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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:20260717T110031Z
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 5:00 pm ET on Tuesday
 \, September 15\, 2026 (unless seating fills sooner). We will not be able 
 to register any additional guests for in-person attendance after that time
 .REGISTER HERE FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDANCEREGISTER HERE FOR LIVESTREAMGuests 
 attending this event in person are also invited to join us for a brief rec
 eption follow the lecture from 7:00-7:30 pm. Security Protocols: Doors wi
 ll open to registered attendees beginning at 5:30 pm. Photography and vide
 ography are prohibited at this event. Please note that this event will fol
 low the Cohen Institute's standard security protocols for large events. Th
 ere is a "no bags" policy in effect for this event\, meaning that attendee
 s cannot bring regular backpacks\, purses\, or other 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 nee
 ded.Additional Information: The lecture is made possible through donor fun
 ding 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 Holocaust Memorial Lecture is part
  of a 2026-2027 series on "Genocide and the Environment" being offered by 
 the Cohen Institute. Speakers in this series represent a wide range of sch
 olarly research and views\; our guests' perspectives should not be taken a
 s 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/
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