- Originality/creativity/clarity
- Finished presentation
- Use of chosen medium
- Thoughtful encounter with topic
If you would like to see a copy of the rubric that is used to evaluate submissions in advance of the due date, please email cohencenter@keene.edu. Please note that our committee is not able to provide feedback, notes, or scores for submissions.
Note: We will not be running our competition for middle and high school students in 2025. Please check back in early 2026 to learn whether that competition will resume again.
