New and Noteworthy

PHOENICIANS, PHILISTINES, AND CANAANITES: THE LEVANT AND THE CLASSICAL WORLD Getty Villa, Los Angeles For a second year, the 2021–22 term of the Getty Scholars Program at the Villa will focus on the ancient cultures of the Levant and their relations with the classical world. Lying on the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean, the Levant was a crucial crossroads between the classical world of Greece and Rome and the kingdoms of the Near East. Home to the ancient peoples of Phoenicia, Ugarit,...

Moya Bedward (PhD candidate, History) has been awarded a New Directions in Jewish Studies Lectureship by UC-Davis for the 2020-21 academic year. In May 2020, Moya was the recipient of the Alexander and Ruth Seaman Award from the Department of Jewish Studies and the Bildner Center. Bedward also presented her research in the talk “ ‘I remember the Jews’: Memory, Dual Marginality, and Belonging as Haratin in 20th-century Morocco” for the Jewish studies department in October 2019.

One of the current worldwide research projects is entitled “Hebrew Books within Books.”  With the spread of printing in Europe between the years c. 1450 – c. 1600, bookbinders needed more and more material to bind the hundreds if not thousands of books being produced in newly established print shops in Italy, Germany, and elsewhere.  Since older manuscripts no longer were needed, the bookbinders ripped apart these medieval documents, and started to repurpose the sturdy parchment scraps for the...

This week combines the SAS Major, Minor fair with major-to-career panels hosted by departments and career readiness talks relevant to SAS students given by alumni, peers, and professionals. This new combination of events can help students make vital connections between their academic, personal, and career goals and build networks with alumni who can help. Read more

Yiddish: Biography of a Language, published by Oxford University Press (2020).  Yiddish: Biography of a Language presents the story of this centuries-old language, the foundational vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews, from its origins to the present, spoken by Jewish communities—as well as some non-Jews—located around the world. The most widely spoken Jewish language on the eve of the Holocaust, Yiddish continues to play a significant role in Jewish life today in a diversity of contexts, from Hasidim...

Professor Debra Ballentine will discuss Daniel O. McClellan’s 2020 dissertation, “Deity and Divine Agency in the Hebrew Bible: Cognitive Perspectives” on the BRANE Collective PhD showcase series. Thursday, October 22 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EST Read more about the program.

We are please to share that three faculty members in the Department of Jewish Studies have been promoted to the rank of Professor! Nancy Sinkoff, Professor of Jewish Studies and History, Academic Director of the Bildner Center Paola Tartakoff, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Chair of the Department of Jewish Studies Emma Wasserman, Professor of Religion, Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Religion

Professor Michal Rauher announces the publication of her new book, Conceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women, Indiana Press, 2020. Interview in The Times of Israel on January 6, 2021Article in Jewish Link on December 3, 2020Article in Jewish Standard on December 2, 2020 Recording of the Discussion

Professor Nancy Sinkoff will be speaking on her new book, From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History. Wednesday, September 23, SUNY-New Paltz Program information here Monday, October 19, Columbia University

Professor Paola Tartakoff will speak on "the Deep Roots of Modern Anti-Judaism" in the series “Antisemitism Since the Holocaust: Israel, America, and Europe,” sponsored by American University’s Jewish Studies Program and the Center for Israel Studies. Thursday, September 104:00 PM Read more about the event

"Jews in Arabia"  Professor Gary Rendsburg, Blanche and Irving Laurie Chair in Jewish History Tuesday, Sept 15 11:00 a.m. EST / 4:00 p.m. London timeZoom lecture Read more about the event The lecture is free, but one must register by emailing Sheila Ford at secretary@aias.org.uk.

AAJR Cross-Institutional Cooperative Grant Recipients AMERICAN ACADEMY FOR JEWISH RESEARCH Congratulates Its Cross-Institutional Cooperative Grant Recipients The American Academy for Jewish Research has provided grants to faculty at North American universities to 1) encourage academic collaboration between Jewish studies programs (or faculty) at multiple institutions, either in the same city or in close geographical proximity, or 2) enable collaborative scholarly endeavors that would not...

The Museum of the Bible is winning over some of its biggest critics: Jewish scholars The prominent acquisition of a medieval Hebrew manuscript that the museum calls the Washington Pentateuch has Jewish scholars taking notice. Read article

Rebecca Chanin (class of 2020), double major in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies, with an assortment of Hebrew language and Jewish Studies courses as well, completed her Interdisciplinary Honors Thesis entitled “At The Hands of Others: Stories of Holocaust Survival,” during academic year 2019‒2020. Instead of a typical honors thesis, Rebecca took the route of creating a documentary film, using materials from the Shoah Project Visual History Archives (University of Southern...

Prof. Shachar Pinsker offers an advanced Hebrew course at the University of Michigan in the coming semester, Fall 2020. Open to any student in the Big Ten Academic Alliance system through the CourseShare program. Click for more details Potential students are welcome to contact Prof. Pinsker at: spinsker@umich.edu Must register for course 01:563:491:02 (Index # 21253) for Rutgers credit.

Professor Yael Zerubavel is the winner of the AIS Lifetime Achievement Award for 2019. This award honors Dr. Zerubavel’s lifetime of exceptional scholarship and academic achievement in the field of Israel Studies, and recognizes that her lasting and path-breaking contributions have significantly shaped the field. Yael Zerubavel is a Professor Emerita in Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers University. She is recognized as a pioneer in the field of cultural studies, collective memory and...

Department of Jewish Studies and Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life  Virtual End-of-Year Celebration and Award Ceremony Tuesday, May 5 Honoring our award recipients and our 2020 graduates! In the News The New Jersey Jewish News has highlighted the award winners from Middlesex County and Essex County.

TIMES OF CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY: AN ONLINE SERIES WITH JTS FACULTY AND FELLOWS Is There a Jewish Continuity Crisis? Monday, June 81:00 - 2:15 PM ET Dr. Michal Raucher, Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies at Rutgers and Fellow at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, examines the phenomenon of Jewish leaders invoking the threat of a demographic crisis to implore young Jews to procreate at higher rates. Using biblical, rabbinic, and contemporary texts, she'll consider what it would mean to...

Click on over and chat about Jewish Studies Fall 2020 courses Paola Tartakoff Department Chair Monday, April 6, 2020 12:00 PM  Michal RaucherUndergraduate Director Monday, April 13, 202012:00 PM

Student Awards DEADLINE EXTENDED! Spring 2020 award applications now being accepted until April 1. Click for applications and award details *** Congratulations to the Fall 2019 Award Recipients:Moyagaye Bedward, Dina Fradkin, Anuska Lahiri, Amanda Leifer, and Annabelle Sinoff