Dr. Joshua Kavaloski, who earned a Ph.D. in modern German literature at the University of Virginia, is Professor of German at Drew University and the Chair of the Department of German and Chinese. His scholarship concentrates on literature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and he is the author of the book, High Modernism: Aestheticism and Performativity in Literature of the 1920s. He has also published essays on authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Jurek Becker, Philip Roth, Daniel Kehlmann, Jason Lutes, and others. His current book project explores the way that graphic novels re-imagine history and frame our understanding of the past. At Drew, Josh teaches courses both in English and in German on a wide range of topics including modern European literature, the German fairy-tale tradition, the history of the Weimar Republic, graphic novels, and contemporary German film. Courses relevant to his work at the Center include “Perspectives on the Holocaust,” “The Holocaust and Film,” and “German-Jewish Culture Before, During, and After the Holocaust.” Along with Ann Saltzman, he co-directed two study-tours to Germany for Drew students to study the way that the Holocaust is represented and politicized.

Dr. West serves as the Coordinator for Programming and Fundraising at Drew University’s Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study. In addition to her role as an adjunct professor in the Holocaust Studies Department, she works as a consulting historian and museum curator for Temple Sinai’s Holocaust Remembrance Center in Summit, New Jersey. Her most recent exhibit documents the stories of child survivors of the Holocaust who now reside in New Jersey. She is also a board member of the Janusz Korczak Association of the USA. Dr. West is dedicated to advancing public understanding of the Holocaust, material culture, far-right extremism, and its implications for contemporary society.

She is currently working on forthcoming publications that explores the culture of girls and women in the German American Bund.

It is with great sadness that we announce that Jacqueline Berke, founding Director and Director Emerita of the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study, passed away on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Jackie, as we all knew her, was 94 years old. She was born and raised in New York, NY; and lived in Orange, and Millburn, before moving to Madison, NJ. A graduate of George Washington High School, NYC, she received her Bachelors degree from New York University, a Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and a Masters degree in English from Rutgers University. She served as Professor of English at Drew University from 1960 to 1992, and as Professor Emerita for many years. She founded the Holocaust Center at Drew University in 1993, and served at various times as its Director, Co-Director and Director Emerita. She was the author of a popular rhetoric text book, Twenty Questions for the Writer and editor of the Center’s book,Moments in Time: A Collage of Holocaust Memories.