BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//KSC//Events//EN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:2026 Holocaust Memorial Lecture - "Fragile Witnesses: Holocaust Si tes in an Age of Climate Uncertainty" DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260923T220000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260923T230000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260618T213256Z UID:50jo2a7i66ku37l14pissv4trf@google.com DESCRIPTION:Lecture Description: The Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Gen ocide Studies will feature Dr. Steven Cooke as the 2026 Holocaust Memorial Lecturer. His lecture is entitled "Fragile Witnesses: Holocaust Sites in an Age of Climate Uncertainty."Holocaust memorial sites face an uncertain future. Now over 80 years since the end of the Holocaust\, the generation of survivors who experienced the events firsthand is passing\, Holocaust d enial and distortion is growing\, and climate change is adding new threats — storms\, floods\, and rising sea levels accelerating the physical dec ay of sites that bear witness to genocide.These pressures create dilemmas both conceptual and practical. How do we understand the role of these site s as 'witnesses' when the witnesses themselves are gone? And for those res ponsible for managing them\, the options are uncomfortable. Expensive rest oration is often out of reach\, but allowing sites to decay raises serious ethical problems — the physical fabric of these places is frequently le gally protected and serves as evidence of historical crimes. There are no easy answers.This lecture examines case studies from Europe and Australia to explore what managing Holocaust heritage means in practice\, and what i s at stake for their role as sites of memory.Speaker Bio: Dr. Steven Cook e is an internationally recognized expert in the heritage of difficult his tories. His career spans academia and senior leadership positions in cultu ral heritage organizations across the UK and Australia. He has held positi ons at the University of Stirling\, the University of Hull\, and Deakin Un iversity\, as well as the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and the S hrine of Remembrance. From 2024 to 2025 he was CEO of the Melbourne Holoca ust Museum\, and he is currently Executive Director of the Royal Historica l Society of Victoria. In 2015 Dr. Cooke was appointed by the Australian G overnment to sit on the Australian delegation to the International Holocau st Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)\, and is Deputy Chair of its Safeguarding S ites Project\, which produced the IHRA Charter for Safeguarding Sites — the first internationally agreed heritage charter for Holocaust-related si tes. He has published over 40 scholarly works\, including three monographs in the fields of history\, heritage\, and memory. He holds honorary posit ions at Deakin University\, the University of Melbourne\, and the Universi ty of London.Registration: This event is free and open to everyone\, but a dvanced registration is required. It will be hosted in person on the campu s of Keene State College and will also be accessible via livestream. The h ard deadline to register for in-person attendance is Tuesday\, September 1 5\, 2026 (unless seating fills sooner). We will not be able to register an y additional guests for in-person attendance after that time.REGISTER HERE FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE (link coming soon!)REGISTER HERE FOR LIVESTREAM (link coming soon!)Guests attending this event in person are also invited to join us for a brief reception follow the lecture from 7:00-7:30 pm. Se curity Protocols: Doors will open to registered attendees beginning at 5:3 0 pm. Photography and videography are prohibited at this event. Please not e that this event will follow the Cohen Institute's standard security prot ocols for large events. There is a "no bags" policy in effect for this eve nt\, meaning that attendees cannot bring regular backpacks\, purses\, or o ther bags into the event. The only exceptions are totally clear bags (that do not exceed 12" x 6" x 12") as are commonly used at sports stadiums and other venues. Additional security protocols may be implemented leading up to or at the event as needed.Additional Information: The lecture is made possible through donor funding as well as support from the Keene Endowment Association. If you would like to make a gift to support this lecture or other Institute offerings\, please visit our website.This year's Holocaus t Memorial Lecture is part of a 2026-2027 series on "Genocide and the Envi ronment" being offered by the Cohen Institute. Speakers in this series rep resent a wide range of scholarly research and views\; our guests' perspect ives should not be taken as representative of the Cohen Institute or Keene State College as a whole. LOCATION:Mabel Brown Room or Livestream URL:http://www.keene.edu/news/events/detail/23221/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR