2021 Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education:
“Holocaust Denial And Distortion”
Presented by Dr. Yehuda Bauer and Dr. Christopher Browning, experts in Holocaust studies.
Oct. 27, 2021 | On-campus and Virtual
Thanks to the generosity of donors this event is free and open to the public.
The 2021 Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education at PLU is proud to announce that this year’s conference will be the first collaboration with the world’s leading Holocaust center, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem, Israel. This monumental event, Holocaust Distortion and Denial, will feature the foremost experts in Holocaust studies, Dr. Yehuda Bauer and Dr. Christopher Browning.
Dr. Bauer, Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, is the doyen of Holocaust studies. At the age of 95, Dr. Bauer continues to drive academic discussion and research with his numerous publications and lectures. Dr. Browning, Frank Porter Graham Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, began his academic career in 1979 at PLU, offering the university’s first college-level Holocaust course. Dr. Browning’s research and teaching excellence put PLU on the academic landscape of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. His work continues to influence the field of Holocaust scholarship worldwide.
This year’s conference will be offered both in a virtual and in-person format. PLU will continue to follow Washington State and CDC’s COVID-19’s guidelines for the safety of our community. For more details on PLU’s policy, please see the Public Events on PLU Campus page.
PLU’s mission to support the education of our students and larger community on issues of diversity and justice are intimately connected to the study of the tragedy of the Holocaust. Students can see that marginalization of a minority group, such as the Jews of Nazi Germany, can lead to life-threatening situations culminating in one of the world’s modern genocides. Issues of distortion and denial make the process of reconciliation and healing less likely and serve as an insult to the memory of all those whose lives were destroyed in the Holocaust.