West Chester University has been a pioneer in Holocaust Studies since 1978 when an undergraduate course on the Holocaust was first offered.  The program now includes a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, a certification program, an undergraduate minor, a regional education center, and a library collection. 

The demand for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has grown over the past 20 years. Five states are now mandating that the subject be taught in the schools, and seven states -- including Pennsylvania -- are recommending inclusion in school curricula. It is expected that more states will institute such requirements. Thus, teachers and librarians are seeking more information and instruction. Furthermore, the end of the 20th century saw an explosion of new scholarship and new perspectives on the Holocaust. This scholarship is reinforced by the desire of survivors and those who lived through WWII to educate future generations and to bear witness to the fact that the Holocaust did happen.

Philips Memorial Hall

Subsequent episodes of genocide in the modern world generate a continuing need for education and a demand for teaching resources. As a public, comprehensive university that has been training teachers for more than a century, West Chester University is able to provide excellent scholarly and pedagogical resources to students, teachers, and the community.