Kyle Starkey, Jesse McClain, and Adam Fuller Take Students to US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC

Posted on by Adam Fuller

The 2025 annual bus trip to Washington, DC to visit the US Holocaust Memorial Museum was led by History professor Kyle Starkey, English adjunct Jesse McClain, and Political Science professor Adam Fuller on October 12. Two full busses brought YSU students and a few faculty members to DC to tour the national museum to learn about the Shoah. Kyle Starkey’s HIST 3788 (“The Holocaust”) students attended as part of a class project. Students across the university also attended. Political Science professor Cryshanna Jackson-Leftwich and Sociology professor Amanda Fehlbaum also joined the trip this year. The Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies sponsors the USHMM bus trip annually, so if you missed out getting a seat this time, there will be more ahead.

Dr. Norman Goda spoke at YSU on September 29, 2025 to a packed audience

Posted on by Adam Fuller

The Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies partnered with the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation to bring prominent Holocaust historian to campus to give a public lecture titled, “Is Israel Committing Genocide? A Skeptical Approach.”

 

Dr. Goda gave a separate lecture on his book. U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis, to Kyle Starkey’s HIST 3788 class, “The Holocaust.”

Dr. Goda and Dr. Fuller outside the Youngstown Museum of Labor and Industry earlier that day:

Holocaust Historian Dr. Norman J.W. Goda Will Speak on Israel-Hamas War

Posted on by Adam Fuller

“Is Israel Committing Genocide? A Skeptical Approach”

Please join us at Youngstown State University to hear renown Holocaust historian Dr. Norman J.W. Goda on the question of genocide in the Israel-Hamas war. The Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies is co-sponsoring the event with the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

WHEN: September 29 at 5:00 PM

WHERE: DeBartolo Hall 132

Dr. Goda is the Norman and Irma Bramam Professor of Holocaust Studies in the Department of History at the University of Florida. He is the author of several books on the Holocaust, including:

Tomorrow the World: Hitler, Northwest Africa, and the Path Toward America

Tales From Spandau: Nazi Criminals and the Cold War

Hitler’s Shadow: Nazi War Criminals, U.S. Intelligence, and the Cold War

The Holocaust: Europe, the World, and the Jews, 1918-1945

The lecture is free and open to the public. For questions of media inquiries, please email Dr. Adam Fuller at afuller@ysu.edu.

Dr. Adam Fuller’s Book Released June 25, 2025: The Armed Jew: The Case for Jewish Gun Ownership

Posted on by Adam Fuller

Dr. Adam Fuller, Clayman Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies has just released a new book called The Armed Jew: The Case for Jewish Gun Ownership, (Wicked Son, 2025).

In the face of rising anti-Semitic violence and hate crimes, The Armed Jew explores the essential role of gun ownership in the Jewish experience, both historically and in contemporary society. With rising threats to Jewish communities worldwide, this book argues that the right to bear arms is not just a matter of self-defense, but an integral part of Jewish history and survival.

Despite the increasingly manifest threats to American Jews, in particular, they remain among one of the demographic groups that are least likely to own firearms, which leaves them defenseless and further invites aggression. Adam L. Fuller argues that guns have been vital tools in protecting Jewish communities for centuries. From the medieval self-defense of Jewish settlements to Jewish gangsters, vigilantes, soldiers, law officers, and resistance efforts during the Holocaust, guns have been crucial in the preservation of life and dignity. Drawing on a careful study of Jewish sociocultural and religious traditions in dialogue with Jewish historical experience, as well as conversations with Jewish gun owners, Fuller makes a compelling argument for why Jews should embrace their right to own and carry firearms as part of their broader struggle for safety and autonomy.

The Armed Jew challenges assumptions, empowers Jewish communities, and provides a thought-provoking perspective on the intersection of faith, identity, and self-defense in the modern world.

Dr. David Frey Spoke on March 31, 2025

Posted on by Adam Fuller

The Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies partnered with the YSU ROTC, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, and the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission to bring Dr. David Frey, Professor of History and Director of the Resnick Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at West Point Military Academy to YSU. Dr. Frey spoke to a large audience in the DeBartolo Auditorium on the history of the “Ritchie Boys,” a special unit in the U.S. Army during World War II for Holocaust refugees to go back to Europe and gather intelligence, helping the Allies defeat the Third Reich.