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·         For the last few years Dr. Jody Perrun, a Canadian military historian and sessional lecturer, has taught a course titled “Antisemitism and the Holocaust’ at both University of Winnipeg (UW) and University of Manitoba (UM) but this fall session the UM is not offering the full year course this academic year, notwithstanding the steep rise of antisemitism in Manitoba and Canada. Perrun told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that he is unable to teach the course at UM because of a scheduling conflict. UM scheduled the course on Wednesday evenings, the same evening he teaches the course at UW.  Perrun is not able to teach the course during the day as he works full time for another employer.

      
The “Antisemitism and the Holocaust” course is offered by the History Department under the Faculty of Arts at the UM and to the best of my knowledge the policy of the History Department is that a course instructor must have a PhD. 

         The UM has not been able to find a replacement for Perrun, and in my view ought to be prepared to work around his schedule, as it appears likely that the course will not be offered in the future unless it does so. Alternatively, although the Department of History’s long standing policy is to require that the course instructor has a PhD, the UM could change this policy to enable an instructor who has a Masters Degree to teach it. This arguably would be a far better approach than simply not offering the course at all.

         The UM administration can show it takes the issue of rising antisemitism seriously by taking upon itself the task of ensuring that the course is offered. Jewish communal leadership ought to hold UM to the task, and put forth the rights of our community to have such a course taught.

     
In my respectful view, it is also incumbent on Jewish leadership to work with UM to ensure this course will be offered not only this year or next, but for the foreseeable future, on an annual basis. Donors to the UM may wish to raise their voice in asking UM to make this issue a priority. In order for future educators interested in this field of study to be knowledgeable about antisemitism and the Holocaust, there will have to be a course available to teach these educators on this subject at an advanced university level. Since the government of Manitoba has made Holocaust education mandatory in schools, the need to educate future teachers on the subject by offering such a university level course becomes all the more essential in my view. Further, if our community wants this course to remain on the books, we ought to encourage our young adults to register for this course and ensure its continued viability.       

       Moreover, I hope that our communal leadership will see if scholarships can be made available for students to take this course. I also hope that our communal leadership will map out a viable path for those interested in this field to pursue this subject at an advanced level. Educators with expertise in this subject could also be potential future educators at the Gray Academy of Jewish Education or at our synagogues offering adult education.

The Winnipeg Jewish Review sent this complete article above to UM Media Relations and  President of the UM Michael Benarroch. UM Media Relations responded: The Faculty of Arts acknowledges the importance of this course and regrets that it is not available for this academic year.We will continue to make efforts to offer this course in the future and would welcome the opportunity to work with Dr. Perrun again.

The Winnipeg Jewish Review sent this article to Distinguished Professor Haskel Greenfield, Co-ordinator  of the Judaic Studies Program, who responded: The absence of the antisemitism course affects other programs, such as Judaic Studies, as it is recognized by Judaic Studies as a course that fulfills the requirements for a Minor degree in Judaic Studies. Its absence this year is felt particularly in small programs with limited offerings. It reduces the potential number of courses that Minors in the program can take to fulfill their degree requirement.

Perrun also told the Winnipeg Jewish Review that typically the course is offered every second year, but in my view it ought to be offered every year, given the steep rise in antisemitism. Perrun has taught courses on antisemitism and the Holocaust at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba for the last 15 years, and has led numerous study tours of historical sites in Europe.