Holocaust and Genocide Studies

The demand for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has grown over the past thirty years. As of 2026, twenty-nine states mandate that the subject be taught in secondary schools. Ongoing incidents of genocide 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.

The university offers an 18-hour graduate certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, an undergraduate minor in Holocaust Studies, a regional education center, and a library collection. Students in the graduate certificate program and undergraduate minor take six courses. Graduate students are eligible to apply for a number of merit-based scholarships.

 The Holocaust and Genocide Studies program was the effort of many professors, administrators, and community members, but the driving force behind its creation was Dr. Irene G. Shur, who served as a professor at the university from 1954 to 2002. In her nearly fifty-year tenure, Dr. Shur was a pioneer in Holocaust education in the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education. She introduced one of PASSHE’s first Holocaust courses in 1978, engaged in outreach to the community of Holocaust survivors, and published the edited volume, In Answer, a collection of articles by numerous scholars. In the 1990s, with states like Pennsylvania beginning to recommend or require Holocaust education to teachers, Dr. Shur marshalled support for the creation of a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and a Holocaust Studies Minor at West Chester. She was also able to secure a major grant from physicist, entrepreneur, and Holocaust survivor, Felix Zandmann, whose gift enabled the creation of a Holocaust book collection and archive at the university. In 2000, the first students enrolled in the MA and undergraduate programs in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. An endowed scholarship in Dr. Shur’s name helped numerous graduate students to pursue the degree, and since her retirement, hundreds of students have taken courses in the program, with over seventy graduating with the Master’s degree. Nineteen of these students have written Master’s theses. Many of these students are now actively engaged in Holocaust and Genocide Education at museums, schools, and universities across the country and globally. This is all a direct result of Dr. Shur’s dedication and tireless devotion both to educating the world about the Holocaust and prejudice in general, and to seeding a new generation committed to creating a world where human rights and social justice are front and center.

Interested students should contact either Dr. Jonathan Friedman (jfriedman@wcupa.edu) or Dr. Brenda Gaydosh (graduate coordinator of the history department, (bgaydosh@wcupa.edu).

Dr. Irene G. Shur, whose contributions helped shape Holocaust and genocide education at West Chester University, was also recognized as part of the university’s “150 Influential Women of West Chester University” initiative. Learn more about her legacy here.