Lecture: Holocaust memory and the challenges of empathy

The 2024 Holocaust Memorial Day Lecture will be delivered by Professor Adam Sutcliffe of King’s College London.

Holocaust memory has been closely associated with the increasing pedagogical emphasis, since the 1990s especially, on the idea of empathy. Fellow-feeling with the suffering wrought by the Nazi genocide helps us, we widely hope, to become more emotionally responsive and politically engaged citizens. This lecture will explore why empathy has become so central to Holocaust education, and why this has not always led to straightforwardly positive outcomes.

About the speaker

Adam Sutcliffe is Professor of European History at King’s College London. He has written widely on early modern and modern Jewish history, intellectual history, and historiography. His most recent book is What Are Jews For? History, Peoplehood and Purpose (Princeton University Press, 2020).

Reserve a place

This event is offered with a hybrid choice of free ticket. 

Book to join the audience on site at Selwyn College (via TicketTailor.com).

Book to join the Zoom audience (via TicketTailor.com).

This event is organised by the University of Cambridge’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team and chaired by Professor Esra Özyürek.

Featured image: Selwyn College. Detail from an original CamDiary photograph. View more of CamDiary on Flickr.com.