Dr. James Paharik, associate professor of sociology and program director of the new program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Seton Hill University, will leave April 5 for two months of travel in Israel and the West Bank to interview individuals involved in conflict resolution activities at all levels. Paharik, of Greensburg, Pa., will be assisted in this project by Father Johannes M. Oravecz, OSB, Director of the Beit Benedict Peace Academy in Mt. Zion, Jerusalem; Zoughbi Zoughbi, Director, Wi'am (Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center), Bethlehem; and Dr. Gershon Baskin, co-director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information.

Dr. Paharik became interested in Israeli/Palestinian grassroots conflict resolution activities while attending the Seton Hill National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education’s Catholic Institute for Holocaust Studies at the Yad Vashem International School of Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem during the summer of 2005.

“As immersed as I was in the study of the Holocaust, and how, as a professor, to teach the Holocaust, I couldn’t help looking around and wondering about the current conflict,” Paharik says. “The fact that there is so much hostility in what is the holiest place on earth, for so many of us, is very disturbing. I started looking around for someone I could learn from about attempts at conflict resolution.”

Paharik’s interest in the topic led him to Father Johannes Oravecz, OSB, at the Benedictine Abbey at the Basilica of the Dormition of Mary on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. The monastery there has served as a neutral place for meetings and political negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians since 1948. In 2005, Father Oravecz was the director of the then newly-founded Beit Benedict Peace Academy, a means of extending and institutionalizing the programs and initiatives of the Benedictines on behalf of peace. Dr. Paharik became such a strong believer in the interfaith academy that he and his wife, Helene Paharik, co-founded the Beit Benedict Foundation to promote support for the academy in the U.S. (The Pahariks received the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh’s Humanitarian Award in 2006 in recognition of their work with the Beit Benedict Foundation.)

Paharik will be supported in his current research by Father Oravecz, by Zoughbi Zoughbi, the director of Wi’am (Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center), in Bethlehem, West Bank, and by Dr. Gershon Baskin, co-director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information – the only joint Palestinian-Israeli public policy think-tank in the world.

Dr. Paharik, a Seton Hill professor for 25 years, has until the past few years concentrated on research closer to home, including projects for the Mental Health Association in Westmoreland County, and Housing in Westmoreland County: An Assessment , a report commissioned by the Westmoreland Coalition on Housing in 2003. He credits Seton Hill’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education for sparking his interest in the research, and teaching, of the Holocaust.

“Prior to becoming involved with the Center, my research centered on the local community,” Paharik says. “Now, after visiting Israel, and having the opportunity to study at Yad Vashem, the preeminent center for Holocaust research … I still feel I do community-based research, it’s just that my community has grown.”

Paharik is also the co-founder and program director of the new program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Seton Hill, which he developed with the support of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education, Seton Hill’s graduate and international studies program, and Seton Hill’s Humanities Division. The new program has two components: a graduate certificate program and an undergraduate minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Undergraduate students at Seton Hill, or other students who wish to enroll in courses at the baccalaureate level, may, beginning in the 2007 – 2008 academic year, elect to complete a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Students possessing a graduate degree or higher may elect to complete a graduate certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. In either case, students will be required to complete a minimum of 15 credits from courses including: Methods for Teaching the Holocaust (designed for teachers, professors, or students studying to become teachers); Special Topics in Holocaust and Genocide Studies (a course that will change every semester, and will be taught by top scholars in the field, from around the world); Internship (for undergraduate students – provides experience working and learning at Holocaust centers or other institutions devoted to Holocaust or genocide research), Independent Study (provides students with the opportunity to complete graduate-level research in the field of Holocaust and Genocide studies); World War II (a course that traces the rise of prewar tensions and expansionistic pressures, including in-depth discussions of the political, social and military consequences of war, with particular attention given to state violence against civilians); Christianity in Dialogue with Judaism; and Genocide in Comparative Perspective (a course that places the Holocaust and other cases of genocide in comparative historical and cultural context). Seton Hill’s program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies will be offered completely online, to allow international access for students, professors and scholars.

“I believe,” says Paharik, “that Catholics have a special call to peace making. This program is something that Sr. Gemma [Del Duca, co-founder of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education and its director in Israel] and Sr. Noel [Kernan, co-founder of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education] have wanted to implement since starting the Center 20 years ago. It supports the mission of the Center and of Seton Hill, and we believe it will provide a valuable resource for teachers, professors, students –anyone interested in the causes and consequences of genocide.”