Note to news directors and editors: CSULA Professor Connie Corley is available for interviews. She can be reached directly at ccorley@calstatela.edu or (323) 343-4746. 

MEDIA ADVISORY: Presentation at L.A. Museum of the Holocaust,
1-4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13

 ‘Stories of resilience’ from Holocaust survivors
to bring lessons

Research by CSULA’s Corley and others examined forgiveness, yields clinical tips

Los Angeles, CA – “Holocaust Survivors: Stories of Resilience,” a symposium based on a recent research, will be presented Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.

The 1 p.m. program will focus on a three-year study about how the powers of forgiveness and natural healing contribute to recovery following trauma. The study was co-authored by Connie Corley, a professor of social work and associate director for lifelong learning at California State University, Los Angeles. Corley’s research on “Forgiveness, Resiliency and Survivorship Among Holocaust Survivors” is conducted under the direction of Professor Roberta Greene of the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work and adapted from a research conducted in Israel. The team interviewed Holocaust survivors living in Texas, New York, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.

“This work has been profoundly moving,” said Corley. “In investigating resilience, I found that survivors of the genocide of approximately 6 million European Jews during World War II to now be creatively engaged with life and eager to share their stories in words and images.”

The Dec. 13 symposium will report on findings from the national study and how they can be applied to clinical practice. Corley and Greene will be joined by Beth Cohen of CSU Northridge; Judith-Kate Friedman, founder of Songwriting Works; Florabel Kinsler, founder of Café Europa, Jewish Family Services in Los Angeles; Vladimir Melamed of the L.A. Museum of the Holocaust; and two Holocaust survivors, Erica Leon and Elizabeth Mann.

The symposium is offered as a course and meets the qualification for three continuing education credits for LCSW through the School of Social Work at Cal State L.A.

The survivorship study’s co-principal investigators include Marilyn Armour, University of Texas; Carmen Morano, Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging & Longevity; and Harriet Cohen, Texas Christian University. Cal State L.A. social work graduates Oteka Macklin and Brent Hart assisted.

Corley was editor of Social Work Response to the White House Conference on Aging; and has published articles on geriatrics and gerontology, social work, rehabilitation, spirituality and substance abuse.

The research is funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, and the symposium is cosponsored by the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University and the Jesse L. Simon Charitable Foundation.

The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust is at 6435 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. For details about the symposium, call (323) 651- 3704. For more about the research study, go to http://www.utexas.edu/ssw/cswr/projects/0311.html.    

#  #  #

Back to: News site  |  Services for Journalists  |  Public Affairs  |  Cal State L.A.