Muskingum News

Two special events featuring international perspectives will bring the world to Muskingum’s campus this fall: the Schwartz Annual Lecture on the Holocaust and an International Fellows program featuring the experiences of the Ahiska Turks.

On Oct. 27, Dr. Valerie Hébert, Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Studies at Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Ontario), will deliver the Schwartz Lecture at 7 p.m. in the University’s Library Colloquium. Dr. Hébert will speak about her research on Holocaust atrocities and photographs, based on her recent edited volume, Framing the Holocaust, which focuses on a mass execution of Jews by German police and local collaborators in Latvia. 

Prior to the lecture, she will meet with students enrolled in the Holocaust course taught by Muskingum Professor of History and Schwartz Faculty Scholar Dr. Laura Hilton. Dr. Hilton is a six-time Fellow of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, having served four times as a Research Fellow and twice as a Teaching Fellow.

On Oct. 26, Dr. Hébert will present a professional development workshop through the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission for high school educators in Columbus, focusing on effectively teaching the Holocaust through the use of photographs. Selected Muskingum students earning their adolescent and young adult social studies teaching licensure will also participate in the workshop.

The Schwartz Lecture is made possible through the generosity of Miriam G. Schwartz (1923-2010). A philanthropist and activist who served on Muskingum’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Schwartz was born in Ukraine and held a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literature. A grant from the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission is providing additional funding for this year’s lecture.

On Nov. 18, Muskingum’s International Fellows students will present a program featuring the experiences of Ahiska Turks who have settled in Dayton, Ohio. A minority group native to lands that are now part of the Republic of Georgia, the Ahiska Turks have faced Russian persecution since 1944. Their Dayton community has grown rapidly since the 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Political Science and Global Studies major Maria Decaminada ’26 is the event’s organizer. “I was introduced to the Ahiska Turk community through my faculty advisor, Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Arnold, who is a Russian and European politics expert,” she said. “A goal of the International Fellows program is to connect with communities that are unlike ours, and we are excited to bring them to campus to share their stories.”

In September, the group of International Fellows traveled to Dayton for a day of interviewing and filming Ahiska Turk community members. The students’ documentary film will be shown during the Nov. 18 event, followed by a panel discussion with Ahiska Turk representatives. The event will help commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the ethnic group’s original deportation from the Republic of Georgia by Joseph Stalin.

The International Fellows Program provides a high-impact, four-year, cohort experience for selected Muskingum students, providing them with the ability to build global connections and serve as leaders in internationally-focused settings. Faculty advisors for the program are Assistant Professor of Economics Arjun Sondhi and Director of Cultural Engagement and Inclusion Valerie Smith ’00.