Seton Hill names director of National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education

Megan Tomasic
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 11:41 a.m. | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 11:41 a.m.

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James Paharik will serve as director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust education at Seton Hill University.

A new director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education has been appointed at Greensburg’s Seton Hill University.

James Paharik, who has been involved in Holocaust education on international and national levels, started Monday. He has presented several times at the International Conference on Holocaust Education at Yad Vashem, the world Holocaust remembrance center in Jerusalem. There, Paharik discussed Catholic-Jewish relations in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the intellectual roots of Nazi racism.

“I am humbled to be appointed director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill, a center founded in 1987 in response to the urging of Saint Pope John Paul II to recognize the significance of the Holocaust, and to ‘promote the necessary historical and religious studies on this event which concerns the whole of humanity today,’” he said in an announcement.

Paharik holds a doctorate degree in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh. He recently served as professor of sociology and coordinator of the behavioral health program at Seton Hill, where he has worked since 1982.

He also is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the Peace and Justice Studies Association, the Catholic Peacebuilders Network and the North Central Sociological Association and was recognized, with his wife, Helene, by the Diocese of Greensburg as members of the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

“Jim Paharik brings a depth of experience to the role of director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education, particularly in his scholarly research in the areas of comparative genocide and peace studies,” said university President Mary C. Finger. “He will also deepen the center’s commitment to educating K-12 teachers about how to address the Holocaust in their classrooms and engage with Seton Hill faculty to integrate complementary curriculum within the humanities and liberal arts at the university.”