The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum invites applications for the international seminar “A Research Introduction to Jewish Life and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union.” This seminar will be held January 8-12, 2018, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

This seminar will acquaint undergraduate, MA, and early PhD students with the central topics, issues, and sources related to the study of Jewish life and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, including prewar life, evacuation, mass shootings, rescue, forced labor, and issues of commemoration and memory, with a prominent geographical focus on Ukraine. Mandel Center scholars will lead discussions, and the seminar will include group analysis of many of the types of primary source material available in the Museum’s collections. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to explore the Museum’s extensive library, archival, and other collections.

The Museum welcomes international applications from undergraduates, MA, or early PhD students who are enrolled in relevant academic disciplines at colleges and universities. Applications must include: (1) a confidential recommendation letter from a faculty member that addresses the applicant’s potential and relevant interests, background, training, and qualifications (including previous coursework, projects, publications, or language study); (2) the online application form; (3) a letter of interest from the applicant discussing his/her interest in Jewish life and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union; and (4) a current curriculum vitae that lists relevant coursework, research papers, and academic presentations. Recommendation letters may be in English, Russian, or Ukrainian; all other application materials must be in English. 

The online application form is available at https://goo.gl/forms/WjoqwTCrHN9AdyXZ2. The remaining application materials may be sent to Dr. Elana Jakel, Program Manager of the Initiative for the Study of Ukrainian Jewry, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, at ejakel@ushmm.org or Fax 202.479.9726. To preserve the confidentiality of recommendation letters, faculty recommenders must e-mail or fax their signed letters (on institutional letterhead) directly to Dr. Jakel; recommendation letters cannot be submitted by applicants. All application materials must be received by Friday, September 15, 2017. Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by September 29, 2017. 

Participants are required to attend the full duration of the seminar. Awards will include the cost of direct travel to and from each participant’s home institution and Washington, DC; shared lodging for the seminar’s duration; and select meals.

This program is possible thanks to the generosity of the Piotr and Basheva Polsky Memorial Initiative for the Study of Ukrainian Jewry.

www.ushmm.org/soviet-union-seminar