Distinguished Holocaust Scholar Reveals Surprising Insights into Anne Frank at University Lecture

Oct 17, 2016
Oren Baruch Stier, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and director of the Holocaust Studies Initiative at Florida International University, will discuss “The Anne Frank You Never Knew” at The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Lecture Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Oren Baruch Stier, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and director of the Holocaust Studies Initiative at Florida International University, will discuss “The Anne Frank You Never Knew” at The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Lecture Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Oren Baruch Stier, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and director of the Holocaust Studies Initiative at Florida International University, will present “The Anne Frank You Never Knew” at The University of Scranton on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Sponsored by the University’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute, the lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Stier’s multimedia presentation will expose some of the surprising ways the image and persona of Anne Frank have survived the Holocaust, leading her to become one of its most notable icons. Using rare photographs and other materials, he will reveal the young girl and teenage diarist few people “know” and provide insight into Anne Frank’s life and afterlife.

The author of two books that add depth to the world’s understanding of the Holocaust (Shoah), Holocaust Icons: Symbolizing the Shoah in History and Memory (2015) and Committed to Memory: Cultural Mediations of the Holocaust (2003), Dr. Stier is currently working on a new book, Elie Wiesel’s Testament: Between Speech and Silence.

The recipient of a prestigious Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellowship at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Dr. Stier has participated in several other funded research initiatives. A prolific writer, he has published articles in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Prooftexts, Jewish Social Studies, B’Or Ha’Torah, and Numen, among many other publications. He has made more than 100 scholarly presentations across the country and in South Africa.

Dr. Stier has chaired committees of the American Academy of Religion and the Association for Jewish Studies, and he has served a variety of foundations and museums. In south Florida, he actively participates in community and public service organizations, including lecturing and teaching adult education courses at local synagogues and at the Miami Art Museum.

In a distinguished teaching career at Florida International University (FIU), Dr. Stier has concentrated on Jewish cultural studies, with a special emphasis on the contemporary period and all aspects of present-day Jewish life and thought. He serves as the director of the graduate program in the Department of Religious Studies and is the director of the Judaic Studies Program at FIU, where he maintains leadership roles in service and administration activities, as well as curriculum development.

Before joining the faculty of Florida International University in 1999, Dr. Stier was a lecturer in religious studies & Hebrew and Jewish studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

The Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute, created in 1979 through an endowment funded by the local Jewish community, fosters a better understanding and appreciation of Judaism, Israel and their histories. It supports visits to the University by Jewish scholars and writers as well as library acquisitions, publications, faculty research travel and other scholarly endeavors. A $1 million gift from Harry Weinberg in 1990 further enhanced the institute’s work.

For more information, contact Marc Shapiro, Ph.D., professor of theology/religious studies at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-7956.



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