OTTAWA, February 10, 2021:
After five years of fruitful cooperation, the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies (ZC) at Carleton University and the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) are entering a new phase in their relationship. While the two centres will continue to collaborate on a variety of Holocaust Education programs in pursuit of mutual goals, CHES intends to expand its programming capabilities and operate independently as a registered charity.
Holocaust and antisemitism scholarship are central to the ZC’s mission and it will continue to provide leadership in Holocaust scholarship and education through a variety of programs and initiatives on campus and in the broader community. The ZC promotes scholarly inquiry into all aspects of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present. Its work has a significant impact in the context of the global community and combatting antisemitism. The ZC expands Carleton’s presence in Jewish studies, both nationally and internationally, by fostering research collaboration and by sponsoring visiting scholars and researchers in the field. The ZC reaches out to the broader community through public lectures and educational programs, while encouraging intercultural and interfaith dialogue and by promoting academic inquiry into the diversity of the Jewish experience, one that has been enriched by encounters with different societies and cultures around the world.
The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship is a community-based organization that is wholeheartedly committed to its mission: “To develop educational programs that promote knowledge and understanding of the history and legacy of the Holocaust”. To fulfill this mission, CHES brings together academics, educators and their students, survivors and their children, diplomats, community members, local and international Holocaust Centres and museums, all levels of government, and other partners. CHES offers year-round programming designed to combat prejudice and racism and promote respect for diversity, social justice, and human rights.
In 2015, the ZC and the founding committee of CHES developed a common vision for cooperation in the field of Holocaust Education that led to the launch of CHES and its affiliation with the ZC. Since then, CHES has developed numerous relevant educational programs and meaningful public events featuring esteemed Holocaust historians, advocacy organizers, and researchers. Through its professional approach to teachers’ workshops for local boards of education, CHES continues to create materials for Ottawa-area teachers, stage teacher training seminars, and produce testimonial videos of local Holocaust survivors. Of particular importance is Holocaust Education Month, an event held each November and featuring innovative and evocative programs for the general public.
The success of CHES is the result of commitment and hard work by its director, Mina Cohn, and its dedicated volunteers, all of whom bring experience in developing quality educational programs and a commitment to safeguarding the memory of the past and educating future generations.
Dr. Deidre Butler, Director of the ZC, welcomes this opportunity for CHES to advance its mandate and programming. Carleton University and the ZC are delighted to have been an incubator for CHES to establish roots and flourish over the last five years and looks forward to collaborating with CHES to work together on these critical issues.
Director Cohn acknowledges with appreciation the support the ZC has provided to CHES with warmth and collegiality. CHES looks forward to new challenges and opportunities in the expectation that shared interests will ensure continued collaboration with the ZC.
Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Tel: 613-520-2600 x1320
Email address: jewish.studies@carleton.ca
The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
Tel: 613- 695- 9700
Email address: chesatottawa@gmail.com
