2021-02-12 - On Wednesday, February 10th, we joined with the Center for African Studies and Illini Hillel to co-sponsor a talk by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, a Ugandan rabbi serving the Abayudaya, a Baganda community in eastern Uganda. Rabbi Sizomu is the current leader of the 100-year old Abayudaya...
2020-04-20 - The Program in Jewish Culture & Society here at the University of Illinois is excited to announce yet another virtual event for our students and staff to stay engaged in learning and thought during these uncertain times. The next event will be a discussion of the work of Etgar Keret, who...
2020-03-17 - In accordance with the university policies and the advice of public health professionals, the Program in Jewish Culture & Society and the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies office will remain closed until further notice. We also have suspended ...
2020-03-05 - Students, faculty, and community members in Urbana-Champaign and in the Chicago suburbs had the chance to learn more about 10-12C. Jewish communities when we hosted Professor Jennifer Grayson earlier this week (March 1-2, 2020). Dr. Grayson serves as Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Assistant Professor...
2020-02-12 - The Program in Jewish Culture & Society is extremely pleased to announce that Joshua Kravitz has been awarded the Spring 2020 Ronald H. Filler Jewish Studies scholarship. Josh is a senior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Jewish Studies....
2020-01-31 - The Association for Jewish Studies held their Annual Meeting this year in sunny San Diego, California from December 15-17. Many University of Illinois faculty members and graduate students were in attendance. Prof. Brett Ashley Kaplan presented her paper “JewKlansman” on a riveting panel...
2020-01-03 - I hit the jackpot of students for the inaugural class of JS 209/CWL 209/ENGL 222, Jewish American and U.S. Minority Literatures in Dialogue. Hailing from physics, psychology, journalism, accounting, business, health sciences, civil engineering, history, social work, English and other disciplines,...
2019-11-09 - The University of Illinois held its annual diversity breakfast on Friday, November 8th, at the iHotel. Sean Garrick--the inaugural Vice-Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion--gave the keynote address. He noted that, not only is this year's incoming class the largest in the university's...
2019-11-09 - Professor Brett A. Kaplan has published a review of Sayed Kashua's Track Changes (2020). The novel is the fourth in what the author views as a quartet that also includes Dancing Arabs (2002), Let it Be Morning (2004), and Second Person Singular (2010).
2019-10-23 - "On October 16th, our class, Jewish American Literatures in Dialogue with U.S. Minority Literatures, enjoyed a rich and detailed tour of the Krannert Art Museum’s exhibit, Art Since 1948. Amy Powell, the curator of the exhibit, generously offered us many details about the fascinating multi-media...
2019-10-14 - A warm welcome to Omri Drumlevich, who is our Israel Studies Project visitor for the Fall semester. Omri was born in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. He danced with Mehola Jerusalem and studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Omri joined the Batsheva Dance Company in 2012 and spent 7 years with...
2019-09-09 - Etgar Lefkovits was Jerusalem correspondent at the Jerusalem Post, and also worked at the Jerusalem bureau of the New York Times. He was subsequently in Washington D.C. as Israel and Middle East analyst to the US Congress, and then worked as Foreign Affairs Director to Israel...
2019-09-08 - The 2019-2020 annual newsletter is now complete! The newsletter can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on 2019-2020 in ...
2019-09-02 - Students, faculty, visitors, and community members gathered at the Margie K. and Louis N. Cohen Center for Jewish Life on Sunday for our 2nd annual "Welcome Bagels" event. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another and to learn more about Jewish Studies and Jewish life on campus...
2019-08-17 - The Program in Jewish Culture & Society is pleased to announce that Johnna Jones has been awarded the Fall 2019 Ronald H. Filler Jewish Studies scholarship. Johnna is a junior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, majoring in Economics and minoring in Jewish Studies. Johnna is an...