Michigan State University College of Arts & Letters C-730 Wells Hall 619 Red Cedar Road East Lansing, MI 48824 Telephone: 517-432-3493 Fax: 517-355-4507 Web: jsp.msu.edu E-mail: [email protected] Yael Aronoff, Director Michael Serling, Chair, Advisory Board Bill Bilstad, Newsletter Editors Notes from the Director Our Jewish Studies Program had an excit- ies faculty had lunch with Jewish Studies tually engaging and celebratory spring. ing fall semester, hosting eight outside specialists and those interested in explor- Serling Visiting Israeli Scholar Alon Tal speakers and screening one film. This ing the minor. We now have a student will join us and teach two classes in spring we are having fourteen speakers in president of the minors, Aaron Wald, James Madison College. We will also be addition to our 10th Annual Israeli Film who helped initiate ideas, including some celebrating Ken Waltzer’s contributions Festival. We are co-sponsoring events changes to the website. Brad Isaakson, to MSU, James Madison College, and, of with a dozen units and programs across who has just completed his Jewish Studies course, Jewish Studies. Please mark your the university throughout the year, and minor, will be interning with Jewish Stud- calendars on March 27 and 28 for this continuing our monthly Jewish Studies ies this spring for his James Madison Col- celebration! research seminars with faculty and stu- lege internship credit. One of Brad’s tasks We’re happy to report that MSU has dents. will be aiding me in compiling a list of re-instated all six of the study abroad In October, Ken Waltzer and I partici- Israel and Jewish Studies related intern- programs in Israel. Chen Bram, last year’s pated in the first Committee on Institu- ships for students. Serling Visiting Israeli Scholar, will lead tional Cooperation meetings of Directors The Jewish Studies faculty had a pro- the summer program at Hebrew Univer- of Jewish Studies in Ann Arbor (which ductive meeting in November, and will sity in Jerusalem in 2015. included 15 universities, including the Big have a longer retreat this January. We We also will be carefully observing Ten Conference Institutions). We are do- will be brainstorming possible future po- Israeli politics as that country prepares for ing as well as, or better than, our peer sitions, programs, speakers, and symposi- new elections on March 17. Parties are universities in terms of student minors, ums. Some ideas include: a team-taught negotiating coalitions, new parties are and have stronger programming in Israel class introducing students to Jewish Stud- being formed, and others are choosing Studies, including our study abroad pro- ies; a Jewish Studies graduate certificate; new leaders. The elections, and the new grams, than many. This was a nice oppor- and one-credit opportunities for our stu- coalition government, could have a pro- tunity to collaborate, share ideas for dents who attend our co-curricular events found impact on important domestic is- speakers and grants, and communicate and compose related writing assignments. sues as well as foreign policy. We look about similar challenges. We have also drafted a description for a forward to watching these developments As the Jewish Studies specialization new endowed position in Holocaust and thinking through the implications transitions into being a minor, we contin- Studies, and have started fundraising for with you on March 25th. ue to look for new opportunities for our that position. students. In November, the Jewish Stud- We are looking forward to an intellec- ~ Yael Aronoff, Professor and Director Professor Ken Waltzer’s 22nd Annual Rabin Holocaust Lecture Big Bash Retirement Celebration Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 pm Kellogg Center, Lincoln Room Friday & Saturday, March 27–28 “Anti–Semitism in the 21st Century: Kellogg Center An Illusion? Or Time to Start Worrying?” Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of James Madison College and Jewish Studies Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies, will commemorate Ken Waltzer’s 43-year Emory University career at MSU with a welcome reception, panel discussions, special speakers, music, Anti-Semitism, particularly in Europe, has been on the rise. Is and an enjoyable dinner and social events. this trend real? Is it linked to events in the Middle East? If it is For more information, please contact Kim Allan at al- indeed a real phenomenon, what are the causes? Co- sponsored with James Madison College and the Center for [email protected] or 517-353-3381. Ticket reservations can be European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies. made online at www.jmc.msu.edu Jewish Studies Events Friday, February 20 Jewish Studies Faculty and Student Research Seminar Friday, January 16 “Nobility and Monstrosity in Elye Levita’s 16th Century Yiddish Jewish Studies Faculty and Student Research Seminar Chivalric Romance, Bove-bukh” “We Really Like Winston Better Than Weinstein! New York Margot B. Valles, Integrative Studies in Arts & Humanities, MSU City Jews and Name-changing in the Postwar Era” 10:00–11:30 am, Wells Hall B-342 Kirsten Fermaglich, Department of History, MSU *** 10:00–11:30 am, Wells Hall B-342 Friday, February 27 *** Jewish Studies Faculty and Student Research Seminar Tuesday, January 20 “Anti-Zionism to Zionism: Reform Judaism and Temple Beth El Guest Lecture of Detroit’s Alternate Course” “What’s Missing in Middle East Reporting” Laura Williams, Jewish Studies Specialist at MSU Mark Lavie, former Mideast AP journalist, 1999–2014 10:00–11:30 am, Wells Hall B-342 7:00 pm, *RCAH Theater, Snyder Hall C-20* *** *** Friday, March 20 Thursday, January 22 Jewish Studies Faculty and Student Research Seminar Guest Lecture “The Maurerschulen (Brick Mason Schools) at Auschwitz” “Water Scarcity in the Middle East: Ken Waltzer, Professor Emeritus, James Madison College, MSU Can Technology Be the Game Changer?” 10:00–11:30 am, Wells Hall B-342 Alon Tal, Ben Gurion University *** 7:00–8:30 pm, JMC Library, 322 South Case Hall Sunday, March 22 *** Monday, Marc 23 Wednesday, January 28 10th Annual Israeli Film Festival Faculty Panel Discussion Various times, Wells Hall B-122 “Analyzing Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land: The Triumph and *** Tragedy of Israel” Guest: Ari Shavit Wednesday, March 25 Panelists: Yael Aronoff, Ken Waltzer, and Marc Bernstein “The Implications of the March 17 Israeli Elections” Yael Aronoff, James Madison College, MSU 3:30–5:00 pm, Wells Hall B-342 7:00 pm, JMC Library, 322 South Case Hall *** *** Wednesday, January 28 Friday, March 27 Guest Lecture “My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel” Saturday, March 28 Ari Shavit, Israeli reporter and columnist for Haaretz Ken Waltzer’s Big Bash Retirement Celebration 7:00–8:30 pm, Case Hall, 3rd Floor, Club Spartan Various times, Kellogg Center *** *** Tuesday, February 3 Wednesday, April 1 Forestry Hanover Seminar Series Ada Finifter Memorial Lecture “All the Trees of the Forest: “Freedom and Death: The Holocaust and Greek Jewry” The Extraordinary Story of Israel’s Woodlands” Steven B. Bowman, Department of History, University of Cin- Alon Tal, Ben Gurion University cinnati 4:00–5:00 pm, Natural Resources Room 225 7:00 pm, JMC Library, 322 South Case Hall *** *** Tuesday, February 3, Wednesday, April 15 Jonathan Netanyahu Memorial Lecture 22nd Rabin Holocaust Lecture / Brill Memorial Lecture “The EU and its Working Definition of Anti-Semitism” “Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: R. Amy Elman, Department of Political Science, Kalamazoo An Illusion? Or Time to Start Worrying?” College Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor, Emory University 7:00–8:30 pm, JMC Library, 322 South Case Hall 7:00 pm, Kellogg Center, Lincoln Room *** *** Wednesday, February 18, Friday, April 24 Michael Brill Memorial Lecture Jewish Studies Faculty and Student Research Seminar “Tracking Time in Auschwitz” “Living Beyond Terrorism: Israeli Stories of Hope and Healing” Alan Rosen, International School for Holocaust Studies Zieva Konvisser, Israel Center for Treatment of Psychotrauma 7:00–8:30 pm, JMC Library, 322 South Case Hall 10:00–11:30 am, Wells Hall B-342 During summer 2013, I participated in the Highlighting Our Jewish Studies MSU Jewish Studies study abroad in Jerusa- Specialists and Minors lem. After returning, I was fortunate to be in Professor Waltzer’s last class before his retire- ment. This past fall I took a course on Jewish In January 2014 I embarked on the great- literature, taught by acclaimed author Lev est experience of my life, an eight-month Raphael, and completed my senior seminar with Professor journey to Israel. I spent a semester at the Aronoff. I am proud to be the President of Spartans for Isra- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I el and serve as the ASMSU Jewish Student Union representa- fell in love with the country, and was of- tive, in addition to being a Hasbara Fellowships Fellow, an fered the opportunity to do a summer AIPAC trained activist, and a former David Project intern. internship with the Jerusalem Post. I have ~ Aaron Wald, James Madison College, PTCD major found ways to share my experience abroad with the MSU community, such as participating in the 3rd Annual Learning Abroad Conference, and I am searching for ways to return to Israel. ~ Lia Kamana, Journalism major Professor Ken Waltzer’s Big Bash Retirement Celebration I am a senior, studying human resource management, and I have fulfilled my Jewish March 27–28, 2015 Studies specialization requirements through studying abroad in Israel with Professor James Madison College and the Jewish Yael Aronoff as well as taking multiple Jew- Studies Program are sponsoring a celebra- ish Studies classes with Professor Benjamin tion for Professor Kenneth Waltzer. After 43 Pollock. I have held various positions at years teaching at James Madison College, MSU’s Hillel including Alternative Spring including 7 years leading that college, and Break Chair, Freshman Engagement Intern, and Team Israel 10 years directing the Jewish Studies Pro- Programming Committee chair, through which I planned Isra- gram, Ken is retiring.