'Not Just for Jews'

Judaic-studies program prospers at Dickinson and beyond.

January 23, 2007

Faculty members Andrea Lieber, Nitsa Kann, Amy Wlodarski and Ted Merwin (back row) were joined by alumni Josh Yonas '05 and Rena Fraade '04 at the conference.

A quick scan of the program at a recent conference revealed that Dickinson is a major player in the interdisciplinary field of Jewish studies. At the 38th annual conference of the Association of Jewish Studies (AJS), held Dec. 17-19 in San Diego, four faculty members presented papers.

Dickinson was the only liberal-arts college to have so many presenters at the international conference and, in sheer numbers, was exceeded only by large research universities like Brandeis and Columbia, according to Andrea Lieber, associate professor of religion and Sophia Ava Asbell Chair of Judaic Studies.

Founded in 1969, AJS is a learned society and professional organization of 1,500 members that promotes, maintains and improves teaching and research in Jewish studies.

Dickinson, AJS maturing

Besides Lieber, the presenters were: Amy Wlodarski, assistant professor of music; Nitsa Kann, assistant professor of Hebrew and Judaic studies; and Ted Merwin, assistant professor of religion and coordinator of the Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life.

A presentation by a music professor indicates the maturing of Judaic studies as a discipline, Lieber points out.

"Twenty years ago this would not have happened. The rhetoric about being interdisciplinary is now actualized."

Contributions from scholars outside the traditional realm of Judaic studies enrich the conference and the field, she explains. For Wlodarski, who presented her research on music inspired by the Holocaust, the feedback from professionals from a different discipline was invaluable.

Religion and beyond

Dickinson's Judaic studies program is one of the oldest in the country, starting in the late 1960s when Professor Herb Alexander was asked to advise a new Hillel group on campus, Lieber says.

Alexander went on to organize holiday services and courses, helping to develop Jewish consciousness on campus, which led to the hiring of Ned Rosenbaum, the first appointment in Jewish studies.

Rosenbaum built a program that, while centering on the study of classical texts and biblical Hebrew, fostered Jewish-Christian dialogue and forged connections between the college and the Carlisle Jewish community.

Since those beginnings nearly 40 years ago, the program has grown to include Lieber, several contributing faculty members and Kann, a tenure-track Hebrew professor.

"Students can study Hebrew on par with other languages," Lieber says. "It's distinctive for a school our size to have a full-time Hebrew language instructor. It's a real strength."

As an interdisciplinary program, Lieber has seen Judaic studies move beyond East College and the religion department. More professors are including elements of Judaic studies in their curricula, and Judaic studies faculty members look to other subjects to develop more fully the interdisciplinary nature of the material they present.

Lieber points to an Eastern European history course that she teaches. She arranges guest lectures by mathematics professors on how Jewish mystics use numbers to try to determine the nature of God.

Students who do not necessarily identify themselves as Jewish also incorporate Judaic studies into their Dickinson experience. Lieber mentions an English major who took an Introduction to Judaism class. After reading second-generation Holocaust memoirs for that course, she decided to use that as her senior-thesis topic.

Birds of a feather

The idea of integrating Judaic studies into other areas of the curriculum has been furthered by Lieber's innovative use of a $150,000 grant from the Posen Foundation.

During this second year of a three-year grant period, Lieber has used monies to create a series of faculty seminars titled Jewish Secular Studies: Enriching the Jewish Studies Program at Dickinson College.

These events bring together campus scholars from outside the Judaic-studies program who are interested in the Jewish experience. Seminars have explored Zionism; religion, secularism and modernity; American Jewish culture (featuring the writing of Philip Roth); and Eastern European Jewish culture.

The Posen Foundation has taken notice and indicated that it will extol Lieber's project as a model for other schools receiving funding.

The seminars are held during breaks and are open to all faculty members.

"They are not Jewish-studies-trained scholars, but their research and interests are relevant," says Lieber. "We read and talk. It is such a privilege to take the time for just the enjoyment of thinking."

One of the goals of the Posen grant is the creation of new courses, like the one on representations of the Holocaust in popular culture being developed by Sandra Alfers, assistant professor of German. These new offerings benefit the Judaic-studies program and other departments.

"As Jewish studies grows, develops and matures, it's attracting a greater variety of people," concludes Lieber. "Studying the Jewish experience is not just for Jews"