YSU names new director for Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies

Jacob Ari Labendz has been named the new Clayman Assistant Professor of Judaic and Holocaust Studies and the director of the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies at Youngstown State University.

Labendz comes to YSU after completing a post-doctoral teaching fellowship in the Jewish Studies Program at Penn State University during the 2016-17 academic year. He has presented at numerous workshops, lectures and conferences around the world, and spent the Spring 2016 semester teaching in Prague. Labendz holds a PhD in History from Washington University in St. Louis. His areas of research include European Jewish History, Modern Central European and German History and the History of the Modern Middle East.

The Center of Judaic and Holocaust Studies at YSU is dedicated to teaching and promoting research on all facets of Jewish culture and history.

The center places a special emphasis on the experience of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and promotes the lessons of tolerance and genocide prevention. It offers academic courses at the introductory and advanced level in Jewish history, religion, culture and languages. The center also offers community outreach educational program.