Please join us for a special Yom HaShoah Observance
Dehumanization lies at the root of our capacity to commit atrocities against our human family, including genocide. When people dehumanize others, they think of them as vermin to be exterminated or monsters to be destroyed. There is a centuries-long history of the dehumanization of Jews in Europe, culminating in the Holocaust. Professor David Smith will discuss the experience of being dehumanized as a Jew during the Nazi era, drawing on the life of German émigré Hollywood screenwriter Curt Siodmak, known for his work in the horror and science fiction film genres, including “The Wolf Man.”
About our speaker: Dr. Smith is professor of philosophy at the University of New England. He earned his M.A. from Antioch University and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of London, Kings College.
Dr. Smith’s books include Freud’s Philosophy of the Unconscious (Kluwer, 1999), Approaching Psychoanalysis: An Introductory Course (Karnac, 1999), Psychoanalysis in Focus (Sage, 2002), Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind (St. Martin’s Press, 2004), The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War (St. Martin’s Press, 2007), Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others (St. Martin’s Press, 2011), which won the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf award for nonfiction, and an edited volume entitled How Biology Shapes Philosophy. His recent book, On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It was published by Oxford University Press in June, 2020, followed by Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization, published by Harvard University Press.
Holocaust-related artifacts from the collection of Dr. Ira Schwartz will be on display in the Social Hall. Program supported by the Cultural Endowment Fund.
Please register via the website calendar to help us plan for refreshments.
