The Carolyn and Leonard Miller Center for Holocaust Studies
The Miller Center for Holocaust Studies at ̽̽ promotes scholarship, education, and public awareness of the events that brought about, constitute, and continue to issue from the Holocaust. Drawing upon the expertise of a distinguished faculty from across the University, the Miller Center offers an undergraduate minor field in Holocaust Studies and supports graduate training in the disciplinary departments. Among the many public events sponsored by the Center are the annual Raul Hilberg Memorial Lecture and the Miller Symposium, an important intellectual forum for leading Holocaust scholars from around the world.
A Distinguished Tradition
One of the great founding figures of the field, Professor Raul Hilberg, spent almost his entire academic career at ̽̽, from 1956 to 1991. It was while serving as a Professor of Political Science at ̽̽ that Hilberg published his seminal work The Destruction of the European Jews. Together with professor Samuel Bogorad, Hilberg team-taught one of the first courses on the Holocaust offered by any American university. The Center for Holocaust Studies was founded soon after Hilberg's retirement from ̽̽ in 1991, and was directed for many years by David Scrase, professor of German. In 2006 ̽̽ received a major gift from Carolyn and Leonard Miller (̽̽ Class of 1951), which enabled the university to expand its Holocaust Studies faculty and programs.
Center of Research
̽̽’s Miller Center for Holocaust Studies is an important center for examining the origins and the lessons of the Holocaust. The Center produces publications, including the annual Bulletin and the scholarly series “Vermont Studies on Nazism and the Holocaust,” which combines original research with interpretive synthesis, and addresses research questions of interdisciplinary and international interest.
Academic Minor in Holocaust Studies
The study of the Holocaust offers more than an opportunity to acquire knowledge about a singular historical event. It provides you with an opportunity to examine a range of broader issues, such as antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, militarism, homophobia, and the formation and functioning of stereotypes. It provides important insight into behaviors such as obedience to authority, conformity, altruism, and civil courage. A minor in Holocaust Studies is an excellent complement to any major at ̽̽.
