Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is pleased to share this special issue call for papers for the Journal of History (Journals - University of Toronto Press) on "Historical Testimony and the Arts." Submission Deadline: December 4, 2026.

In this special issue we seek contributions from scholars who critically engage in the use of historical testimony in various artistic and educational initiatives. From comics and graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s Grass, and Tardi’s I, René Tardi, Prisoner Of War In Stalag IIB, to works of virtual reality, such as the short films The Last Goodbye, War Remains and Nobody’s Listening: The Forgotten Voices of Sinjar, to holograms such as USC’s Dimensions in Testimony, firsthand accounts concerning war, genocide and other mass atrocities are frequently being employed in various forms of representation. In an era of the “moral witness” (Carolyn Dean), historical testimony has influenced artistic and pedagogical approaches to episodes of mass violence.

This special issue asks for contributions from scholars from a broad range of disciplines who examine how historical testimony can be used to both represent and understand the past. What are the uses of testimony for researchers, artists and audiences? What are the limits of those forms of representation in their use of these accounts? How can art and other forms of representation challenge our understanding of history? What do visual mediums offer to scholars, both in terms of their own research as well as their teaching of the past in the classroom? Is testimony for teaching about the past, showing students how to listen, to impart empathy, to train potential upstanders, and/or to fight bigotry? These questions and more will be considered in this special issue, which will be co-edited by Dr. Charlotte Schallié, Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Victoria, and Dr. Mark Celinscak, Louis and Frances Blumkin Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

For inquiries related to this special issue please email: [email protected]

For additional details: https://utppublishing.com/journals/jh/special-issue-call-for-papers

Yale MacMillan Center Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is so happy to see Ellie Sanford's career as a teacher blossom at Buena Vista High School. Ellie received a minor at University of Nebraska at Omaha in Holocaust and Genocide studies, and in 2025, attended the Fried Academy's inaugural Holocaust and Genocide Studies Teacher Workshop. We congratulate Ellie on her success!

Incoming: Your Favorite History Teacher A new crop of teachers is entering Omaha metro’s public schools, including Ellie Sanford who uses her passion for history and civics to connect with her students.

We are pleased to share some official photographs from our conference at Yale University last month.

In addition, the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies also published this overview of the conference: https://macmillan.yale.edu/stories/genocide-studies-program-hosts-what-testimony-symposium

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is forever grateful to Yahad - In Unum for their partnership on so many different and meaningful programs over the years!

This year's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Teacher Workshop was exceptional and the feedback from the participants has been overwhelmingly positive. In particular, we greatly appreciate Dr. Ewa Schaller's continued engagement with the Fried Academy. She has impacted many University of Nebraska at Omaha students and community members. The work of Yahad - In Unum has had a tremendous impact on our community.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is pleased to share photographs from our hybrid conference, “What is Testimony for?” at Yale University, held on April 26-27, 2026. The two-day conference featured both scholars and artists discussing the use of firsthand accounts from the Holocaust and other mass atrocities as a source for the visual arts, literature and new media.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy was pleased to partner with the Yale MacMillan Center, Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies and the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives project for this conference.

Last week at the UNO History Department awards ceremony, the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy recognized five University of Nebraska at Omaha students who excelled in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The following awards were distributed:

The Sam Fried Memorial Prize is awarded to students who complete HIST 4720: The Holocaust and earn the highest grade in the course. The two winners were Brooks Ellis and Sophie Krueger.

The Frances Fried Award is given to students who complete HIST 4740: Comparative Genocide and earn the highest grade in the course. The three winners this year were Kim Hawkins, Ava Krohn and Meredith Ruyle.

Congratulations to all five winners!

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is pleased to share photos from our recent second annual Holocaust and Genocide Studies Teacher Workshop. While we received far more applications than we could accommodate, we were able to expand the program and welcome thirty educators to participate.

This year we featured three talented speakers, including Dr. James Waller, Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice at the University of Connecticut; Dr. Ewa Schaller, Senior Program Officer at the American Friends of Yahad - In Unum; and Dr. Kate Vieira, Susan J. Cellmer Distinguished Chair in Literacy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy’s third annual Holocaust and Genocide Studies Teacher Workshop is already being planned for next academic year. Details forthcoming!

This program was made possible by a grant to the Louis and Frances Blumkin Professorship and is organized in collaboration with the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy, UNO College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, UNO Teacher Education Department, UNO College of Arts and Sciences, UNO History Department, and UNO Dual Enrollment.

Photos courtesy of Monica Sempek Photography.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is once again pleased to co-sponsor an online program with the The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

Join us on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 11:30pm CT for "Varian Fry: The Audacious American Journalist Who Saved Europe's Artists from the N***s."

August 1940. In New York, the Emergency Rescue Committee forms to save European artists blacklisted by Hi**er. But who will go to southern France to find the artists and do the rescuing? Enter Varian Fry, a New York journalist with deep knowledge of the European political situation but zero experience saving high profile would-be emigrés. How did Fry end up in this vital and delicate position? How did he find the artists on his list? Where did the artists hide while they awaited visas, and how did Fry help them negotiate the tangled red tape of wartime immigration? How did Fry's time in Marseille affect the rest of his life? In this presentation, novelist and professor Julie Orringer will take you on a virtual journey to wartime Marseille and show you how one daring American achieved the impossible: the saving of more than two thousand artists, including Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, André Breton, Hannah Arendt, and many others.

To attend online visit: https://tinyurl.com/4b2anz4w

A reminder to join us for our hybrid conference “What is Testimony for?” at Yale University on April 26-27, 2026. The two-day conference will feature both scholars and artists discussing the use of firsthand accounts from the Holocaust and other mass atrocities as a source for the visual arts, literature and new media.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is pleased to partner with the Yale MacMillan Center, Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies and the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives project for this conference. Register here: https://fortunoff.library.yale.edu/2026/03/12/what-is-testimony-for-workshop/