Skip to Navigation Skip to UConn Search Skip to Content
UConn University of Connecticut
Search University of Connecticut
A to Z Index

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life

Search this Site
Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • History of the Center
  • Contact
  • Events
    • Event Listings
    • Event Recaps
    • Faculty Colloquia
    • Yiddish Tish Discussions
  • Students
  • Faculty
  • Research & Funding
  • Blog
  • Announcements
  • Stamford Center
  • Giving
  • UConn Hillel
Search this Site

Students

undergraduate program

course offerings

graduate program

funding

summer opportunities

Student Corner

resources

study abroad

alumni

internships

Tweet

Why pursue Judaic Studies?

The interdisciplinary field of Judaic Studies allows students to become informed on human rights, the humanities, literature, history, and the social sciences from the perspective of the Jewish experience.

Upcoming Events

  1. Mar 19 Klezmer: Music, History and Memory7:00pm
  2. Mar 25 Jewish Lives and the Situation in Germany - Regarding Others and "Us" in the Public Sphere12:30pm
  3. Mar 26 Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Stuart Miller4:00pm
  4. Mar 28 Yiddish Tish12:30pm
  5. Apr 4 Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity12:30pm

Klezmer: Music, History and Memory

Tuesday, March 19th, 2019

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM

Other
Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford

Klezmer: Music, History and Memory
Klezmer: Music, History and Memory
with Professor Walter Zev Feldman

Tuesday, March 19, 2019
7:00pm

The Emanuel Synagogue
160 Mohegan Drive
West Hartford, CT

Since the 1990s, the so called “klezmer music” became immensely popular both among Jews
and non-Jews. Emerging in 16th century Prague, and spreading throughout the broad territory of the Eastern Ashkenazim, the Jewish musical guild-member, the klezmer (pl. klezmorim) shaped this unique musical and
choreographic repertoire.

This lecture, with the use of musical examples and demonstration in dance, will discuss why the knowledge of its history and aesthetics is crucial to the understanding of the culture of
the Jews, and of modern Europe at large.

Walter Zev Feldman is a leading researcher
in both Ottoman Turkish and Jewish music. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at NYU
in Abu Dhabi.

Registration required.

Visit: http://jhsgh.org/klezmer/

Sponsored by:
Jewish Hartford European Roots
The Emanuel Synagogue Adult Education Program
Jewish Historical Society

Contact Information: Lynn Newman at 860-727-6170 or lnewman@jewishhartford.org

More

Jewish Lives and the Situation in Germany - Regarding Others and "Us" in the Public Sphere

Monday, March 25th, 2019

12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Oak 236

Jewish Lives and the Situation in Germany - Regarding Others and
Esther Dischereit will present "Jewish Lives and the Situation in Germany - Regarding Others and 'Us' in the Public Sphere" for the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life Faculty Colloquium series. A kosher lunch will be provided.

The talk is free and open to the public. It is cosponsored by the Human Rights Institute, the Humanities Institute, and the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages.

About the Talk

The situation of Jews in Germany cannot be separated from the situation of other minority groups, and a close look reveals that one is reflected in and through the others. Many Muslims have been prompted to find civic interlocutors among the Jewish minority by the ways in which the majority population in German society has questioned whether and how they might "belong." In 2018, the Turkish and Turkish-German community in Germany witnessed the end of the so-called NSU trial against a member of a terrorist cell that called itself "National Socialist Underground (NSU)." The group was responsible for the murder of at least nine persons with migration background and a police officer. The number of arson attacks on refugee housing rose dramatically, and right-wing terrorists circulate lists of Jewish targets for potential attacks. Turkish and Jewish organizations call for investigations to continue and to recognize migrant perspectives in tackling racial attacks.

How does this effect "us"? To answer this, I must first ask, in addition: Who is this "us"? How ought "we," as Jewish citizens and migrants, respond to racialized hate crimes not sufficiently investigated by law enforcement and the judiciary in Germany? My talk will address some aspects of the current situation of Jews in light of the rise of AfD populist party politics in Germany and of German-American relations after the elections of Trump in the U.S.

About the Speaker

Esther Dischereit, described by her publisher, Suhrkamp Verlag, as "possibly the preeminent German-Jewish voice of the post-Shoah generation," lives in Berlin. She has published fiction, poetry and essays, as well as plays for radio and the stage. She is the founder of the avant-garde-project WordMusic and has worked as a curator for various projects in contemporary art/new media. She has collaborated with the dancer and choreographer Holly Handman-Lopez, the composer and percussionist Ray Kaczynski, Djane İpek İpekçioğlu, the concept artists Riccardo Ajossa, beate maria wörz and many others; most recently with the calligrapher Veruschka Goetz. She has been a Fellow at the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European and Jewish Studies and holds frequent lectures and readings in the United States, Canada, Israel, South America and Europe. Esther has received many prizes for her work, including the Erich Fried Prize in 2009.

Contact Information: Pamela Weathers, pamela.weathers@uconn.edu, 860-486-2271

More

Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Stuart Miller

Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

04:00 PM - 05:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Humanities Institute Seminar Room, Babbidge Library 4th Floor

Humanities Fellow Research Talk: Stuart Miller
Our UCHI Fellow will be presenting their research talk on “From Temple to Home to Community: The Survival and Transformation of Ancient Jewish Life in the Wake of Catastrophe” followed by a light reception.
For more information, please visit https://humanities.uconn.edu/2018-19fellows/.
If you require accommodation for this event, please contact uchi@uconn.edu at least one week prior to the event.

Contact Information: uchi@uconn.edu

More

Yiddish Tish

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Dodd Research Center Room 104

Yiddish Tish
The Yiddish Tish luncheon discussion group, led by Professor Sebastian Wogenstein, will meet in the Dodd Research Center, room 104.

The Yiddish Tish luncheon discussion group is a small, intimate gathering of members from the community and campus who meet monthly to read and speak Yiddish.

These sessions are open to any and all faculty, staff, students, and community members.

All reading and speaking levels are welcome.

Please bring a bag lunch, and we will provide dessert and drinks!

The Yiddish Tish is a program of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life at UConn.

https://judaicstudies.uconn.edu/yiddish-tish/

If you require an accommodation to participate, please contact Pamela Weathers at pamela.weathers@uconn.edu or 860-486-2271.

Contact Information: Pamela Weathers, 860-486-2271, pamela.weathers@uconn.edu

More

Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity

Thursday, April 4th, 2019

12:30 PM - 01:30 PM

Storrs Campus
WERTH 112

Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity
Professor Karen B. Stern will present the Gene and Georgia Mittelman Lecture in Judaic Studies: "Graffiti and the Forgotten Jews of Antiquity." A kosher lunch will be provided.

The talk is free and open to the public. It is made possible by the UConn Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, the Humanities Institute, the Anthropology Department, and the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages.

If you require an accommodation to participate, please contact Pamela Weathers at 860-486-2271 or pamela.weathers@uconn.edu.

About the Talk:
Few direct clues exist to the everyday lives and beliefs of ordinary Jews in antiquity. Just like their neighbors throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, ancient Jews scribbled and drew graffiti everyplace—in and around markets, hippodromes, theaters, pagan temples, open cliffs, sanctuaries, and even inside burial caves and synagogues. In this talk, Prof. Stern reveals how these markings can tell us more than we might expect about the men and women who made them. Drawing analogies with modern graffiti practices, she documents the overlooked connections between Jews and their neighbors to shed new light on the richness of their quotidian lives and on how commonly popular Jewish practices of prayer, mortuary commemoration, commerce, and civic engagement crossed ethnic and religious boundaries.

About the Speaker:
Karen B. Stern, Associate Professor of History at Brooklyn College of CUNY, conducts research across disciplines of archaeology, history, and religion and teaches courses on Mediterranean cultural history, visual history, and the material culture of Jews in the Greek and Roman worlds. She has conducted field research throughout the Mediterranean and has excavated in Petra (Jordan), Sepphoris (Israel), and ancient Pylos and the Athenian Agora (Greece). Having taught at Dartmouth College, USC, and Brown University, she has served as a research fellow of the NEH, Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (Jerusalem), and the Getty Villa.

Contact Information: Pamela Weathers, 860-486-2271, pamela.weathers@uconn.edu

More

The Case for Humanities

Find out why a degree in humanities offers a lifetime of benefits. Visit the National Humanities Alliance:

www.studythehumanities.org

Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life

Phone: 860-486-2271 Fax: 860-486-6332
E-mail: judaicstudies@uconn.edu
Address: Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
405 Babbidge Road - U-1205
Room 158
Storrs, CT 06269

Connect With Us!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

E-News Subscribe

February enews

  • © University of Connecticut
  • Disclaimers, Privacy & Copyright
  • Accessibility
  • Webmaster Login
  • Contact
  • About
  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • Event Calendar