Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies
1155 East 60th Street, Room 302A
Chicago, IL 60637
773.702.7108
ccjs@uchicago.edu

 

Events 2015-2016

Endowed Lectures

The Joyce Z. Greenberg Visiting Professorship Lectures

January 28, 2016, Edwin Seroussi. The winter Greenberg Lecture was given by Edwin Seroussi, professor of musicology and director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was entitled, “Jews Becoming Modern: The Musical Track.” The lecture was attended by approximately 45 people. A public reception and private dinner followed.

May 17, 2016, Israel Gershoni. The spring Greenberg Lecture was given by Israel Gershoni, professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University, and was entitled, “Demon and Infidel: Egyptian Intellectuals Confronting Hitler and Nazism During the Second World War 1939­–1945.” The lecture was attended by approximately 75 people. A public reception and a private dinner followed, attended by Mrs. Greenberg.

The Jean and Harold Gossett Lecture in Memory of Holocaust Victims Martha and Paul Feivel Korngold

May 3, 2016, David Shneer. The Gossett Lecture was delivered by David Shneer, the Louis P. Singer Professor of Jewish History and professor of history, religious studies and Jewish studies at the University of Colorado – Boulder. The lecture was entitled, “Grief: The History of the World’s First Holocaust Liberation Photograph and the Man Who Made It.” The lecture was attended by approximately 45 people. A public reception and a private dinner followed, attended by Prof. Philip and Mrs. Suzanne Gossett.

Conferences

October 14–15, 2015. “Etgar Keret’s Summer Camp.” A two-day conference at the University of Chicago, co-sponsored by the Heksherim Institute for Israeli Literature and Culture at Ben Gurion University in the Negev and the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago. Named after one of Keret’s most famous books (translated as “Kneller’s Happy Campers”), this gathering was the first international conference devoted to the work of this important Israeli novelist, filmmaker and essayist. Keret is a winner of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Camera D’or and a French Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Times, among many other publications, and on This American Life, where he is a regular contributor. Keret’s books have been published in 36 languages. He teaches at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and his latest work, The Seven Good Years, a memoir, was recently published in the US. The conference included academic panels with lectures by specialists from Israel, the US and Asia, as well as a public interview with Keret, a roundtable conversation with Keret and a group of prominent novelists and translators, and a screening of one of Keret’s films. Co-Chairs: Yigal Schwartz (Ben Gurion University) and Na’ama Rokem (University of Chicago)

October 18–19, 2015. “Martin Buber: Philosopher of Dialogue.” One of the most profound and influential Jewish philosophers of the twentieth century, Buber articulated his concept of “dialogue” most famously in his 1923 book, “I and Thou” and continued to develop it throughout his life in writings on Hasidism and the Hebrew Bible, philosophy, Christianity, and Zionism. In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Buber’s death, this two-day conference brought together leading scholars from around the country who together generated new questions and reflections at the heart of Buber’s thought.

Series, Workshops, and Symposia

October 22–23, 2015. “Xenophobia and Alterophobia in Pre-Modern Ottoman Lands.” The widely accepted historical view posits that the economic and social stability of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire made it a safe and secure environment for a peaceful coexistence. Historical sources, however, suggest that the social and cultural realities of the Ottoman era were far more complex. This symposium aims to reconstruct, to the extent possible, the mind-set of people living in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Ottoman lands. Presenters will explore patterns in expressions of dislike in literature, historiography, and religious texts, but particularly in those texts that one would classify as “ego documents,” such as memoirs or otherwise personalized accounts. The symposium was organized by Hakan Karateke (University of Chicago), Helga Anetshofer (University of Chicago) and Erdem Çipa (University of Michigan). It was co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Division of the Humanities, the Humanities Visiting Committee, the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, the Norman Wait Harris Memorial Fund, and the Center for International Studies.

November 2, 2015; January 25, 2016; April 13, 2016. Messianism: The 2015–2016 Midwestern Inter-University Workshop in Jewish Studies. The Midwestern Inter-University Workshop in Jewish Studies brought together graduate students and faculty from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Indiana University at Bloomington. Its aim was to foster a larger and more interactive and engaged community in Jewish Studies, facilitating dialogue and networking between ultimately geographically proximate peers and peer institutions. The goal was to create a forum for sustained thought and discussion on a central topic in Jewish Studies that was of immediate contemporary interest, while also being open to inter-disciplinary perspectives and methodologies. The Workshop was organized by graduate students Erik Dreff (Divinity) and Sarah Zager (Divinity) with a grant from the American Academy for Jewish Research and funding from the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies, the University of Chicago Graduate Student Council, the Northwestern University Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies, and Indiana University. Keynote speakers included Martin Kavka (Florida State University), Dana Hollander (McMaster University), and Kenneth Seeskin (Northwestern University).

January 12 – March 8, 2016. Eyes Wide Open: Politics and Aesthetics in Contemporary Israeli Film. This film series was presented weekly by Doc Films and sponsored by the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies – Gemunder Family Fund with additional funding from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Newberger Hillel Center. The screenings were free and open to the public.

Jewish Studies Workshop. Primarily sponsored by the Council for Advanced Studies with matching honoraria for up to three speakers/year from the Center for Jewish Studies. Organized by graduate students Anna Band (History) and Yiftach Ofek (Divinity) with faculty sponsors Sarah Hammerschlag, Paul Mendes-Flohr, and Sunny Yudkoff.

Hebrew Bible Workshop. Primarily sponsored by the Council for Advanced Studies with matching honoraria for up to three speakers/quarter from the Center for Jewish Studies. Organized by graduate students Jesse DeGrado and Cathleen Chopra-McGowan, with faculty sponsors Jeffrey Stackert and Simeon Chavel.

Graduate Student Meetings. The Center for Jewish Studies, at the request of the Graduate Student Advisory Committee, sponsored three brunches where graduate students from across the university could meet and interact on their research.

Yiddish Tish. The Center for Jewish Studies provides funding for a quarterly Yiddish conversation breakfast “Tish.” Organized by Yiddish Lecturer, Sunny Yudkoff.

Individual Lectures, Workshops, and Events with CCJS as Primary Sponsor

November 3, 2015. Annual Graduate Student and Faculty Fall Reception. This annual event, which allows for the interaction of students and faculty members, was attended by approximately 25 people. A buffet dinner was provided.

April 26, 2016. Film: “The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer.” This event featured a screening of the 2014 documentary film, “The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer,” followed by Q & A session with the film’s director, Asaf Galay, led by Dr. Sunny Yudkoff of the Department of Germanic Studies. Approximately 20 people attended and refreshments were provided.

June 2, 2016. Annual Graduate Student Spring Reception. The reception this year was a luncheon held to honor the retirment of former CCJS director Josef Stern, William H. Colvin Professor in the Department of Philosophy. There were approximately 25 people in attendance.

Co-sponsored Events

August 14, 2015. Conference: “The New Ancient Legal History.” The conference was organized by Clifford Ando, Professor of Classics, History and Law and in the College, and was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ancient Religions, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Department of History, and the Department of Classics.

November 2, 2015. Lecture: “Mental Health Care Utilization Among the Most Traditionally Religous Jews and Muslims in Israel.” This lecture was presented by Ephraim Shapiro, a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Health Administration at Ariel University. Prof. Josef Stern of the Department of Philosophy responded. It was also sponsored by the Program on Medicine and Religion-Seminar Series.

November 24, 2015. The 69th Annual Latke Hamantash Debate. The Latke Hamantash Debate has been a University tradition since 1946. UChicago faculty members apply the knowledge and tools of their disciplines to resolve this age-old culinary conundrum in an evening of fun and frivolity. The debate was also sponsored by the University of Chicago and Newberger Hillel.

May 5, 2016. Concert: “Yom Ha-Shoah: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day.” This event was also sponsored by the Catherine L. Dobson Endowment of the Department of Music, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Global Midwest – Humanities Without Walls, and Ethnoise! – The Music, Language, and Culture Workshop.

June 7, 2016. Lecture: ” The Missing Chapter: Remarks on an Anthropologist Who Didn’t Read His Own Book.” This lecture was presented by André Levy, visiting scholar in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University and Senior Lecturer at Ben Gurion University. It was also sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.