Grace Nielsen

Grace develops content and strategies to promote the Institute’s programs. Grace received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and her master’s in public relations and advertising from USC Annenberg. While studying at USC, Grace worked with USC Shoah Foundation as the Celina Biniaz Intern.

Articles by Grace Nielsen

Remembering Dr. Ruth Westheimer

The USC Shoah Foundation mourns the loss of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who fled Nazi Germany without her parents at the age of 10 and went on to become a renowned and beloved sex therapist and media personality. She was 96 years old. 

In Actor Gal Gadot's Living Room, Schindler's List Survivor Inspires Generations

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot opened her Los Angeles home to friends and family earlier this week to commemorate Yom HaShoah by hosting an intimate conversation with Holocaust survivor Celina Biniaz, the youngest female on Oskar Schindler’s famed list.

Honoring Sisterhood with Zikaron BaSalon

Equipped with blankets and snacks and dressed in pajamas, 24 young women of USC’s Gamma Phi Beta settled into the living room of their sorority house last fall to watch a video of Edith Eger telling her story of survival and resilience during the Holocaust.

Edith’s story struck a chord with many sisters, as she recounted how her friendships with other women saved her life in Auschwitz. In the discussion that followed, the women focused on themes of sisterhood, solidarity and cooperation.

Countering Antisemitism through Education

USC Shoah Foundation offers a robust collection of resources, events and activities to counter antisemitism for educators and students—on the USC campus and beyond—for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Initiatives at USC began with the September 16-18 Stronger than Hate Leadership Summit for student leaders. The three-day event, led by USC Shoah Foundation’s Education Department, consisted of guest speakers, discussions and interactions with IWitness and testimonies from the Visual History Archive. 

Dancers Give Expression to the Emotions of Testimony

East Coast dance artist Rachel Linsky combines movement and testimony to create a novel form of Holocaust education. 

Rachel directs and choreographs ZACHOR, an initiative that honors Holocaust survivors through dance. Her latest work in the project is Hidden, a dance film and production based on the story of Aaron Elster, a Jewish boy who from 1943 to 1945 hid from Nazi persecution in the attic of a Polish family. 

USC Shoah Foundation 2022 Summer Leadership Workshop Welcomes Students Back to Campus

For the first time in two years, USC Shoah Foundation welcomed students to its international headquarters at USC for the fifth annual Leadership Workshop-Action and Values. 

Eighteen rising ninth to 12th-grade students, selected from across the country, participated in the July 10 to 15 seminars, field trips, discussions, and group projects while based in USC dorms.