Cohen Conversation: The Origins & Evolution of a Holocaust Center at a Small Public New England College

Event description : Were one to ask why Keene State College, a small public liberal arts college, had embedded within it an important center focused on remembering and teaching the Holocaust, the answer would ultimately and appropriately lead to one individual: Dr. Chuck Hildebrandt, a professor of sociology at KSC. When asked by an administrator in 1983 why he wanted to create a Holocaust Center at Keene State—given that “there are hardly any Jews in Keene”—Chuck immediately responded: “The Holocaust isn’t a Jewish issue, it's a human issue.” This Cohen Conversation will focus on the Center's origins and many of the key moments in its development over time.

About the speaker : Professor Emeritus Paul Vincent taught history and, beginning in 1998, Holocaust studies at Keene State College until his retirement in 2017. He directed the Mason Library from 1985-94 and then, following the retirement of Chuck Hildebrandt, served as director of what had been renamed the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies from 1998-2007. Dr. Vincent has published two books, was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies (2007-08), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Jagiellonian University in Poland (Spring 2015)...just to name a handful of his many accolades. This presentation is based in part off an institutional history of the Holocaust Center at KSC that he drafted during 2018-2021.

This event is hosted by the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in partnership with the KSC Archives. The event is free and open to all; it is available both in person and via Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please email the Cohen Center team atcohencenter@keene.edu in advance of the event. Lunch will be served!

This event is part of the Cohen Center calendar.