Oscar-nominated actor David Strathairn sits on the iconic commemorative bench with statue honoring Holocaust witness, Polish World War II hero, spy and diplomat, Jan Karski, one of the most influential Professors ever to teach at Georgetown University.
Alumni, Community, Social Justice, Special Events, Theater

Bearing Witness: The Legacy of Jan Karski Today featuring Hon. Nancy Pelosi (H’02) and David Strathairn

Featuring Hon. Nancy Pelosi (H’02), Speaker of the House of Representatives; Members of the creative team of The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics’ original production “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski”: Oscar-Nominated actor David Strathairn; director and co-author Prof. Derek Goldman (Lab co-director; Chair of Performing Arts); Clark Young (C’09) co-author; Ambassador Cynthia Schneider (Lab co-director); Ijeoma Njaka (Lab Inclusive Pedagogy Specialist and co-professor of the current “Just Communities” course “Bearing Witness: The Legacy of Karski Today.”

With additional contributions from President John J. DeGioia, Dean Joel Hellman, Ambassador Colleen Bell P’22, Member of the SFS Board of Advisors, Executive Director of the California Film Commission, and students in the Just Communities course on Karski.

Outside Georgetown’s White-Gravenor Hall sits an iconic commemorative bench and statue honoring Holocaust witness, Polish World War II hero, spy and diplomat, Jan Karski, one of the most influential Professors ever to teach at Georgetown University. The event features a 30-minute conversation on Karski’s legacy between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Oscar-Nominated actor David Strathairn, who plays Karski in The Lab’s celebrated  original production of “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski” which premiered at the SFS Centennial Celebration in November, 2019. We will also feature a sneak-peek of “Remember This,” the forthcoming feature-film based on the stage production, to be released in 2021.

The production and forthcoming film are the centerpiece of a current undergraduate course exploring Karski’s story and its contemporary resonance that is part of Georgetown’s “Just Communities” curriculum. The event features members of the political, artistic, faculty, and student communities engaging with Karski’s remarkable legacy — one which speaks to the importance of moral courage; of bearing witness to history; of respect for others, especially those who are different; of the responsibility to question; and of the role of the individual in speaking out, even when the message is not “convenient.”