FOX 19 features CCM E-Media’s ‘Hope After Hate’ project
Morning anchor Jessica Brown interviewed Hagit Limor on the innovative virtual reality project
Cincinnati news station FOX 19 interviewed UC College-Conservatory of Music E-Media Professor Hagit Limor about the innovative “Hope After Hate” project she is leading at CCM. Inspired by her own father’s experience during the Holocaust, Limor set out to create an immersive theatre and virtual reality project that shares his story with lessons to inspire action against acts of hatred and bigotry today.
Watch Limor’s interview with FOX 19 morning anchor Jessica Brown.
CCM E-Media student Kela Parker uses the virtual reality headset and hand sensor for the "Hope After Hate" project. Photo/Lisa Ventre/UC Creative Services.
In October 2019, Limor’s Media Topics class of 15 students traveled to Poland and Germany to retrace her father’s journey. They will use the photos, videos and research collected during the trip to create an immersive play and virtual reality experience for the “Hope After Hate” project.
“Hope After Hate” will be an innovative, new kind of theatre — part play, part video and part virtual reality. Projections of historical settings will surround the audience during the immersive play, creating a virtual set in which they sit and interact with the actor portraying Moniek Limor, Hagit's father. The “Hope After Hate” team is also creating a separate 15-minute virtual reality experience that will immerse users in Moniek’s story with goggles and hand sensors.
“Hope After Hate” unites students, faculty and staff from across UC, including undergraduate and graduate students majoring in E-Media, Acting, International Affairs, Political Science, Geography and History. CCM Acting Professor Susan Felder is adapting Limor’s memoir of her father’s experience into a script for the immersive play. Additionally, the “Hope After Hate” team is collaborating with CCM Lighting Design and Technology Professor Sharon Huizinga on how to create projections for the play. UC’s Center for Simulations and Virtual Environments Research (UCSIM) is building the VR experience with the 360-degree photos and videos that students captured while on the trip.
Read UC Magazine’s cover story on “Hope After Hate” to learn more about the project. Readers can also view photo galleries of images taken during the study abroad trip and watch a student-created documentary on the project.
The student-created "Hope After Hate" documentary and photos were used in FOX 19’s segment on the project. Watch the segment online.
Local news station WLWT also featured "Hope After Hate" in an interview with Hagit Limor broadcast on Sunday, June 14. The project has been previously covered by WCPO and WVXU.
Featured image at the top: CCM Professors Hagit Limor and Susan Felder, Hagit’s brother Yoram Limor and HHC Director of Education and Engagement Jodi Elowitz stand with students in front of the monument in the Czestochowa Warta train station.
“Hope After Hate” is sponsored by Cincinnati’s Holocaust and Humanity Center, and has already received support from private donors as well as Cincinnati’s Jewish Innovation Funds and the CCM Harmony Fund. This support offset travel expenses during the study abroad trip and funded some production expenses. However, the class is still actively collecting donations for projectors needed for the play and virtual reality equipment. Visit hopeafterhate.com for updates on the project and to learn how to get involved.
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