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Horowitz Named Interim Distinguished Professor of Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies at Appalachian State

Oct. 12, 2012. Dr. Rosemary Horowitz, a professor in Appalachian State University’s Department of English, has been named the interim Leon Levine Distinguished Professor of Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies at Appalachian. Horowitz was named to the position following a search that began in late 2011 for a distinguished professor to lead the center. Horowitz will direct center activities while that search continues.

The distinguished professor position was made possible by a $466,000 gift from the Leon Levine Foundation and more than $200,000 from friends of Appalachian’s Center for Judiac, Holocaust and Peace Studies to establish the endowed professorship. Appalachian received $334,000 from a special State of North Carolina trust fund to reach a total of at least $1 million to create the endowed professorship and supplement the operations of the center.

Horowitz will help the center further its goals of expanding community outreach, continuing scholarship, and promoting tolerance and understanding. The international search for a permanent endowed professor will continue with the expectation the position will be filled at the start of the next academic year.

“I will continue running the center, but I will do more to promote the center, promote Appalachian and promote what we have here in Boone,” Horowitz said.

“The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to retaining the best possible long-term leader to occupy the Leon Levine Distinguished Professorship of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies,” Dean Anthony Calamai said. “As we work toward that goal for the professorship, the college is fortunate to have Dr. Horowitz serving as the interim Levine Distinguished Professor. Dr. Horowitz has a great background and experience with our Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies.”

Horowitz is chairing the search process to identify the best person to assume the professorship.

Horowitz earned her doctorate at the University of Massachusetts. She is the author of “Literacy and Cultural Transmission in the Reading, Writing and Rewriting of Jewish Memorial Books,” and the editor of “Elie Weisel and the Art of Storytelling” and “The Memorial Books of Eastern European Jewry.” She has been co-director of the center since 2006.

The Leon Levine Distinguished Professor was established to raise the profile of the center and expand its programs and outreach to the campus, the community and throughout North Carolina. Currently, the center supports an 18-semester hour undergraduate minor in Judaic, Holocaust and peace studies, along with a speakers program, film series, and the highly regarded summer Holocaust Symposium.