Alma Heckman, professor of History and Jewish Studies at University California, Santa Cruz, will discuss “North African Jews and the Holocaust” at the next installment of the Fresno State Jewish Studies Lecture Series at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 in Henry Madden Library, room 3212.

The free, public series is sponsored by the Jewish Studies Certificate Program, which enables Fresno State and Continuing Education students to explore the history, culture, and religious practices of this global minority group from ancient times to the present.

Heckman graduated with a B.A. in French and Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College in 2009. After graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright grant to Morocco for the academic year 2009-2010, where she documented Jewish sites across the country. She completed her Ph.D. in history from UCLA in 2015. Her research interests sit at the nexus of modern Jewish history, North African history, French empire and the history of social movements.

The final event in the series this semester is a screening of the film “Denial,” at 6 p.m. April 25 in McLane Hall, room 161.

Based on the acclaimed book “Denial: Holocaust History on Trial,” the film recounts the legal battle of Deborah E. Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) for historical truth against David Irving (Timothy Spall). Irving accused Lipstadt of libel for declaring him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system the burden of proof is on the defendant, therefore it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team, led by Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson), to prove the essential truth that the Holocaust occurred.

For more information, contact Jill Fields at jfields@csufresno.edu or 559.278.2153

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