A Word From the Director

Center Director Prof. Pegelow Kaplan in a Rosen Summer Symposium program with Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff.

The second spring of the pandemic was yet another test of our resolve and ability to adjust. The Center responded with a widened range of online programs for the general public and/or academic community that took us, literally, once more around the world with speakers from the Bay Area to Jerusalem and Melbourne. We entered more co-operations with partners on campus, in NC, the U.S., Germany, and Israel that will outlast the pandemic. In light of the relatively low vaccination rates in key parts of the country and new, more aggressive variants, we will also hold the 19th Martin and Doris Rosen Symposium on “Remembering the Holocaust” in late July online.
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Our main priority is to keep everyone safe. While we hope to be able to return to an in-person format in 2022, the Center staff is also excited about the improved accessibility of the symposium events. Even supporters who cannot come to the mountains will be able to participate easily on their computers or smart phones.
Now that restrictions are continually being lifted and the campus is gearing up for a largely in-person fall term, the Center will start to reintroduce some in-person and hybrid programming in line with the by now familiar safety precautions. At the same time, a course exchange with Western Galilee College is taking shape that will soon allow Appalachian State students to take (online) classes with Israeli colleagues and their students. Our Center library is growing rapidly with new acquisitions and donations, including many volumes that cannot be found in other campus libraries.

We are also continuing a number of Center-supported research projects with German and Israeli colleagues that will result in several publications with German and American academic presses in the near future. Overall, the state of the Center is strong. We are incredibly grateful for the support and generosity from so many friends and donors.
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Prof. Pegelow Kaplan can be reached at thomaspegelowkaplan@appstate.edu.