Spring 2009 EventsAll events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Email for further information. Select Month:
Public Panel on Islamophobia and Comedy Friday, January 16, 12:00pm, 401 Fisher-Bennett Panelists: Dr. Rahim Armat, Kodoom.com, Mucahit Bilici, Assistant Professor CUNY John Jay, Jordan Elgrably, The Levantine Center and Sultans of Satire The Middle East Center, The Levantine Center and Rosemont College also invite you to a night of comedy starring Mr. Elgrably and special guests Elham Jazab and Mike Batayeh at Rosemont College's Lawrence Hall, 7PM For Event Info and
Comedy Show Tickets, email James Ryan at jamryan@sas.upenn.edu A Head Without a Body? Reconstructing the History of Jews in Business Jonathan Karp (Binghamton University, SUNY) Tuesday, January 20, 5:00pm, Classroom F95, Huntsman Hall, 3730 Walnut St. Figures like Shakespeare's Shylock and Dickens' Fagin have tragically shaped popular images of Jews in business. But the history of Jewish involvement in commerce reveals a far more complex tale of economic opportunity and group survival. This series of three lectures, presented by scholars participating in this year's program on "Jews, Commerce, and Culture" at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, explores the dynamic of cultural stereotyping and minority group involvement in modern commercial life. Reception at 4:00pm, 8th floor, Huntsman Hall Part of the Wharton/Katz Center Lecture Series on "Jews in Business: Between Myth and Reality." Cosponsored by the Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series in the Jewish Studies Program. Richard Popkin's Jewish Questions Jeremy Popkin (University of Kentucky) Wednesday, January 21, 5:00pm, 209 College Hall Historian Richard Popkin was well known for his many contributions to Jewish history, and particularly for his study of the interaction between Christians and Jews in the early modern period. His son, Jeremy Popkin, has been researching his father's correspondence since his death in 2005, and it provides a fascinating picture of how Richard Popkin's interest in Jewish subjects developed, and how it was related to his personal and highly idiosyncratic engagement with Judaism. (Some of that correspondence included exchanges with the late Penn Professor Judah Goldin.) Part of the Jewish Studies Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series, and co-sponsored by the Department of History and the Department of Near Eastern Langages and Civilizations. Event is free and open to the public. No RSVP necessary.
Kinship, Commerce, and Trade Networks: The Early Modern Sephardic Diaspora Evelyne Oliel-Grausz (University of Paris I, Sorbonne) Wednesday, January 28, 5:00pm, Classroom F95, Huntsman Hall, 3730 Walnut St. Figures like Shakespeare's Shylock and Dickens' Fagin have tragically shaped popular images of Jews in business. But the history of Jewish involvement in commerce reveals a far more complex tale of economic opportunity and group survival. This series of three lectures, presented by scholars participating in this year's program on "Jews, Commerce, and Culture" at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, explores the dynamic of cultural stereotyping and minority group involvement in modern commercial life. Part of the Wharton/Katz Center Lecture Series on "Jews in Business: Between Myth and Reality." Co-sponsored by the Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series in the Jewish Studies Program.
February Natan Sharansky at Penn Hillel Natan Sharansky Monday, February 2, 7:00pm, Shotel Dubin Auditorium (2nd Floor),
Steinhardt Hall, Penn Hillel Join Natan Sharansky, former Soviet dissident, human rights activist, Israeli politician, and recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, in a dialogue about human rights, freedom, justice, democracy, peace and the Middle East. This is a unique opportunity to hear a world-renowned speaker and human rights activist talk about important world events that effect each and every one of us. Part of the Jewish Studies Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series, and co-sponsored byJewish National Fund, Penn Hillel, Penn Israel Coalition, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Book Discussion, Song of the Distant Dove: Pilgrimage Poems by Judah Halevi (Oxford University Press, 2007). Raymond Scheindlin Tuesday, February 3, 5:00pm, Kelly Writers House Judah Halevi (d. 1141), one of the great poets of the golden age of Hebrew literature (10th-13th centuries), devoted his last years to a pilgrimage to the Land of Israel. In his late poetry he has left a precious record of his inner experience as he made his way from Raymond Scheindlin is Professor of Medieval Hebrew Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. A native of Philadelphia, Scheindlin received his B.A from the University of Pennsylvania, his master's degree and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Arabic Language and Literature from Columbia University. His scholarly works include Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life and The Gazelle: Medieval Hebrew Poems on God, Israel, and the Soul. Active as a literary translator, he published a verse translation of the Book of Job. He is also the author of a Short History of the Jewish People. Part of the Jewish Studies Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series, and co-sponsored by the Kelly Writers House,
Before Rothschild: Jewish Businessmen in Eighteenth Century Eastern Europe Adam Teller (University of Haifa) Wednesday, February 4, 5:00pm, Classroom F95, Huntsman Hall, 3730 Walnut St. Figures like Shakespeare's Shylock and Dickens' Fagin have tragically shaped popular images of Jews in business. But the history of Jewish involvement in commerce reveals a far more complex tale of economic opportunity and group survival. This series of three lectures, presented by scholars participating in this year's program on "Jews, Commerce, and Culture" at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, explores the dynamic of cultural stereotyping and minority group involvement in modern commercial life. Part of the Wharton/Katz Center Lecture Series on "Jews in Business: Between Myth and Reality." Cosponsored by the Kutchin Faculty Seminar Series in the Jewish Studies Program.
A Reading and Conversation with Lisa New Elisa New (Harvard University) Thursday, February 5, 6:30pm, Kelly Writes House, 3805 Locust Walk Professor Lisa New, will read from her forthcoming memoir, "Jacob's Cane: a Jewish Family's Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of Baltimore and London, a Memoir in Five Generations" (forthcoming Fall 2009, Basic Books), with an introduction by Rebecca Bushnell. Elisa New is Professor of English at Harvard University where she teaches American literature from the Puritans through Philip Roth. She is the author of "The Regenerate Lyric: Theology and Innovation in American Poetry" (1992 Cambridge) and "The Line's Eye: Poetic Experience, American Sight" (Harvard, 1999). A third scholarly work,"Where the Meanings Are: Studies in the Literature of New England," also to be published by Harvard University Press, is nearing completion. More information on Jacob's Cane: Article in the Harvard Gazette: http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/1999/09.23/elisa_new.html Spaces will be limited - RSVP to wh@writing.upenn.edu or 215.573.9748.A reception will follow the program.Sponsored by the Kelly Writers House. Silvers Visiting Scholar Lecture: Jews and the Business of Rock "n" Roll Jonathan Karp Binghamton University, SUNY. Tuesday, February 17, 5:00 pm, Class of 1955 Room, Van Pelt Library Jews' creative influence on twentieth-century American music is well known. But Jews' have made an equally significant contribution as businessmen and entrepreneurs of popular music. This talk focuses on the role Jews played in creating independent record labels during the 1940s and '50s that pioneered the production and sale of commercial black music, "rhythm and blues." These "indy" labels - some founded by Jewish jazz aficionados, others by tough, unsentimental businessmen -- created the methods and markets that eventually led to the emergence of Rock "n" Roll as America's preeminent popular music. This presentation explores the musical, moral, and entrepreneurial dimensions of their unusual story. The respondent will be: Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr., Associate Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania Jonathan Karp is Associate Professor in the Judaic Studies and History Departments at Binghamton University, SUNY. He has taught at Franklin & Marshall College and was Blackstone Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College in 2006. His book, The Politics of Jewish Commerce in Europe, 1638-1848 was published this year by Cambridge University Press. His co-edited volume with Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, The Art of Being Jewish in Modern Times, was recently released in paperback and another collection of essays, co-edited with Adam Sutcliffe, on Philosemitism in History, will be published at the end of 2009 (also by Cambridge). He is one of the architects of the current fellowship year at UPenn's Katz Center, devoted to the topic of "Jews, Commerce and Culture." Karp has written on a range of subjects in intellectual and cultural history, including recent articles on Paul Robeson and Bob Dylan. He is currently completing a book manuscript on economic and cultural relations between Blacks and Jews. Sponsored by David, C'71,and Patricia, CW'72, Silvers. Co-sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies and the History department. Click here for the flyer.
Jews in China: Legends, History, and Perspectives Guang PAN Friday, February 20, 11:00AM, Shotel Dubin Auditorium, Penn Hillel, Steinhardt Hall, 215 South 39th St., Prof. Guang PAN, Walter & Seena Fair Professor of Jewish Studies, Dean of Center of Jewish Studies Shanghai (CJSS), Director of the Shanghai Center for International Studies Part of the Jewish Studies Program Kutchin Seminar Series, and co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies, and Penn Hillel.
Film Screening: Adio Kerida Ruth Behar (University of Michigan) Friday, February 20, 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, 401 Fisher-Bennett Film screening and discussion with ethnographic filmmaker and anthropologist Ruth Behar, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Behar will be showing her new film, Adio Kerida, "an intimate story about the search for identity and memory among Sephardic Jews with roots in Cuba." Part of the Jewish Studies Program Kutchin Seminar Series, and co-sponsored with the Annenberg School, Departments of Anthropology and Cinema Studies, and the Latin American Studies Programs.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Is There Really a Solution? Featuring Professor of Political Science Ian Lustick and special guest Zvi Shtauber, former director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, this moderated discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A. Light refreshments will be served. Monday, March 23, 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm, Hall of Flags, Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce Street Graduate Chair and the Bess W. Heyman Professor of Political Science, Ian Lustick is an expert in American foreign policy and Middle East politics. A recipient of awards from the National Science Foundation, the Social Sciences Research Council, and the United States Institute of Peace, Dr. Lustick's present research focuses on the politics of Jewish and non-Jewish migration into and out of Israel/Palestine, as well as prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Until 2008 Zvi Shtauber was the Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an external and independent institute of Tel Aviv University dedicated to studying issues relating to Israel's national security and Middle East affairs. Prior to his tenure at the INSS, Dr. Shtauber had a 25-year career in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), retiring with the rank of Brigadier General. Upon his retirement from the IDF, Dr. Shtauber served as vice president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and in 1999 he became foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In 2001 he was appointed Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, a position he held until 2004. Sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Political Science and the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics.
Klezmer Concert and Yiddish Sing-along Penn Klezmer Orchestra Tuesday, March 24, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, Berkowitz Living Room (1st Floor), Penn Hillel, Steinhardt Hall, 215 S. 39th Street Come sing and dance with us! Free pizza!
The Rhetoric of the Stereotype: MISreading Medieval Jewish-Christian Relations Anthony Bale (University of London) Tuesday, March 24, 5:45 pm, Class of 1955 Room, Van Pelt Library Anthony Bale is author of The Jew in the Medieval Book: English Antisemitisms 1350-1500 (Cambridge, 2006). He is currently a fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, where he is working on a new book on affect, emotion, and response in medieval European images of Judaism.
He is the author of many articles on late medieval English literature and culture, on subjects ranging from London history and archeology to visual images and miracle legends. Part of the Jewish Studies Program Kutchin Seminar Series, and co-sponsored by Comparative Literature, History, and Religious Studies. Tablet and Torah: Mesopotamia and the Biblical World: A Conference in Honor of Barry Eichler Monday, March 30, 10: am to 5:30 pm, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
(Please enter by the Kress Entrance on the east side of the museum.) This conference is an academic gathering in honor of Dr. Barry L. Eichler,
Emeritus Associate Professor of Assyriology and Emeritus Associate Curator
of
the Babylonian Section of Penn Museum, who gave almost forty years of Website for full schedule:http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/events/calitem.php?which=1811 Sponsored by the Center for Ancient Studies, NELC, the Jewish Studies Program, and the University Museum.
Exodus 1947: The Ship that Launched a Nation - documentary showing and discussion with passenger Harry Brill Monday, April 6, 4:30 pm, McNeil 395, 3718 Locust Walk Holocaust survivor Harry Brill will speak and answer questions about his journey aboard the famous Exodus 1947 ship, following a showing of the Exodus 1947: The Ship that Launched a Nation documentary. With its 4,500 Jewish Survivors aboard, Exodus 1947 attempted to bring its passengers from Europe to Palestine in 1947, only to be turned back to Europe by the British Mandatory authorities. The ship became an international symbol of the need for free Jewish immigration to Palestine, and acted as a catalyst for the formation of the state of Israel in 1948. This event is run by the Jewish Studies Program Bassini Interns Program (organized by JSP Intern Mia Brill). The Possible Worlds of Bruno Schulz Michal Pawel Markowski (Jagiellonian University and Brown University) Monday, April 6, 5:30pm, Slought Gallery, 4017 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 Since one Polish critic, Wadyslaw Panas, offered a reading of Bruno Schulz's texts as mirroring the basic principles of the Lurianic Kabbalah, there has been a strong argument in the Schulz scholarship to what extent his literary work may be interpreted as representative for the Jewish tradition. Although it is evident that Bruno Schulz belonged to the same cultural formation of assimilated Jews as Franz Kafka, whose The Trial he translated or at least helped to translate, he very carefully disguised all points of direct reference to the well established repertoire of Jewish symbols or images. The lecture tries to pick up the issue of Schulz's Judaism by inscribing his work in the general framework of the Kabbalistic interpretative system. Looking at a few fascinating paragraphs from The Spring, one of the longest stories written by Bruno Schulz, concerning a hermeneutical journey towards the origins of meaning, a reader is confronted with much more than just a cultural topos present in the works of Carl Gustav Jung or Thomas Mann. Schulz, describing a metaphorical process of descending into the underworld, delineates a sophisticated ontology which spans his whole output. The main premise of this philosophy of being is the sharp distinction between the possible and the actual, which not only forms the basis for the creation of the world but also engenders other series of differences: between poetry and prose, between nothingness and being, and, last but not least, between interpretation and knowledge. Associating poetry, nothingness, and interpretation, Schulz inscribes himself, albeit not quite intentionally, in the long line of Kabbalistic tradition in which reading the sacred text was tantamount to participating in the infinite possibilities of the divine. Sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program Kutchin Seminar Series, and co-sponsored by Theorizing" Series, History Department and Slavic Languages and Literature Department.
50th Anniversary Concert Robert & Molly Freedman Jewish Sound Archive BEST OF PHILLY: PARTY BAND Monday, April 6, 8:00 pm, Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce Street "This band can get the crowd off its feet at any occasion...." Student Research Presentations in Jewish Studies Please join the Jewish Studies Students and Faculty as this year's majors and minors share their senior research projects. Tuesday, April 21, 5:00 pm, Max Kade Center, 3401 Walnut St., Room 329A (Entrance next to Starbuck's Cafe)
Free pizza for all!! Please RSVP to jsp-info@ccat.sas.upenn.edu or 215-898-6654. "TAMATS: The Birth of the Messiah:" Traditional and Modern Approaches to Torah Study: Isaiah 11 Dr. Shawn Zelig Aster, Assistant professor of Bible at Yeshiva University Wednesday, April 22, 6:00 pm, Grad lounge, Steinhardt Hall, Penn Hillel Shawn Zelig Aster is Assistant Professor of Bible at Yeshiva College and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Bible and Assyriology. He has taught at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the University of Haifa and researches the history of the Biblical period and the interrelationship of history and Biblical prophetic literature. This event is run by the Jewish Studies Program Bassini Interns Program (organized by JSP Interns Michael Rubin and Dina Bleckman).
Rethinking Paul on the Law: Implications for Jewish Thought and Christian Ethics Leora Batnitzky, Princeton University Thursday, April 23, 5:00 pm, Houston Hall of Flags Leora Batnitzky (Department of Religion at Princeton) is author of Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas: Philosophy and the Politics of Revelation (Cambridge, 2006). Reception Following The Department of Religious Studies' 2009 George Dana Boardman Lecture.
15th Annual Gruss Colloquium in Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania: 2008-2009 Katz Center fellows Monday - Wednesday, April 27-29, Class of '49 Auditorium, Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St. Full Program: http://www.cajs.upenn.edu/colloquium/inside-01.html Sponsored by the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.
Discussion Panel on Homosexuality and Religion Monday, May 4, 8:00 pm, Shotel Dubin Auditorium, Penn Hillel, 215 South 39th St. Panelists will speak and answer questions about their personal experiences reconciling their sexual orientations with their religious identities. Audience participation will also be welcome and encouraged. Kosher vegetarian food will be served. This event is run by the Jewish Studies Program Bassini Interns Program (organized by JSP Interns John Whitham, Malka Fleischmann and Estee Katkoff).
Annual Lehmann Workshop in the History of the Jewish Book: The Traditional Eastern European Jewish Book, 1500-1900 Moshe Rosman (Bar Ilan University) Sunday - Monday, May 10-11, Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies The Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania Library and the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, are pleased to announce the Manfred R. Lehmann Memorial Master Workshop. 2009 Topic: "The Traditional Eastern European Jewish Book, 1500-1900" For more information: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/lehmann09.htm
Yiddish Concert at Haverford College Richard Lenatsky, Judith Bro Pinhasik, and Dina Malka Botwinik Wednesday, May 20, 7:30 pm, Haverford College, KINSC (Science Center) Sharpless Auditorium, Haverford, PA 19041 Come to a free Yiddish Concert featuring songs by Montreal Composer David Botwinik. Piano accompaniment by Vladimir Ivanov & Alexander Botwinik (University of Pennsylvania). Use the Lancaster Avenue (Rt 30) entrance to the College and follow the signs for the Auditorium and parking. Sponsored by Yiddish Culture Festival 2009 at Haverford College. |
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