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Photo note: To download a photo of Eizenstat, see end of release.

Eizenstat headlines Jewish Studies lecture series at UNC

By DEE REID
College of Arts and Sciences

CHAPEL HILL -- Stuart Eizenstat, former deputy secretary of the treasury and an expert on Holocaust restitution issues, is among the distinguished speakers in the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies Inaugural Lecture Series at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The series begins Sept. 23 and continues throughout the academic year with a total of six free, public lectures.

Eizenstat will present the Kaplan-Brauer Lecture on the Contribution of Judaism to Civilization during the spring semester on a date to be announced later. A 1964 Carolina alumnus, Eizenstat will draw from his book, "Imperfect Justice," to discus the political and ethical issues raised by the legal and diplomatic efforts to acquire more than $8 billion in compensation from Swiss, German, Austrian and French companies.  A former ambassador to the European Union, he is currently a partner in the law firm of Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. Eizenstat gave UNC’s 2000 commencement address and received an honorary doctor of law degree.

Other lectures in the series are as follows:

• Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., Toy Lounge (Dey Hall)
  Emily Bingham, an independent scholar from Louisville, Ky. will discuss how a Jewish family confronted the evangelical South during the early 19th century. Drawing from her book, "Mordecai: An Early American Family" (Hill and Wang, 2003), Bingham will talk about an extraordinary clan responding to religious pressures in North Carolina and Virginia.
  
  
• Thursday, Oct. 9. 7:30 p.m., Greenlaw 101
  William G. Dever, professor emeritus of near eastern archaeology at the University of Arizona, will discuss "Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?"
  Dever, who has excavated in the Near East for over three decades, will explore contemporary controversies regarding the reality of ancient Israel as described in the Bible, and examine the archaeological evidence for the accuracy of the biblical narratives.
  
  
• Tuesday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m., Toy Lounge
  Lawrence H. Schiffman, distinguished professor and chair of the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, will discuss "Scholars, Scrolls and Scandals:  The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of Judaism." He will survey the controversies regarding the discovery, excavation and publication of the scrolls, and illustrate their meaning for the history of Judaism.
  
  
• Tuesday, Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m., Toy Lounge
  Marilyn Reizbaum, professor of English at Bowdoin College, will discuss "Criminology and Jewish Degenerationism at the Fin-de-Sihcle." Reizbaum, the author of  "James Joyce's Judaic Other" (Stanford University Press, 1999), will present part of her new project on the role of Jews and Jewishness in late 19th century theories of degeneration.
  
  
• Tuesday, March 30, 7:30 p.m., Room, to be announced
  David J. Halperin, who taught the history of Judaism at UNC for 25 years, will discuss "Abraham Miguel Cardozo:  The Visions of a Mystical Messiah." One of the most extraordinary figures of 17th-century Judaism, Cardozo was a mystic, a would-be Messiah, and an ex-Roman Catholic.  Halperin will explore Cardozo's mystical visions and his dual worlds of Christian and Jewish religious experience.

The Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, was established a year ago to provide scholarly understanding of Judaism and the historic Jewish experience. The center brings together scholars from a range of academic departments including English, Germanic languages, history, political science, religious studies and Slavic languages and literatures.

The lectures are co-sponsored by the Curriculum in American Studies, the Center for the Study of the American South, the Department of Religious Studies and North Carolina Hillel.

For up to date information, consult the Web site of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies at http://ccjs.unc.edu

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Photo url: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/event/lecture/eizenstat082703.jpg

College of Arts and Sciences contacts:  Dr. Jonathan Hess, director of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies and professor of Germanic languages, phone 843-9160, email jmhess@email.unc.edu. Dee Reid, communications director, phone 843-6339, email deereid@unc.edu.