From the Director

Many of our Nevada readers are aware that the University of Nevada, Reno has a new president. Dr. John Lilley took office during the summer of 2001. One of his first initiatives was to ask each department, program, and unit of the university to assess its progress over the past five years and articulate what it hopes to accomplish five or six years from now. This is an excellent opportunity to reflect on the great strides we have made since 1994, and to project our hopes for the future.

The Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies is governed by a diverse board of directors. All of us share a deep commitment to reduce racism, ethnocentrism, and discrimination, and to strengthen efforts toward peace education, understanding, social justice, and the resolution of conflicts. For its efforts to promote peace, the Center received the Thornton Peace Prize in 1997. Among its many other accomplishments, let me just mention a few:

• The Center for HGPS produced three award-winning video documentaries
  
  
• We invited several prominent speakers to talk about genocide and peace issues
  
  
• We held an international conference on “Children in the Holocaust,” which resulted in a book publication
  
  
• We organized and participated in several important public forums on campus and in the community
  
  
• We organized film series on the Holocaust and on genocides
  
  
• We discussed the Center’s work at service clubs, at senior citizen centers, in churches, and synagogues
  
  
• We were featured numerous times in newspaper articles, on radio, and on TV
  
  
• We are in the 6th year of publishing our bulletin CenterNews. We are mailing it to over 1500 individuals and organizations — regionally and internationally
  
  
• We held a Festival for Peace in Reno’s Wingfield Park that attracted over 350 local children who presented their poems, songs, dances, and skits for peace
  
  
• We continue to send our Austrian Gedenkdienst interns to middle and high schools in Nevada to speak about the Holocaust and conflict resolution. Heinz, Andreas, Martin, and Michael have talked to more than 4500 students in 153 classes. The students’ “Thank-you” letters warm our hearts and assure us that we are indeed teaching young people to think critically about how hatred can escalate to violence and, ultimately even to genocide
  
  
• We established our first endowment fund to benefit student excellence

One of our most far-reaching achievements has been the creation of an academic minor in Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies. This program is unique in Nevada and serves as a model for similar programs in other parts of the United States.

As we position ourselves in the 21st century, we must become ever more mindful of the fact that the study of genocides and the implementation of peace initiatives is one of the most essential issues for our global community. Efforts on the highest levels — from former President Clinton’s initiative to establish an office for genocide studies, to US Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s efforts to pass legislation establishing a federal department of peace — all address the sad fact that, unfortunately, ethnic conflicts and violence are far from being resolved. Rather, there is as great a need as ever for citizens to become aware of and informed about anti-social behaviors that can compromise peaceful relationships, both in this country and abroad. We need trained professionals to deal with these issues in schools, universities, industries, communities and non-profit institutions worldwide.

When we developed an academic curriculum for HGPS in the fall of 1996, we considered this type of need. We did not know to what extent UNR students would recognize its importance. But by the time we offered the introductory course HGPS 201 for the first time (spring semester of 1997), 34 students had enrolled. We were ecstatic. Since that time, the enrollment in our program has climbed from year to year. In the spring semester of 2001, I had 84 students enrolled in HGPS 201. Now we are ready to offer multiple sections of this course.

A similar success can be found in another HGPS course. This semester’s course on “Literature of the Holocaust,” HGPS 410, was already filled before last semester’s final exams were over. Unfortunately, an additional 55 students on the waiting list and cannot be accommodated this semester. We hope to offer two or more sections of this course next year.

Looking back at seven productive and creative years, the Board of Directors and I are very thankful. We have done well — very well indeed. Our projections for the next seven years are even more optimistic, and we intend to accomplish the following:

• Speak in public schools about the Holocaust and the causes and consequences of prejudice and violence; and we will encourage students to enroll in the
  University of Nevada, Reno
  
  
• Teach more HGPS courses at UNR. We will work toward establishing multiple sections in order to accommodate all students who want to take our classes
  
  
• Publish CenterNews and make it available as hard copy and on the Internet. Our bulletin has been catalogued in major libraries worldwide
  
  
• Expand our presence on the UNR campus
  
  
• Invite important speakers and organize exiting public events
  
  
• Share the concepts and structure of our HGPS program with other universities. Currently, our HGPS program is listed in all major catalogues concerning genocide and peace studies
  
  
• Develop additional undergraduate courses to attract more students to the HGPS academic program
  
  
• Initiate and develop an interdisciplinary graduate program in Conflict Resolution and Human Rights. Based on our conversations with business leaders, legal professionals, and community activists, there is a strong need for mediators and professionals working in the area of conflict resolution. We can train such
  professionals in the near future here at UNR
  
  
• Finally, we have several new research initiatives for which we are preparing grants. We will introduce those to you in future issues of CenterNews and in our Web pages

Speaking as a mother and a grandmother and as an educator of 30 years, the best rewards for my “educational investment” in my children and in my students is what they do with the ideas I bring to them. One such reward that I want to share with you is a poem on the first page of this bulletin. Melissa Price wrote this in response to my introductory class HGPS 201. Please be aware that this poem is not the outcome of a creative writing class. Melissa wrote this in response to a class in which the discussion about human evil was central. As she states so eloquently, her heart grew larger as a result of having been exposed to critical thinking about issues of hatred, cruelty, violence, and genocide.

I hope you will agree with me that the presence of the Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Peace Studies has made a critical difference on the UNR campus. I cherish you as friends of the Center and of the university, for YOU have supported us with your letters of encouragement, your phone calls, your kind words when we meet in person, and also your financial contributions. Financial support for our Center is particularly critical: the university provides us with only $1551.00 per year. This is rather modest.