Our mission is to advance knowledge about the Holocaust and genocide, including ethnic and religious conflict as well as attendant human rights abuses. Students engaged in studying the Holocaust, genocide, and crimes against humanity will learn the critical tools to analyze, understand, and differentiate their underlying complexities and to work towards their prevention.
We appreciate your support of these initiatives:
Holocaust and Genocide Studies (HGST) Minor: Western students can embark on a new field of study on the Bellingham campus, thus making WWU the first public university in the state with a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. It includes courses from six different disciplines and two colleges and combines historical understanding with a cross-disciplinary exploration of both the Holocaust and genocide. The minor will prepare students to be successful and engaged members of society and will enable them to learn the tools needed to work in and across disciplines to identify and creatively solve key societal problems, both local and global.
Student Scholarships: The Wolpow Institute facilitates student financial aid through scholarship opportunities. In the past, generous donations from Bernhard Kohlmeier and Lisa Ann Mikulencak have provided three students from various majors’ financial support for their education. To be eligible, an applicant must address one question: “When have you stood up for an individual or a group of people in a meaningful way and made a difference for that individual or group?”
Faculty Research and Support: The Wolpow Institute aims to provide funding opportunities for WWU faculty to support their teaching and scholarly activities related to Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
University Partnerships: In coordination with The Holocaust Educational Foundation at Northwestern University, in May 2019 the Wolpow Institute hosted the inaugural Regional Institute on the Holocaust, “Teaching the Holocaust in the Global Age.” In an environment conducive to high-level learning, faculty from the U.S. and Canada convened on Western’s campus for study and discussion of new topics in the field, cutting-edge research, and pedagogical practices.
Community Partnerships: As part of the 2019 Regional Institute, the Wolpow Institute partnered with Congregation Beth Israel for a lecture by University of Washington’s Dr. Devin Naar. Dr. Naar spoke of the experiences of Sephardic Jews during the Holocaust in a talk titled “From the Ottoman Empire to Auschwitz: The Mediterranean Jewish Experience of the Holocaust,” to an audience of over one hundred people, including Western students, faculty, CBI congregants, and community members. In October, 2018, the Wolpow Institute, in partnership with the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, hosted “Teaching the Holocaust 101” on Western’s campus. Offering practical, hands-on, and engaging teaching skills in Holocaust Education, the workshop was available to teachers and pre-service teachers from across the region.
Speaker Series: Since its creation, the Wolpow Institute has provided exceptional scholarly and educational programming through public lectures and performances, exhibits, film festivals, and professional development opportunities. For example, in October 2017, Prof. Deborah Lipstadt visited WWU (image) to talk about Holocaust denial. Our talks are free and open to the public.
