(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- The Raritan Valley Community College Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies will present two virtual programs in February, including a book talk on February 9 and a theater performance on February 11.

Dr. Elizabeth R. Baer, author of The Genocidal Gaze: From German Southwest Africa to the Third Reich, will speak about her book during a virtual presentation, February 9, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. In her book, Dr. Baer examines the threads of shared ideology in the Herero and Nama genocide and the Holocaust. She examines concepts such as racial hierarchies, living space, and the Final Solution that were deployed by German authorities in 1904 and again in the 1930s and 1940s to justify genocide. The Genocidal Gaze offers an original and challenging discussion of such topics as colonial practices, the Nazi concentration camp state, European and African race relations, definitions of genocide, and postcolonial theory.

The event, moderated by Dr. Jeff Benvenuto of Gratz College, is being co-sponsored by The Mercer Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center at Mercer County Community College. To register, visit https://bit.ly/3tmS9C9.

A “live” virtual theater performance, Letters From Anne and Martin, will be presented February 11, from 10:00am-11:00am. The unique production combines the iconic voices of Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, Jr. While both were born in 1929, they seemingly represented drastically different times and cultures. Developed from excerpts from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the piece evokes the important messages from these legendary figures, who write of their hopes and plans for a peaceful and unified world.

The February 11 program, which is an Online Learning Through Experience Event, is being held in partnership with The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect. To register, visit https://bit.ly/3K3Z0pG.

Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey.