March 28, 2011

Briar Cliff University Participates in Tolerance Week

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Two Briar Cliff professors will conduct presentations as a part of Tolerance Week, April 4-8.

On Monday, April 4, 2011, Nan Wilson, MFA, assistant professor of art at Briar Cliff, will tell the story of Terezin, a Czechoslovakian concentration camp with an interdisciplinary presentation at 6:30 p.m. in Cargill Auditorium at Western Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC) in Sioux City.

“We will commemorate the creative struggles of survival in Terezin by presenting selected artwork and poetry from the book I Never Saw Another Butterfly, edited by Hana Volavkova, and listening to recorded music composed by imprisoned musicians,” Wilson explained. Assisting with the presentation will be Briar Cliff students Alexandra Alberda, Bismarck, N.D.; Justin Johnson, San Antonio, Texas; and Alyssa Keller, Humphrey, Neb. 

On Thursday, April 7, 2011, Linda Harrington, Ph.D., associate professor of religion at Briar Cliff University, will present “Auschwitz Carmel: Introducing Students to the Complexities of Interreligious Dialogue” at 6:30 p.m. in the Saint Francis Center on the Briar Cliff campus. 

“In Auschwitz Carmel, I propose that students learn two stories of persecution by the Nazis: the ways each group involved understands that persecution in terms of its own religious and political history and how each group has decided to commemorate both the disaster of persecution and the miracle of their survival,” said Dr. Harrington.

Tolerance Week events are coordinated by G.R. Lindblade & Co. and hosted by Gerald L. and Kathleen A. Weiner Foundation. Community partners for the weeklong observance are Briar Cliff University, WITCC and WITCC Lifelong Learning Institute. The Gerald L. and Kathleen A. Weiner foundation will provide copies of I Never Saw Another Butterfly to area art teachers and instructors of Holocaust studies. For more information, contact Lou Ann Lindblade at 255-4346 or lndblade@longlines.com.

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,150 students from 29 states and 11 countries. Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care, compassion and service. For more information, please visit briarcliff.edu.

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