Education
Gratz College Launches America’s First Master’s Degree in Antisemitism Studies
PHILADELPHIA, February 22, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Gratz College is launching the first Master of Arts degree program in Antisemitism Studies in the United States in Fall 2024. This ground-breaking program will help fill the vacuum of knowledge about antisemitism across Jewish, non-Jewish, and governmental organizations responsible for generating policy to combat prejudice at a time of unprecedented Jew hatred.
It will:
• Provide an academic home for those seeking to develop both a deep theoretical and practical understanding of antisemitism;
• Help generate new and impactful research on the factors that contribute to growing antisemitism and test interventions that can successfully combat it; and
• Arm educators and practitioners with the most effective antisemitism pedagogy and programming.
Through degree concentrations in teaching, advocacy and research, graduates of this program will be uniquely qualified for prominent careers in education, think tanks, government relations, public policy, and community organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish).
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is eager to see this program take shape:
“We’re seeing a dangerous rise in antisemitism, hatred, and bigotry across our country – and it’s more important than ever that Pennsylvanians be equipped with a thorough knowledge of our shared history and the skills to discern fact from fiction. Gratz College is already renowned for its Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs, and I am encouraged the College is expanding upon that work with a new Master’s degree in Antisemitism Studies. I wish the faculty, staff, and especially the inaugural class of Antisemitism Studies students, great success in their work.”
The program is directed by Dr. Ayal Feinberg, antisemitism studies expert and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College. The program boasts a distinguished interdisciplinary faculty from academia and leading public advocacy organizations. Despite its infancy, the degree has been endorsed by nearly one hundred scholars and public policy experts from around the world. Professor of Political Science at Kalamazoo College R. Amy Elman asserts, “With an emphasis on operationalizing knowledge, informed teaching and ethical advocacy, Gratz’s innovative graduate program fulfills a deep need in countering antisemitism.”
Gratz’s Antisemitism Studies program is also establishing ground-breaking partnerships with the world’s most prominent Jewish organizations and programs to combat antisemitism in the classroom, on campus, and in professional workspaces. In the first such partnership, Gratz and The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History have joined forces to launch the National Education Fellowship on Antisemitism. The aim of this fellowship is to generate and assess paradigm-shifting middle and high school curriculum to reduce Jew-hatred and prejudice more broadly.
As an early adopter of online education, a 128-year history of Jewish learning, and home to the world’s largest graduate program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Gratz is uniquely qualified to take on this necessary and overdue program.
On March 4, 2024, the master’s degree program will kick-off with a series of public lectures, including by scholars serving as affiliate faculty for the program. On April 2, 2024, Dr. Avinoam Patt, inaugural director of NYU’s Center for Study of Antisemitism and the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, will deliver a keynote lecture, titled, "Awake My People": Jewish Responses to Antisemitism in the Modern Period.” Additional talks will take place before the program officially begins in August.
Prospective students eager to start may apply now and take courses as early as March 2024 with electives in Antisemitism Studies already developed as a preview to the program.
Gratz College is grateful to the Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation for generously supporting the launch of the Antisemitism Studies program. Jay Myers, Board Chair, shared: “The Isidore and Penny Myers Foundation, a family foundation guided by Jewish American values, sees great worth in educating future generations about the roots of Antisemitism, and by doing so, working to combat it. This degree program will create scholars who can devote their talent to meet this challenge. Our Foundation is proud to support this work and by so doing, meet our obligation to help repair the world.”
Contact: lcohen@gratz.edu for more information.
Contact Information:Lori Cohen
Director of Marketing and Design
lcohen@gratz.edu
215-635-7300 x182
Original Source: Gratz College Launches America's First Master's Degree in Antisemitism Studies
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Rivers are Life Premieres ‘Toxic Art’ Showcasing the Power of Collaboration & Creativity in Environmental Protection
MIDLAND, Mich., October 25, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Today, in honor of World Sustainability Day, Rivers are Life unveils their latest film highlighting Appalachian Ohio’s Sunday Creek and environmental efforts made by local River Heroes John Sabraw, Guy Reifler, and Michelle Shively MacIver. Located in Southeastern Ohio, the 27-mile-long creek is severely polluted by acid mine drainage (a product of the area’s several abandoned coal mines). The film, “Toxic Art,” focuses on the collaborative effort using art and innovative technology to revitalize streams devastated by historic coal mining.
John Sabraw is an artist, environmentalist, activist, and Professor of Art at Ohio University. When he first moved to Ohio, he was able to learn about the local environment through his environmentalist colleagues. On a trip to a local stream, John was shocked to find that these waterways were orange and full of sludge as a result of acid mine drainage and the pollutant iron oxide.
Sabraw learned that more than 6,650 stream miles in Central Appalachia run orange due to the impact of acid mine drainage. The Truetown Discharge, located in the Sunday Creek watershed, is the largest single acid mine drainage discharge in the state of Ohio with a flow rate of 988 gallons per minute. This amounts to approximately 2,183,065 pounds of iron oxide dumping into Sunday Creek each year, decimating aquatic habitat for seven miles.
After seeing the severity of this pollution firsthand, Sabraw took home a jar of sludge from the creek and, using his knowledge of iron oxides from his experience as an artist, began experimenting with turning this sludge into a pigment. He eventually joined forces with Ohio University Professor and Chair of Civil Engineering, Guy Riefler, and after years of experimentation, the pair succeeded in creating a pigment that was both environmentally and economically sustainable.
The duo later collaborated with nonprofit regional community development organization Rural Action, as well as state and federal agencies, to create True Pigments. True Pigments is a social enterprise committed to creating socio-economic opportunities for the local community while cleaning and restoring Sunday Creek, allowing life to return to the heavily-polluted seven miles of stream.
“When we put people together from different disciplines and different backgrounds, that is when this magic happens,” John said. “Humans have exponential potential to solve these crises and to take stewardship over a future that is going to be sustainable and joyous. I believe more than ever that that’s possible, and that’s what we have to do.”
In June 2023, Rural Action, Ohio University, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement broke ground on the new True Pigments Acid Mine Drainage Treatment & Pigment Production Facility. Once this plant goes live, 100% of coal mine pollution will be intercepted before it reaches waterways.
The full “Toxic Art” film, along with limited edition prints from Sabraw, are available on Rivers are Life’s platform HERE.
Contact Information:Katie Horning
Head of Brand, Rivers are Life Brand Division, BeAlive Inc.
khorning@gobealive.com
989-491-1019
Original Source: Rivers are Life Premieres 'Toxic Art' Showcasing the Power of Collaboration & Creativity in Environmental Protection
