2. Student Educational and Engagement Opportunities
  3. Undergraduate Opportunities for App State Students

Undergraduate Opportunities for App State Students

The Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (CJHPS) supports a range of academic offerings that deepen students’ understanding of Jewish history and culture, the Holocaust, modern genocides, and the theories and practices of peace. Through coursework, faculty mentorship, research support, and experiential learning opportunities, the Center helps students explore some of the most challenging and important topics of our time.

Available Programs:

For more information regarding student opportunities in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies (JHP) at Appalachian State University, please reach out to Davis Hankins at hankinscd@appstate.edu.

Undergraduate Minor in Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies (JHP)

This 18-hour interdisciplinary minor introduces students to the study of the Holocaust, modern genocides, Judaism, Jewish histories and cultures, and peace studies. Because the examination of genocide requires a broad view of societies, identities, and human behavior, students engage with a wide array of sources—from film and photography to legal, governmental, literary, and diplomatic materials.

Students draw on multiple disciplines to understand these histories and their implications, including:

  • Sociology
  • Anthropology
  • History
  • Political Science
  • Philosophy and Religious Studies

What Students Explore

Faculty from across the university work with students to investigate:

  • The preconditions and processes of systematic mass violence
  • How ordinary individuals become involved in genocidal systems
  • The “choiceless choices” (Lawrence L. Langer) and resistance efforts of targeted populations
  • The ethical questions surrounding bystanders, intervention, and silence
  • Social and civic responsibilities in the aftermath of genocide

The minor also places the Holocaust within a broader study of Jewish life. Students explore Jewish histories, cultures, philosophies, laws, and traditions—many of which shape approaches to justice, community, and peacebuilding.

Paired with an introduction to peace studies, this interdisciplinary foundation helps students consider possibilities for a world with less violence and greater human flourishing.

How the Center Supports the Minor

CJHPS actively strengthens the minor by:

  • Organizing research colloquia
  • Bringing leading scholars to campus for public talks, classroom visits, and faculty engagement
  • Supporting student research through travel funding and fellowships

For a full list of requirements and approved courses, visit the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Study Abroad: The Holocaust — Interpretation, Memory, and Representation (JHP/HIS 3154)

The Center supports an exceptional study-abroad opportunity tied to the course JHP/HIS 3154, first offered in 2017. Offered in the Spring semester, this upper-level class focuses on how the Holocaust is interpreted, documented, memorialized, and represented in different cultural contexts.

About the Program

A central component of the course is an extended spring-break research excursion to historical sites, museums, and archives in Europe, Israel, and the United States. Past participants have:

  • Met with survivors, rescuers, historians, and archivists
  • Conducted research in archives in Germany and Poland
  • Visited sites including the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site

These trips are made possible through support from:

Academic Focus

The course examines:

  • The origins and implementation of Nazi genocide during World War II
  • Jewish life, responses, and survival strategies during the Holocaust
  • Postwar memorialization and representation in Germany, the United States, and Israel

Students develop research projects based on archival work abroad and present their findings on campus. Many participants pursue publication opportunities following the course.

Academic Honors Awards

The Center recognizes students producing exceptional work in the areas of Judaic, Holocaust, Genocide, and Peace Studies through annual Academic Honors Awards.

Submissions

Submissions are accepted in the Spring semester of each academic year. App State state students who are (1) enrolled in a JHP cross listed class in the current academic year and/or (2) who have engaged in and completed research and/or artist endeavors directly related to Judaic, Holocaust, Genocide or Peace Studes in during the current academic year are eligible to participate.

All participants will be recognized for their submissions. First-place award includes a $250 cash prize, runner-up award includes a $100 cash prize, and recipients may be invited to present at a future Center event.

Criteria for Submission

  1. Faculty, advisors or mentors may nominate a student by submitting a short explanation of why the work should be considered along with a copy of the student’s work.
  2. Self-nominations and submissions can be made by students including a brief reflection on the strengths and contributions of the work. Submit a copy of work with the attached statement.
  3. Submissions can be original artistic work or research on topics relating to Judaic, Holocaust, Genocide or Peace Studies.

Submit statement and work to hankinscd@appstate.edu and holocaust@appstate.edu no later than April 15 by Noon. Submissions are reviewed by a committee of Center-affiliated faculty. Awards are presented at the end of the Spring semester.

Faculty Contact

Davis Hankins
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Office: I.G. Greer 116-A
828-262-6610
hankinscd@appstate.edu