Backyard Concert Series Beth Dotan receives Sower Award

CHRIS SOMMERICH

Humanities Nebraska (HN) Executive Director

Humanities Nebraska (HN) has selected educator and historian Beth S. Dotan, PhD., to receive the 2023 Sower Award in the Humanities in recognition of her efforts to increase understanding of the Holocaust.

The Backyard Concert Series (BYCS) has returned for our late summer outdoor musical festivities. Concerts take place in the pavilion every Sunday in August, with a different band performing every week. Everyone is welcome to attend (it’s free!) and no reservations are necessary. Be sure to bring chairs and blankets! Each concert starts at 5 p.m. and lasts until 7 p.m. The Dante and Kona trucks will be back, as well as additional food trucks every week, so stay tuned for updates. And as always, the playground and gaga pits will be available for use during the concerts.

For our final Backyard Concert on Aug. 28, we welcome Omaha Beat Brigade, a funk, soul, and jam band that will bring you the sounds of Afrobeat.

In case of inclement weather, please check the JCC Facebook page/website for cancellation announcements.

The Backyard Concert Series is supported by Morgan Stanley – Andrew Robinson and Omaha Steaks.

A research assistant professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Harris Center for Judaic Studies, Dotan created Nebraska Stories of Humanity as part of her Ph.D. work. This digital web portal at nestoriesofhumanity. unl.edu highlights stories of Holocaust survivors and servicemen who liberated Nazi camps and settled in Nebraska after World War II.

“Beth’s programs and projects have advanced scholarship in the humanities and her advocacy of this work to the greater community has been uniquely effective,” said nominator Robert Nefsky. Nefsky is former chairman of the Nebraska Humanities Council board.

Dotan served as the founding executive director of the Institute for Holocaust Education. She also served as the director for International Department of the Ghetto Fighters House Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum in Lohamei HaGeta’ot, Israel.

Dotan received her MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a particular focus on Holocaust Education and digital memory.

Dotan will be honored on Oct. 10,

2023 during the 28th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha. Titled, From Moscow to the Lincoln Highway: An Evening with Amor Towles, the free public event will begin at 7:30 p.m. following a benefit dinner to help raise funds to support HN’s statewide programming. A live-stream viewing option will also be available.

Please visit www.humanitiesnebra ska.org/governors-lecture to stay up to date on details on the Governor’s Lecture and Sower Award presentation.

Humanities Nebraska is a statewide nonprofit that is celebrating 50 years of helping people explore what connects us and makes us human. Spark your curiosity during Humanities Week Oct. 715, and all year long with special online and in-person events. HN is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, an appropriation from the Nebraska Legislature, private donations, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, a public-private partnership with state dollars matching private dollars to benefit the arts and humanities in Nebraska.