John Cardinal O'Connor to Inaugurate World's First Ph.D. Program in Holocaust History at Clark University on Sept. 17

    WORCESTER, Mass., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- John Cardinal O'Connor,
 archbishop of New York and strong advocate for improving relations between
 Roman Catholics and Jews, will speak at the inauguration of Clark University's
 pioneer Ph.D. program in Holocaust History on Thursday, Sept. 17.
     Through its Center for Holocaust Studies, Clark created the world's first
 Ph.D.-granting program in Holocaust history-which welcomes its first students
 this month.  The program, which is administered through the Department of
 History and the Center, will produce the professors, scholars, archivists and
 museum directors of tomorrow.  In addition, Clark is the only university in
 the United States offering a comprehensive undergraduate education in
 Holocaust and genocide studies.  Clark boasts two permanent, fully endowed
 professorships in Holocaust history.
     "I am honored, and I am delighted, that Cardinal O'Connor offered
 to come to Clark to support our new doctoral program in Holocaust History,"
 said Rose Professor and Center for Holocaust Studies Director Deborah Dwork.
 "It is another instance of the powerful steps that Cardinal O'Connor has taken
 to insist on the profound importance of Catholic-Jewish relations, most
 particularly in the shadow of the Holocaust."
     O'Connor oversees an archdiocese of more than two million Roman Catholics.
 He has condemned anti-Semitism, and has introduced education about the
 Holocaust in the archdiocese schools.  He is an advocate of inter-faith
 dialogue and, in 1990, co-authored "A Journey of Faith" with Nobel Peace Prize
 winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, in which the two discussed the
 Holocaust and the persistence of anti-Semitism.  During his 1987 trip to
 Israel, the Cardinal prayed for the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
     In 1997, he received the Fiat Lux Award from Clark University in
 recognition of his contributions to Holocaust education.  The award honors
 those who have shown exceptional leadership in increasing humankind's
 understanding of issues crucial to the 21st century.
     "The Center for Holocaust Studies stands as an important-indeed necessary-
 endeavor in studying and teaching the iniquities of the past in search of a
 moral and humane future," said O'Connor.  "The work of Professor Dwork and her
 colleagues extends far beyond any religious boundaries to support our most
 important responsibility as human beings: teaching the world's children to
 love and care for one another as God intended."
 
 

SOURCE  Clark University