First Graduate Certificate in Holocaust Studies Awarded

The UT Dallas Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies in the School of Arts & Humanities awarded its first graduate certificate in Holocaust Studies earlier this year. Melvin Macklin received the specialized certificate in conjunction with his doctoral degree in humanities studies and literature.

Macklin, currently an assistant professor of English in the School of Arts & Humanities at Ferrum College, a four-year liberal arts institution located in Ferrum, Va., uses his knowledge of the Holocaust to help his students explore some of the darkest themes in world history.

“In my English classes, for example, students often write on the theme of man’s inhumanity to man and the terror one human being can inflict on another,” said Macklin. “The Holocaust, I believe, is the greatest example of horror ever perpetrated by mankind; as such, students are able to focus on precise situations and events from this historical tragic era to better grasp such fundamental perplexing questions.”

The certificate in holocaust studies is offered to master’s and doctoral students in the School of Arts & Humanities (A&H). Graduates of this 15-credit hour certificate will have a critical understanding of the Holocaust as well as modern Jewish culture, the history of anti-Semitism, and the major contemporary philosophical, aesthetic and analytical responses to this major event.

“Under the guidance of [Program Director] Dr. Ozsvath, the insights I gained about that horrendous event literally changed my world-view on life and the nature of human existence,” said Macklin. “Because Holocaust studies opened my ‘blind eyes,’ I now have more patience and tend to be less judgmental. I look at one’s underlying motivations for his actions before responding or making any kind of pronouncement.”

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