HOUSTON, TX (Aug. 20, 2012) – In modern day, historical memory – including the memory of the Holocaust – depends less on the record of events drawn up by historians than on the projection of these events by writers, filmmakers, artists, architects, museum designers, television producers and directors, and others in the creative world.

Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld

Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld argues that because most people now acquire a sense of the past through the efforts of these people, individuals and historians must look carefully at their productions to understand how the collective memory of the Holocaust is being created, transmitted and received.

Rosenfeld will discuss that issue in “Popular Culture and Holocaust Memory,” beginning at 6:30 p.m., on Sunday, Sept. 23, in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Theater at Holocaust Museum Houston’s Morgan Family Center, 5401 Caroline St. in Houston’s Museum District.

Rosenfeld will aim to demonstrate that the proliferation of books, films, television programs, museums and public commemorations related to the Holocaust has, perversely, brought about a diminution of its meaning and a denigration of its memory rather than a firm consolidation of historical knowledge.

Rosenfeld is professor of English and Jewish studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He received his doctorate from Brown University in 1967 and has taught at Indiana University since 1968. He holds the Irving M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies and is director of the university’s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. He founded Indiana University's well-regarded Borns Jewish Studies Program and served as its director for 30 years.

He is the author of numerous books and essays, his latest book being "The End of the Holocaust" published by Indiana University Press in 2011.

Seating is limited and advance registration is requested. Admission is $5 each for HMH members and $8 for nonmembers. Visit http://www.hmh.org/RegisterEvent.aspx to RSVP online. Seniors and students may pay a $4 admission price at the door.

Holocaust Museum Houston is dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust, remembering the 6 million Jews and other innocent victims and honoring the survivors' legacy. Using the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides, the Museum teaches the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy.

Holocaust Museum Houston’s Morgan Family Center is free and open to the public and is located in Houston’s Museum District at 5401 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004. For more information about the Museum, call 713-942-8000 or visit www.hmh.org.