Penn State Harrisburg's Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies will kick off its 2012-13 calendar of events with a lecture by Martin Dean titled "From War Crimes Investigation to the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos: Documenting Holocaust Sites in Close Detail" at noon on Oct. 18, in the campus' Capital Union Building Quiet Study.

Penn State Harrisburg will hold a Doctoral Programs Information Night at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 6, in the campus library. The session will provide information on the campus' doctorate in adult education, the doctorate in public administration and the doctorate in American studies. Those attending will have an opportunity to speak with faculty and students in the three programs. For more information, call 717-948-6250 or email mbp13@psu.edu.

Jennifer Dutch, an American studies doctoral candidate at Penn State Harrisburg, has received a $5,000 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from Penn State's Graduate School for the spring 2012 semester for her dissertation "Someone's In the Kitchen: The Value of Home Cooking Traditions in the Twenty-First Century."

Two Penn State Harrisburg American studies doctoral students received awards from the American Folklore Society Oct. 15 at the society's annual conference in Bloomington, Ind.

Simon Bronner, distinguished professor of American studies and folklore at Penn State Harrisburg, recently completed two books exploring current developments and philosophies of traditions. Bronner wrote "Explaining Traditions: Folk Behavior in Modern Culture" and edited "Revisioning Ritual: Jewish Traditions in Transition."