Archives and Testimony in the Wake of October 7th
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 11:30 AM PT | 2:30 PM ET
Join the USC Shoah Foundation for a public program and expert panel discussion to explore the changing role of archives in documenting history and capturing historical events and atrocities in the wake of October 7.
This event will bring together leading perspectives from researchers, academics and historical archival institutions to explore the pressing challenges and emerging opportunities for building, preserving, and providing access to archives.
Panelists will critically engage with topics such as the impact of disinformation on historical documentation, the ethical responsibilities of archiving atrocities and crises, and the role archives play in shaping collective memory and public understanding.
Opening Remarks
Dr. Robert J. Williams, USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director
Dr. Robert Williams is the Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation-Institute for Visual History and Education. In addition, he is the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research, and on the steering committee of the German and US government-funded Global Task Force Against Holocaust Distortion. Previously, he was deputy director for international affairs at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, deputy head of scholarly initiatives at the museum, a member of the US delegation to the IHRA, and the long-time chair of the IHRA Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial.
He has played several leadership roles in international initiatives focused on Holocaust, antisemitism, and extremism issues. Robert regularly advises international organizations and governments on these and related topics, has led major initiatives on access to archives, and helped establish the US-German government dialogue on Holocaust issues. His research specialties include German history, US and Russian foreign policy, propaganda and disinformation, and contemporary antisemitism. He co-edited the 40-chapter volume, The Routledge History of Antisemitism (2023) and is preparing a separate monograph on the political and cultural rehabilitation of perpetrators of the Holocaust and other mass atrocity crimes.
Panelists
Dr. Chaim Meir Neria, Curator of Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, National Library of Israel
Dr. Neria is a native of the Old City of Jerusalem and a graduate of Yeshiva Ma'arava, Beith-El, and Beith Orot. Dr. Neria completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Chicago in 2015 on Hebrew translations and interpretations of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in the Middle Ages. He also holds an MA in conflict resolution and peace studies from Notre Dame University, South Bend, and a BA in international relations from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to his appointment as Curator of the National Library's Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, Dr. Neria worked for seven years at the Office of the President of the State of Israel, as Chief Speechwriter and Head of the Strategy Department. Dr. Neria is a married to Einat, a social worker, and resides in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Jody Spiegel, Director of the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program, Azrieli Foundation
Hired at the inception of the Toronto office in 2005, Jody launched several exceptional projects. In her current role, Jody has worked with her team to produce over 123 survivor stories. She is the Executive Producer of Re:Collection, an interactive experience that invites users to explore the first-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors and the Azrieli Series of Short Films, which features stories and animatereat d excerpts from memoirs written by Canadian Holocaust survivors.
Across Canada and internationally, Jody is a guest speaker and panelist on the role of best practices in Holocaust education, memory and storytelling, Holocaust distortion and the future of Holocaust education without survivors.
Jody is a Canadian delegate of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) representing Canadian expertise in areas of pedagogy, first person accounts and the Holocaust distortion in the classroom. Jody sits on the Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial. In 2022, she chaired the Education Working Group of the IHRA.
Dr. Ildikó Barna, Associate Professor, ELTE University
Ildikó Barna is a sociologist. She is an Associate Professor at ELTE University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Research Methodology, Budapest. Her research topics include antisemitism, memory politics, post-Holocaust studies, and quantitative research on archival sources. In recent years, her interest has turned to automated text analytics, applying natural language processing to complement traditional quantitative and qualitative approaches in these areas. Dr. Barna has been awarded numerous research grants, including the MTA Bolyai János Research Grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2017–2020). She has also held several prestigious fellowships, such as the Visiting Research Fellowship at the Malach Centre for Visual History in Prague (2020), the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) Research Fellowship at the Arolsen Archive in Bad Arolsen and the Wiener Holocaust Library in London (2017), and the Visiting Fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC (2015). She is the author of numerous publications and, together with her co-authors, received the Károly Polányi Prize from the Hungarian Sociological Association in 2003, 2017, and 2023 for the best publication of the previous year.
Sam Gustman, Senior Director of Collections and ITS, USC Shoah Foundation
Sam Gustman has been chief technology officer (CTO) of the Shoah Foundation since 1994. Gustman is also associate dean and CTO at the USC Libraries where he oversees IT for the Libraries and started the USC Digital Repository.
As CTO of USC Shoah Foundation, Gustman provides technical leadership for the integration of the Institute’s digital archives into USC’s collection of electronic resources, ensuring the Archive’s accessibility for academic and research communities at USC and around the world. He is responsible for the operations, preservation and cataloging of the Institute’s 8-petabyte digital library, one of the largest public video databases in the world. He also manages the videography group responsible for collection of both traditional oral testimony and interactive AI testimony from genocide survivor and witnesses. His office offers technical support for universities and organizations that subscribe to the Institute’s Visual History Archive. His office also provides website support and duplication services for USC Shoah Foundation, which is part of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.
Gustman has twenty-eight years of leadership experience in information technology, twenty-six with USC Shoah Foundation. In addition to his responsibilities for USC Shoah Foundation, he has been the primary investigator on National Science Foundation research projects with a cumulative funding total of more than $8 million.
