The September e-News has been released! Click the cover to open it! Inside, find out about our Spring courses, upcoming programming, and resources available to faculty and students.
Author: Pamela Weathers
Spring 2017 Course Offerings in Hebrew and Judaic Studies (HEJS) Announced
9/27/16 – Bone, Stone, and Text: Professor Einbinder to Speak at Harvard
Hebrew and Judaic Studies faculty member Professor Susan Einbinder has been invited to present the 2016 Harvard Center for Jewish Studies-Medieval Studies Lecture on Medieval Jewish History and Culture.
The lecture “Bone, Stone, and Text” is a commemoration of the Black Death among Iberian Jews. It will be held on Tuesday, September 27, from 5:00 – 6:30 pm at Harvard University (Barker Center 110).
For more information, please contact the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard (cjs@fas.harvard.edu) or
the Committee on Medieval Studies (medieval@fas.harvard.edu)
11/16/16 “Intercultural Comedian” Jesse Appell to Present on Jewish and Chinese Humor
The final event of our Jewish Humor Series will take place on UConn’s Storrs campus in Laurel Hall, room 102, on November 16 at 7pm when Fulbright scholar and comedian Jesse Appell will present his unique brand of intercultural comedy that mixes Jewish humor with the traditional art of Xiangsheng, a 150-year-old Chinese comedy folk art. The event is made possible by UConn’s Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford, UConn’s Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, and UConn’s Asian American Cultural Center.
A graduate of Brandeis University, Jesse continued his studies in Beijing in 2012 where his receipt of a Critical Language Enhancement Award made possible intensive language study, and a Fulbright scholarship funded his research on Chinese comedy.
As well as studying and performing Xiangsheng, Jesse also performs bilingual improv and has been showcased on Chinese television. He writes a comedy blog for China Personified and LaughBeijing and created the LaughBeijing project in an effort to connect Chinese and Western culture through comedy and to develop new ways of combining the comedic styles of both groups.
Professor Glenn Dynner to Present on Jews, Liquor, and Life in Eastern Europe | Oct. 20, 2016
In 18th and 19th century Eastern Europe, much of the economy was based on vodka, and Jews were believed to be the only group sober enough to be entrusted with its production and sale. The Jewish-run tavern, leased from the Polish nobleman (poritz), became the center of leisure, hospitality, business, and other aspects of local life. However, as peasant drunkenness reached epidemic proportions, reformers and government officials sought to drive Jews out of the liquor trade. New archival discoveries demonstrate that rather than abandon the lucrative liquor trade, most Jews simply installed Christians as “fronts” and retained their tavern leases. The result—a vast underground Jewish liquor trade that continued down to the end of the 19th century—reflects an impressive level of Jewish-Christian coexistence that contrasts with the more familiar story of anti-Semitism and violence.
Professor Glenn Dynner will present “Jews, Liquor, and Life in Eastern Europe” on Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 12:30pm in the Class of ’47 Room at the Homer Babbidge Library as part of the Faculty Colloquium series sponsored by the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life. The series is a forum for the presentation of faculty research. All are invited to attend. A kosher lunch will be provided.
Glenn Dynner is Professor of Religion and Chair of Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of “Men of Silk”: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society (Oxford University Press, 2006) and Yankel’s Tavern: Jews, Liquor & Life in the Kingdom of Poland (Oxford University Press, 2014). He is also editor of Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe (Wayne State University Press, 2011); co-editor of Polin 27; and co-editor of Warsaw. The Jewish Metropolis: Essays in Honor of the 75th Birthday of Professor Antony Polonsky (Brill, 2015). He is a member of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University and has been both a Fulbright scholar and the Senior NEH scholar at the Center for Jewish History.
11/9 In Remembrance of Kristallnacht: Ariela Keysar Will Speak on Anti-Semitism
Young American Jewish adults are more than five times as likely to report being targets of anti-Semitism as older American Jews are (Pew 2013). Since the vast majority of young American Jews spend four or more years studying at universities and colleges, anti-Semitism at institutions of higher education is an issue for the entire Jewish community.
The National Demographic Survey of American Jewish College Students, conducted by Ariela Keysar and Barry A. Kosmin of Trinity College in 2014 with 1,157 self-identified Jewish college students from 55 campuses, revealed that more than half of the students personally experienced or witnessed anti-Semitism during the 2013-2014 academic year, and the smallness of variations across the regions of the U.S. suggests that anti-Semitism on campus is a nationwide problem. As one Jewish student commented: “Subtle anti-Semitism — it’s the last socially acceptable form of racism” (Keysar & Kosmin 2014).
According to Professor Keysar, the reported rates of campus anti-Semitism were almost identical between the U.S. in 2014 and the U.K. in 2011. However, American students report more interpersonal prejudice and harassment while British students were more likely to report anti-Semitism in political contexts.
In remembrance of Kristallnacht, Professor Ariela Keysar will present “International Comparisons of Anti-Semitism on Campus: Why Are Women More Likely to Be Targeted” on Wednesday, November 9, on the Storrs Campus at 5:00pm in the Class of ’47 Room at Babbidge Library. Attending this event will count towards Sophomore honors. A reception will follow. Earlier that day, she will present “Variations of Anti-Semitism in a Global Perspective: Conceptual and Methodological Issues” as part of our Faculty Colloquium Series at 1:00pm in the Dodd Research Center, room 162 (a kosher lunch will be provided).
Professor Keysar, a demographer, is research professor in public policy and law and the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College.
She was the associate director of the landmark Longitudinal Study of American and Canadian Conservative Youth, 1995-2003, and a principal investigator of the Demographic Survey of American Jewish College Students, 2014; the National College Students Survey 2013; the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2008; and the Worldviews and Opinions of Scientists: India 2007-08. She was the study director of the American Jewish Identity Survey (AJIS) 2001.
Professor Keysar was born in Israel and holds a B.A. in statistics and an M.A. and Ph.D. in demography from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Jewish Humor Lecture Series Commences with a Presentation by Josh Lambert
Today’s comedy, from stand-up to movies to TV, is dominated by both Jewish entertainers and producers. What accounts for this worldwide success? On Wednesday, September 14, Josh Lambert, Academic Director of the Yiddish Book Center and visiting assistant professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, examined the question in the first talk of this fall’s Jewish Humor Lecture Series developed by the University of Hartford’s Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies and co-sponsored by UConn’s Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life.
In his presentation, “The Roots of Jewish Humor,” Professor Lambert explored the possible reasons for the notable, modern-day success of Jewish comics, ultimately rejecting the idea that today’s comics are tapping into and perpetuating an ancient tradition, largely because no such coherent tradition of comedy can be found in the textual sources of the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. Instead, Professor Lambert attributed much of the comedic success of performers such as Sarah Silverman and Adam Sandler and producers such as Judd Apatow and Carl Reiner to the fact that Jews are fundamentally connected to the most deeply valued Western traditions while remaining as outsiders to the majority culture. This allows Jewish comedians to provide a unique and different take on subject matter that is ubiquitous, engendering the humor that members of Western culture can relate to.
In essence, Jewish comics of today have done what sages and prophets accomplished two millennia ago—crafted an irresistible commodity that found favor throughout the world.
Professor Lambert is the author of Unclean Lips: Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture (2014), which won a Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association of Jewish Studies and a Canadian Jewish Book Award. He serves as a contributing editor to Tablet and has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Haaretz, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Globe & Mail, and the Forward.
The Jewish Humor Lecture Series is being offered in conjunction with a new Jewish humor course developed and being piloted at both UHart and UConn by Professor Avinoam Patt (UHart) and Professor Jeffrey Shoulson (UConn).
On October 19, the annual Lillian Singer Jewish Humor Lecture will feature the unique and captivating style of noted stand-up comedian, Jessica Kirson. On November 16, Jesse Appell, a stand-up comedian who brings Jewish humor to China, will perform at UConn as part of the series.
10/6 – Center Director, Jeffrey Shoulson, to Present with Live Actors on Forgiveness in Shakespeare
Timed to coincide with the Jewish High Holidays, Center Director Jeffrey Shoulson will present on the theme of “Forgiveness in Shakespeare” and will be joined by several professional actors who will be performing brief selections from some of Shakespeare’s plays to prompt an interactive discussion on the topic.
The event takes place on October 6 at 7:00pm at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford and is part of Charter Oak’s 12th Annual Celebration of Jewish Arts and Culture, a yearly exploration of the historical and contemporary expressions of Jewish identity in art. The event is free and open to the public.
10/19 – Comedian Jessica Kirson to Perform at the University of Hartford
Com
ic Jessica Kirson will perform her stand-up routine at the University of Hartford’s Wilde Auditorium on October 19 at 7pm as the second feature in a Jewish Humor Series that the Center for Judaic Studies is participating in this fall as part of a new collaborative project with the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford and in support of a course that is being simultaneously piloted on both campuses, “Funny Jews: On Jewish Humor,” taught at UConn by Center Director Jeffrey Shoulson and at UHart by Professor Avinoam Patt. These events are free and open to the public!
To reserve your free tickets, please call the Greenberg Center at (860) 768-5018 or e-mail: mgcjs@hartford.edu
Jessica Kirson has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Last Comic Standing, The Tonight Show with Jay Jeno, and Last Call with Carson Daly. She was awarded “Best Female Comic” by the MAC association in New York City and the Nightlife Award for “Best Stand-up Comedian” in New York City. Her YouTube channel “The Jessy K Show” has over 2.5 million views, and she has performed onstage throughout the United States. Visit her website to learn more!
Medicine and Maimonides in Medieval Egypt to be Presented by Dr. Efraim Lev | Sept. 27, 2016
On September 27 at 12:30 PM in Dodd Conference Room 162, Dr. Efraim Lev will present “Medicine and Maimonides in Medieval Egypt: Notes from the Cairo Geniza.” The event is open to the public and a kosher lunch will be served.
About the Talk
Nearly 2,000 of the 300,000 fragments found in the Cairo Genizah deal with medical issues and among them is a practical prescription written in the hand of the great Jewish philosopher, legal scholar, and physician, Maimonides (1138-
1203). This presentation will offer some insights into the materials used in the prescription and what they can tell us about practical medical knowledge in the Middle Ages.
About the Speaker
Dr. Efraim Lev is Professor of Humanities in the Department of Land of Israel Studies at the University of Haifa.