The Holocaust Awareness Series is a yearly event held on the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) campus in partnership with the Colorado Jewish Association to honor all those who were lost.
Brought by the CMU Civic Forum and the Department of Social and Behavioral Science, the Nineteenth Annual Holocaust Awareness Series aims to educate the students of CMU and the community. Each day of the week from Sunday the 3rd to Thursday the 7th will have one or two events focusing on the origins, experiences, and implications of genocide in the modern era.
The “Field of Flags” is the first event of the week starting on Sunday. Members of the community and students can gather in the Plaza outside the University Center to set up flags for Monday’s event.
The “Field of Flags” is a dedication display made up of over 2,000 flags, each representing 5,000 individuals lost during World War II. Monday at 10:50 am there will be a moment of silence and the display will be up for the whole week.
Monday night at 4:30 pm in Houston Hall there will be a movie night featuring “The Schindler’s List,” a film celebrated for its education and experience in the Holocaust.
Tuesday evening Bari Weiss, the author of “How to Fight Anti-Semitism” will be returning to campus for a discussion panel on her book with CMU President Marshall and CMU Trustee David Foster. This is the only ticketed event of the week, which will be free for CMU students, faculty, and staff, and $10 for community members.
On Wednesday two events will be held: “Gendercide: Comparative Historical, and Global Discussion” in Houston Hall, Room 139 at 4:30 pm. The lecture will go over the framework of incorporating gender into peace and conflict and the effects of gender in the historical analysis of global gendercide.
The next event on Wednesday is “The Long Shadow of the Long Walk,” also in Houston Hall Room 139 at 6:30, which will discuss the late-19th century US government’s approach to Western Native American employment and its long-term effects. Hosted by CMU history instructor Pamela Krch, she will outline both the long-term effects and reaches of memory and cultural violence.
Thursday is the last day of events for the week, with Barry Laga presenting the works of Art Spiegelman, a graphic novelist who designed “Maus,” a book displaying the profane events of the Holocaust. The discussion covers why his book has been banned from some schools and the difficulties of representing the Holocaust in media.
The last educational discussion of the week is the “Totalitarian Teetotalers and Inebriated Exterminators: Nazis, Alcohol, and the Holocaust” lecture presented by Adam T. Rosenbaum, an associate professor of history.
There are lots of events happening throughout the week from Monday to Thursday all in the name of education and awareness for a brutal historical event and how to improve for the future.
