Events

Making Global Connections

 Spring 2025 Programs

Holocaust Memory / International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration – In Person & Virtual
Communicating the Past: Exhibiting the Holocaust in Memorial Museums
Monday, January 27, 2025, at 6:00pm EST
To attend on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/mr49ark5
To attend in person**: https://khc-jan2025-ihr.eventbrite.com

January 27, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. With so few survivors and eyewitnesses left to share their stories of survival and resilience, Holocaust memorial museums will become even more critical educational spaces. In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, join Dr. Amy Sodaro, author of Exhibiting Atrocity: Memorial Museums and the Politics of Past Violence (2018), for a discussion about the evolving ways in which the Holocaust is represented in museums and the challenges ahead in communicating this history to new generations.

This event is organized by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and is co-sponsored by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University; the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; and the Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights at Rutgers University.

**To attend in person: Registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). The event in open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. This is a general RSVP and does not guarantee a seat. For elevator access to the KHC, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

Special Partner Program – Virtual only
Allyship and Religious Freedom: Jews, Muslims and Others 
Friday, January 31, 2025, at 3:00pm EST
Registration info forthcoming

Democracy is a system of governance that upholds the principles of equality, participation, and individual rights. A fundamental aspect of democratic societies is the freedom of religion, which allows individuals to practice, change, or abstain from religious beliefs without fear of persecution or discrimination. This freedom fosters a pluralistic environment where diverse faiths coexist, encouraging dialogue and mutual respect among different communities. By protecting faith communities and showing allyship we can continue to practice our democracy through Jewish-Muslim cooperation and building community. Join us for a presentation by award-winning educator Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Professor of Religion and Philosophy and Director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University who will discuss her work and how civic discourse and engagement through acknowledging one another’s status as minority religious groups is possible.

This event is organized by the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University) and is co-sponsored by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

KHC-NEH Lecture – In Person & Virtual
Flight and Survival: Jewish Refugees in Mexico in the Holocaust
Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at 12:00pm EST
To attend on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/3xsjy79w
**To attend in person: https://khc-feb25-neh.eventbrite.com

In the 1930s and the 1940s of the 20th century, the Mexican government, like many other Latin American governments, imposed severe restrictions on the entry of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism into the country. Legal and political criteria combined to make it so that Jews, many of whom had family members living in Mexico, had to wait several months or even years in Europe before being able to emigrate, while others never obtained visas and perished in the Holocaust. Join Dr. Yael Siman, Professor of Social and Political Sciences at the Iberoamericana University in Mexico City, for a discussion about the experiences of those who, despite these enormous obstacles, managed to reach Mexico, as well as the many ways they adapted upon arrival. 

This event is part of the 2024-25 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Colloquium, “Circuitous Exchanges” and is co-sponsored by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University; the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; and the Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights at Rutgers University.

**To attend in person: Registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). The event in open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. This is a general RSVP and does not guarantee a seat. For elevator access to the KHC, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

KHC-NEH Lecture – Virtual only
Nothing About Us Without Us: Understanding the Disability Rights Movement
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 12:00pm EST
Click here to register: https://tinyurl.com/4nn3s449

Approximately five hundred million persons throughout the world have physical, sensory, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. Join James I. Charlton, Executive Vice President of Access Living in Chicago and author of Nothing About Us Without Us, for a discussion about historical and contemporary disability oppression and empowerment, which builds upon interviews he conducted over a ten-year period with disability rights activists throughout the world.  

This event is part of the 2024-25 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Colloquium, “Circuitous Exchanges” and is co-sponsored by co-sponsored by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Wagner College Holocaust Center; the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College; and the Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights at Rutgers University.

KHC-NEH & “Unseen Threads” Lecture – In Person & Virtual
Communicating Atrocity: Memorializing Traumatic Histories
Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at 12:00pm EST
To attend on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/z2p2hee2
**To attend in person: https://khc-april25-neh.eventbrite.com

Across the globe, memorial museums have been created as living spaces to commemorate and educate the public about past atrocities. Join Dr. Amy Sodaro, author of Exhibiting Atrocity: Memorial Museums and the Politics of Past Violence (2018) and Lifting the Shadow: Reshaping Memory, Race and Slavery in US Museums (2025), as she explores the interconnections between the Holocaust museum paradigm and institutions established to memorialize slavery and racial terrorism in the US.

This event is part of the 2024-25 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Colloquium, “Circuitous Exchanges,” in collaboration with “Unseen Threads,” a partnership between the KHC and QCC’s Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus Center. It is co-sponsored by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; and the Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights at Rutgers University.

**To attend in person: Registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). The event in open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. This is a general RSVP and does not guarantee a seat. For elevator access to the KHC, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

Holocaust Memory/Annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration – In Person & Virtual
Annual Rabbi Isidoro Aizenberg Memorial Lecture
Raising the Stakes: Assessing the Impact of Rising Antisemitism on Holocaust Education
Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 6pm EDT
To attend on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/yt5nn7nf
**To attend in person: https://khc-yh-april25.eventbrite.com

In commemoration of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, join us for a discussion about the implications for Holocaust education in the face of rising antisemitism, the impact of the October 7 terrorist attack, and the changing political landscape in the US and across the globe. Featuring Dr. Oren Stier, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Holocaust & Genocide Studies Program in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. 

This event is organized by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) is underwritten by the Yehoshua and Edna Aizenberg Holocaust Memorial Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University; the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Wagner College Holocaust Center; the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College; and the Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights at Rutgers University.

**To attend in person: Registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). The event in open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. This is a general RSVP and does not guarantee a seat. For elevator access to the KHC, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

Human Rights and the Museum Series – In Person only
From Częstochowa to Bayside: The Story of the KHC’s Torah Scroll
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 2:30pm EDT
**To attend in person: https://khc-may25-hrm.eventbrite.com

In 1988, while visiting Częstochowa, Poland, Harry Rapaport made a remarkable discovery: a trove of Hebrew Torah scrolls hidden in an underground Jewish ritual bath house for women. Although heavily damaged, these religious artifacts are a living memorial to the local Jewish communities who perished during the Holocaust. Come learn about how one of these scrolls found its way to the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, and the yearlong process involved to both restore and remount this powerful historical artifact. Featuring Harry Rapaport; Kat Griefen, Program Coordinator and faculty member in QCC’s Gallery and Museum Studies Program; Dr. Mark Zelcer, Assistant Professor in QCC’s Social Sciences department; and Maria Paula Armelin, a New York City-based Collections and Exhibits Manager.

**To attend in person: Registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). The event in open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. This is a general RSVP and does not guarantee a seat. For elevator access to the KHC, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.