November 17, 2016 – The Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Boulder Public Library present an event on the late Elie Wiesel featuring a lecture by CU Professor David Shneer preceded by a presentation by Ms. Kathryn Bernheimer, Director of ACE: Arts, Culture, and Education at the Boulder JCC.

The event, “Elie Wiesel: Holocaust Survivor, Moral Authority, and Political Activist,” will take place Sunday, December 4, 2016 at 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm in the Canyon Theater in the Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, CO 80302. RSVPs are appreciated to CUJewishStudies@colorado.edu.

Ms. Bernheimer will introduce the personal story of the iconic figure of Elie Wiesel followed by a lecture by Professor Shneer.

In 1959, Elie Wiesel published “Night,” his literary recreation of surviving Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Seven years later, he published “Jews of Silence,” which gave a language and moral authority to the global “Save Soviet Jewry” movement. In this talk, Professor Shneer will explore Wiesel’s many legacies with a focus on his early years during the Cold War and the relationship between Holocaust survival, moral authority, and political activism.

David Shneer, PhD, is the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History, Professor of History, Religious Studies, and Jewish Studies, and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Association for Jewish Studies and is co-editor in chief of the East European Jewish Affairs Journal. His current projects include a musical revue “Art is My Weapon: the Radical Musical Life of Lin Jaldati” and book-in-progress “Grief: The History of the World’s First Holocaust Liberation Photograph.”

Kathryn Bernheimer is director of ACE: Arts, Culture, and Education at the Boulder JCC, as well as the JCC’s Cultural Arts Director. In her past lives, Ms. Bernheimer was a PhD candidate in Theater at CU, a film critic and features writer for the Boulder Daily Camera, the Boulder correspondent for the Intermountain Jewish News, the host of the Denver Jewish Film Festival, a guest film programmer at the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, and the author of two books of film criticism, including “The 50 Greatest Jewish Movies.” She has been the MC of the Boulder Jewish Festival since its inception.

This lecture is free and open to the public. RSVPs are appreciated. Please email CUJewishStudies@colorado.edu or call 303-492-7143. This event is presented by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Program in Jewish Studies and the Boulder Public Library. For more information about this event, please visit Colorado.edu/JewishStudies or call 303-492-7143.

The Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder provides an outstanding liberal arts education, fosters critical thought and instills an appreciation of humanity’s interrelatedness and diversity by studying one of the world’s oldest global people. With internationally acclaimed faculty engaged in cutting-edge research and opportunities for students to study with leaders working in the field of Jewish Studies, the program offers an innovative curriculum designed to provide a strong foundation in cultural education and connect Jewish thought and text to action and people’s lives.  The Program in Jewish Studies offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies as well as minors in Jewish Studies and Hebrew/Israel Studies. For more information visit Colorado.edu/JewishStudies.