2024 Annual Seminar on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust

Reading the Bible After the Holocaust

May 28-31, 2024

The 2024 Annual Faculty Seminar on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust will examine the profound and painful questions the Holocaust and its aftermath raise for Jews and Christians in regard to their texts and traditions. These challenges have moral and theological implications, including on traditional interpretive paradigms and underlying hermeneutical assumptions about biblical texts, that affect members of each religion in unique ways. The seminar aims to explore these overlapping challenges alongside those distinctive to each tradition.

Topics will address the following: 

• The effect of the Holocaust on Jewish and Christian approaches to biblical texts; 

• Understanding and interpretation of historically “difficult” biblical texts;

• Reevaluation of the concepts of inclusion and exclusion; 

• Implications of “shared” biblical texts and the possibility for non-mutually exclusive interpretations;

• Scholarly approaches aiding Jewish and Christian readings of the Bible;

• How close examination of these religious traditions after the Holocaust can enrich our teaching and learning about religion, history, and interreligious relations today. 

Seminar Leaders

The seminar will be led by Dr. Adam Gregerman, Professor and Associate Director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA, and Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Kraft Family Professor and Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College in Boston, MA. 

Dr. Adam Gregerman is Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Associate Director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He studies and teaches courses on Jewish-Christian relations and focuses on Christian theologies of Judaism from antiquity to the present. He is the author of Building on the Ruins of the Temple: Apologetics and Polemics in Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism and articles and book chapters on topics such as mission and conversion, biblical interpretation, and theologies of the land of Israel. He was a member of the Committee on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the USHMM from 2011-21. He serves as chair of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations and is on the board of the National Council of Synagogues and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations.

Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski is the Kraft Family Professor and Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College. He is a scholar of Jewish-Christian relations and comparative theology and the author of numerous books and articles, including The More Torah, The More Life: A Christian Commentary on Mishnah Avot and Christian Memories of the Maccabean Martyrs. He serves on the Committee on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the USHMM. He is a priest ordained in the Episcopal Church and Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations Officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

Seminar Format

The seminar will include in-person and virtual elements. We will begin with a virtual session on Friday, May 24, followed by four days on-site at the Museum: Tuesday, May 29 - Friday, May 31, 2024. A follow-up virtual session will be scheduled for Fall 2024. 

Participants can expect substantial assigned reading for each day of the seminar. A full agenda and reading list will be provided one month before the start of the seminar. 

Eligibility

The seminar is designed to help faculty, instructors, and advanced doctoral students who are currently teaching or preparing to teach courses in higher education settings that focus on or integrate curricula material related to the Holocaust and religion, theology, biblical studies, and / or interreligious relations. Applications are welcome from instructors across disciplines, including but not limited to Theology and Religious Studies; Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Jewish Studies; Philosophy; Anthropology; History; Art; Political Science; and Gender Studies. Faculty based at institutions outside North America will also be considered if they meet the criteria above. 

Applications from all qualified individuals will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other protected status.

The Museum is committed to cultivating and maintaining a culture of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). Please click here to view the Museum Statement on Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion.

Application Details

Applications must include (1) a curriculum vitae; (2) a 1-2 page statement of interest; and (3) a draft syllabus or course description on a topic that could potentially incorporate any of the topics that the seminar will address.  In your statement of interest, please specifically address: 

• How the seminar would augment or impact the course(s) you anticipate teaching; 

• How the seminar would help to meet your institution’s needs and/or expand your institution’s curricular offerings; 

• How your perspective, experiences, and/or disciplinary approach will enhance the seminar discussions. 

Applications must be received in electronic form by March 15, 2024. For more information or inquiries, please contact Dr. Kathryn Julian, Program Officer, kjulian@ushmm.org.

Travel and Lodging

For non-local participants, the Mandel Center will cover the cost of (1) direct travel to and from the participant’s home institution and Washington, DC, and (2) lodging for the duration of the seminar. All participants will also be provided $250 to defray the cost of meals and incidentals.

The Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust are supported by Lilly Endowment Inc; the Hoffberger Family Foundation; and by Joseph A. and Janeal Cannon and Family.