Muhlenberg’s Institute For Jewish-Christian Understanding To Sponsor Youth Conference
The Muhlenberg College Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding will sponsor its semi-annual Youth and Prejudice Conference on Monday, April 28, and Wednesday, April 30.Thursday, April 24, 2003 00:22 PM
The Muhlenberg College Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding will sponsor its semi-annual Youth and Prejudice Conference on Monday, April 28, and Wednesday, April 30.
Up to 1000 students from area schools will attend the conference on Muhlenberg’s campus in Allentown. Students will attend a performance of “The Library,” a play written by Muhlenberg alumna Nora Whittaker ’00, and performed by Muhlenberg students. Following the performance, students will participate in interactive breakout sessions, where they will hear the personal testimony of a Holocaust survivor or a second-generation survivor. Muhlenberg faculty and community members will facilitate the discussions, and Muhlenberg students will guide the students to their sessions and lead small-group discussions.
Inspired by the short story and play written by Inge Karo, a refugee who fled Hitler’s Germany in 1939, “The Library” traces the life of Rachel, a young Jewish girl growing up in Germany from 1933-1939. The play details Rachel’s life at school and at home as she experiences dehumanization of the Jews under Nazi domination. It explores what it is like to be made to feel different, to be taunted by children who you thought were your friends, and to live with fear and uncertainty about what the next day might bring.
Participating schools are as follows: Monday, April 28 – Parkland High School, Williams Valley Jr/Sr. High School, Hope Lutheran Sr. High School, Pen Argyl Area High School and Emmaus High School; Wednesday, April 30 – Tamaqua Area High School, Reading High School, Central Catholic High School (Reading), Pennridge High School and Pleasant Valley High School.
