RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 21, 2005) — The Burton C. Einspruch lecture series at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) next month will feature Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, a well-known historian and author on the Holocaust who will recount her experience of being sued for calling someone a Holocaust “denier.”
Lipstadt’s lecture will be based on her soon-to-be-released book of the same title, “History On Trial: My Day in Court with Holocaust Denier David Irving” and will take place on Sunday, Feb. 6, at 1:45 p.m., in UTD’s Conference Center Auditorium. A 1 p.m. reception will precede her talk.
Historian and Holocaust author Dr. Deborah Lipstadt
The lecture will focus on Lipstadt’s libel trial, in which Irving sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier and a right-wing extremist. The trial took place in London, and the judge in the case ultimately found in favor of Lipstadt, calling Irving a falsifier of history. Lipstadt’s legal battle with Irving lasted approximately five years, and in July 2001, London’s Court of Appeals rejected Irving’s attempt to appeal the judgment against him. The case was described by London’s Daily Telegraph as having “done for the new century what the Nuremberg tribunals or the Eichmann trial did for earlier generations.”
The Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Lipstadt also directs the university’s Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies. She is the author of two other books: Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, which is the first full-length study of those who attempt to deny that the Holocaust occurred, and Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, which examines how the American press covered the news of the persecution of European Jewry between 1933 and 1945.
Lipstadt served as an historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and helped design the section of the museum dedicated to the American response to the Holocaust. She also is a member of the executive committee and chairs the academic committee of the museum. She has been called upon by members of the United States Congress to consult on political responses to Holocaust denial and is a frequent expert source to the media.
Lipstadt has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at Occidental College in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from City College of New York and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University.
The lecture is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. For reservations or additional information, please call UTD’s Holocaust Resource Center at 972-883-2100, or e-mail holocauststudies@utdallas.edu.
About the Burton C. Einspruch Lecture Series
The endowment of the Burton C. Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series sponsors annual lectures and is part of the Holocaust Studies Program in the School of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas. It brings world-famous scholars in the field of Holocaust research to the UTD campus where they share and discuss their latest findings with general audiences as well as with students and faculty. The series’ purpose is to help others understand the crisis the Holocaust created in the world and to study its relevance and meaning for humanity in the 21 st century.
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.