Carol Rittner (born 1943) is an American nun and Holocaust historian. She is a Distinguished Emerita Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor of Holocaust Studies at

Stockton University Stockton University is a public university in Galloway Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. It is named for Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence ...

Early life

Rittner was born in 1943 and raised in

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is southwest of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,888 at the 2010 census. There are many large corporations bas ...

, to a Catholic mother and Protestant father. She graduated from Bishop McDevitt Catholic High School and College Misericordia (now, Misericordia University. Rittner later earned her

Doctor of Education The Doctor of Education (Ed.D. or D.Ed.; Latin ''Educationis Doctor'' or ''Doctor Educationis'') is (depending on region and university) a research or professional doctoral degree that focuses on the field of education. It prepares the holder for a ...

from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

Career

In 1984, Rittner organized an international conference on the theme "Faith in Humankind: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust" for the Holocaust Memorial Council. A few years later, she produced a film titled ''The Courage to Care'' which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

. The documentary focused on three Christians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. From 1986 until 1990, Rittner was the director of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity before leaving to become president of Mercyworks. Between 1994 and 1995, she was the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Professors of Holocaust Studies at

. After her visiting professorship ended, she was invited to stay as the Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor in Holocaust Studies. In 2000, she co-edited "''The Holocaust and the Christian World: Reflections on the Past, Challenges for the Future''" which examined Christian identity after Auschwitz. A few years later, she received the 2010 Sister Rose Thering Award from the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. Rittner was also a contributor to ''

The Jewish Quarterly Review ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pe ...

''. In 2013, she published ''Rape as a Weapon of War & Genocide'' through

Paragon Publishing Paragon Publishing Ltd (or Paragon for short) was a magazine publisher in the UK, which published computer games and other entertainment titles from 1991 to 2003. Brief history Paragon Publishing Ltd was formed in a small office in Trowbridge, ...

. She also produced the film ''Sisters'' alongside director Robert Gardner which focused on the lives of five nuns. Rittner retired from teaching in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rittner, Carol Living people 1943 births People from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Historians of the Holocaust Stockton University faculty Penn State College of Education alumni Immaculata University alumni 21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns