About Us
Judy La Pietra & Rabbi Judith Schindler
Education
The Greenspon Center proudly offers a variety of Holocaust education opportunities for the public! We create workshops, host guest speakers, and bring interactive programming to schools and home-schooling communities. For more information, please contact our Holocaust Education Coordinator, Katie Cunningham, at cunninghamk@queens.edu.
Educators may also be interested in the Greenspon Center's Certification in Holocaust Pedagogy. This program provides intensive training on methods and strategies for teaching about the Holocaust across subjects and grades in 6-12 settings. For more information, please refer to the Holocaust Pedagogy Certification Program (CHP) homepage.
Additionally, we have shifted our focus to deepen and broaden the Social Justice and Community Organizing (SJCO) capacity in Charlotte by offering open and accessible SJCO education to the local social justice community!
Students are encouraged to participate in Jewish life with Queens Hillel! This safe, inclusive campus community invites you to enjoy Jewish cooking, culture, and companionship. Whether it be Torah & Tea with Rabbi Judy or taking a seat for a Shabbat family dinner, we invite all Royals to participate! For more about Hillel International, please click here.
Queens University of Charlotte also offers minors in both Jewish Studies and Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution. Jewish Studies at Queens examines Jewish identity, culture, and beliefs in a broad range of courses covering history, political science, international affairs, religion and theology, ethics, philosophy, sociology, pop culture and more. For more information about this minor, click here! Peace Studies at Queens allows students an opportunity to explore intercultural communication, social psychology, global conflict, and more. Click here for more information about this minor!
For a list of all upcoming educational opportunities, please visit our Education homepage or Events Calendar.Advocacy
The Greenspon Center engages in issue-based community advocacy by supporting campaigns including but not limited to affordable housing, criminal justice, and restorative justice. We encourage both students and community members to get engaged with the community's work and we are here to support them on that journey.
Rabbi Judy Schindler, Director of the Greenspon Center, embodies advocacy as well. An unwavering voice within the sphere of social justice, Rabbi Judy's dedication to advocacy can be heard and read throughout the city. Explore her contributions here! However, our advocacy extends beyond words.
Action
Beyond Charlotte, the Greenspon Center has had the privilege to lead a pilgrimage through the Deep South, an academic exploration of Jewish and Holocaust histories in Poland, and an educator-oriented trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. These experiences live at the intersection of education, advocacy, and action.
To explore upcoming travel opportunities, please refer to our Events page.
We also take action by means of research. The Listening Project is a two-year community-based participatory research initiative designed to learn from six decades of social justice organizing in the Queen City. To share your input and/or experiences with social justice and community organizing in Charlotte, email Lau Ciceron at ciceronl@queens.edu.
History
The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center Exists to Promote Bridges of Multicultural Understanding and Collaboration
In 2013, in response to an increasing demand for Holocaust education in Charlotte an initiative was conceived to explore the creation of a Holocaust and multicultural teacher education center.
The Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center (LSJL), led by Talli Dippold, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, led by Sue Worrel, oversaw a study funded by Stan Greenspon. This study, led also by LSJL Board members Jackie Fishman and Melanie Baron, would include research, community focus groups, and travel to a dozen Holocaust centers and conferences. The research culminated on January 15, 2015 with the presentation of a 130 page document recommending the creation of a Center for Holocaust Education and Collective Justice.
On January 19, 2015, Rabbi Schindler announced her retirement from Charlotte' s Temple Beth El after 18 years of service as Associate then Senior Rabbi. By May of 2015, the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte tasked Rabbi Schindler with exploring the feasibility of such a center.
Under Rabbi Schindler's oversight, the concept of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center was brought to Queens University. The university had already engaged Talli Dippold as the Director of Jewish Life, and initiated a minor in Jewish studies. Bringing on Rabbi Schindler as a professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Stan Greenspon Center was part of their vision.
In November of 2016, the perfect match was made and a home for the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University was founded.
Meet Stan Greenspon