CCJS News Archives

News and Publications Archives

Announcements

Winter 2010

Shalom Y’all… Exploring the Jewish Experience in the American South One of Carolina’s unique academic strengths is its expertise in the history of the Jewish South, and how, over time, Jewish southerners have blended their regional southern identities with their religious and cultural identities. Professor Marcie Cohen Ferris offers a compelling, and very popular, course to Carolina students who want to learn more about “the braided identity” of Jewish Southerners. Read More.

Student Profile: T. Fielder Valone, Jr., ’11
T. Fielder Valone, Jr., a History and American Studies major, is the first recipient of the Elsie Kaplan “Mother Shapiro” ZBT Undergraduate Research and Travel grant in Jewish Studies. He used the funding to help cover expenses for a month-long research trip in New York City this past July. There, he averaged six hours a day examining eyewitness testimonies of Lithuanian-Jewish survivors of genocide, collected immediately after World War II and now archived at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Read More

Thank You

The Carolina Center for Jewish Studies in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences gratefully thanks the donors who have supported its students, faculty, and programs during the University’s most recent fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Generous gifts to the Center in recent months will provide ongoing, crucial discretionary support for Jewish Studies. Recent gifts to the fund were made by Gary J. Kaminsky and Lori Kaminsky, who created the Gary J. and Lori Kaminsky Endowment Fund for Jewish Studies, and Jeffrey A. Gorelick and Bari L. Gorelick, who formed The Jeffrey A. and Bari L. Gorelick Fund for Excellence in Jewish Studies.

News Briefs

DIANA BLOOM, ’11, a German Language and Literature major, received a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service to conduct research on Jewish- Gentile relations in the Frankfurter Judengasse, the Frankfurt Jewish ghetto, during the Fettmilch uprising.

STEVEN WERLIN, who is completing his Ph.D. in Religious Studies, was
awarded the 2010 Hershel Shanks Prize from the Biblical Archaeology
Society. The award is given based on his academic paper entitled “Appetite for Destruction? The Archaeological Evidence for Jewish Iconoclasm.”

return to top

Fall 2010

Jonathan Boyarin Appointed Associate Director

Boyarin Jonathan Boyarin, who joined Carolina’s Department of Religious Studies in 2007 as the Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Thought, has been appointed associate director for the Center. He will work with Jonathan Hess on long-range planning for the Center, curriculum development, fund raising and public outreach. Professor Boyarin has been very active on behalf of the Center since coming to Carolina, including creating and teaching the new core course, Introduction to Jewish Studies, leading and participating in several seminars and events for the general public, and serving as faculty advisor to graduate students working in the field of Jewish Studies. Boyarin, an anthropologist and lawyer, has served as visiting professor at Wesleyan University and Dartmouth College and came to Carolina from the University of Kansas, where he was distinguished professor of Modern Jewish Studies. Boyarin received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1998, after receiving his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the New School for Social Research in New York in 1984. His research and writing combine his backgrounds in anthropology and Yiddish culture and he the author, coauthor, or editor of a dozen books. His latest book, The Unconverted Self, was published in 2009.

Hebrew Bible Through the Ages lambert For Professor David Lambert, studying the Hebrew Bible means much more than simply reading the ancient text. He extends his study to explore how the Bible is interpreted through the ages, and how different cultural assumptions alter how people approach the Bible. Read More

Van der Horst Professorship Flora Cassen will join Carolina’s History department next academic year as the JMA and Sonja Van der Horst Fellow in Jewish History and Culture. Her research focus is Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History. The JMA and Sonja van der Horst Distinguished Professorship was established by the children of the late Johannes and Sonja van der Horst with reparation funds that were awarded to their mother.

Events for 2010-2011

wiesel The Center has announced its public event series for the new academic year.

Advisory Board Members Four members of the Center’s Advisory Board have rotated off the board after serving terms since 2002: Barry Schochet, Harvey Colchamiro, Jay Schwartz and Gary Kaminsky. Joining the Advisory Board this year are Rhonda Silver of New Jersey, Lori B. Wittlin of Washington, D.C. and Gary J. Kaminsky of New York (no relation to the other Gary Kaminsky).

return to top

Spring 2010

levin Levin Family Creates New Endowment for Jewish
Studies Faculty
Seymour M. Levin, ’48 and Carol Cole Levin of Greensboro, N.C., have recently expanded their support of the Center by establishing a new faculty endowed chair in Jewish Studies. Read more....

Faculty Research Advances the Field of Jewish Studies
The research efforts of the Center’s faculty benefit scholars worldwide and advance the field of Jewish Studies. They also enhance teaching efforts at Carolina, expose graduate students and undergraduates to new intellectual ideas, and position the university as a major center for Jewish Studies. Read more....

gindi Graduate Student Profile:
Joseph Gindi
Working with Professor Jonathan Boyarin, Gindi’s scholarly focus is on American Judaism and Jewish culture. Read more...

Faculty Course Development Awards Several faculty members were awarded course development grants to create new Jewish Studies courses or add Jewish Studies content into existing courses in the College of Arts and Sciences. The awards also will allow the university to add Jewish Studies courses to meet student demand.

Undergraduate Research Awards T. Fielder Valone, Jr., class of 2011, is the first recipient of the Elsie Kaplan “Mother” Shapiro ZBT Undergraduate Research and Travel grant in Jewish Studies and Joseph “Trey” Meeks, class of 2010, received an undergraduate research award from the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Religious Studies.

return to top

Winter 2009

vermes Donors Make Events Possible
Through the years, more than 60 events such as public lectures, concerts, film viewings, academic seminars, lunchtime discussions, and two-day workshops have enriched the student experience and enlightened and entertained the general public. And they were all made possible through private support. Read more....

josh Student Profile: Josh Thompson, '10
Language requirement opens doors to unique experiences for medical school hopeful. Read more....

rich Donor Profile:
Sandra & Stephen Rich, '64
Traffic Light Changes Future for Couple, and Carolina. Read more....

Advisory Board: The Center welcomes several new members of the Advisory Board: Jonathan Fassberg ’88, JoAnn Pizer-Fox, Toby Osofsky ’03, Marion Robboy, and Peter W. Schneider ’78, G’81.

Facebook: The Center is now on Facebook:

return to top

Fall 2009

Evyatar Marienberg Joins Faculty
Carolina Students will have several new courses to chose from this academic year, led by the newest member of the Jewish Studies Program, Evyatar Marienberg, the inaugural Sara and E.J. Evans Fellow in Jewish History and Culture Read more....

vermes Public Events for 2009-2010
The Center announces community events and academic lectures for 2009-2010. Read more....

evans Eli N. Evans '58 Receives Honorary Degree Evans, a writer, philanthropist, and founding chair of our Advisory Board, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Commencement in May. Read more....

boyarin "Intro to Jewish Studies" Course
Undergraduates pursuing a minor in Jewish Studies are now benefitting from a new core course, "Introduction to Jewish Studies", taught by Professor Jonathan Boyarin. Read more....