judaic studies 101

Inviting the community into the lecture hall

By Cindy Mindell

Connecticut’s colleges and universities offer a wealth of informal learning opportunities to the general public, and departments of Jewish, Judaic, and Israel studies are no exception. Through lectures, films, conferences, and cultural events, the community becomes an integral part of these academic programs, adding their perspectives to the audience and interacting with students in an informal educational setting.

Prof. Avinoam Patt, assistant director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at University of Hartford, explains the relationship between campus and community.

“Just as the University of Hartford prides itself on the motto ‘a private University with a public purpose,’ the Greenberg Center sees itself as ‘the place where the community comes to learn,’” he says. “The Greenberg Center is dedicated to providing high-quality programming for the public and our students, 
and always free and open to the public. Our most recent event, ‘New Frontiers in Church and State: The Significance of Religion in the 2012 Elections,’ was a perfect example of this.  The Sept. 23 program, co-sponsored by the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, the Rell Center for Public Service at University of Hartford, and the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in American Life, offered nearly 150 people a free, high-level discussion on religion and politics. Every semester, we hold at least ten programs on campus, usually coordinated with new exhibitions at the Museum of Jewish Civilization, and on-going programs in the community. And on top of that, [Greenberg Center director] Richard Freund and I maintain an extremely active schedule of speaking engagements in the 
community.”

That philosophy is echoed by Dr. Ellen Umansky, who heads the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University. “While one of the expectations of the donors in the creation of the Center for Judaic Studies in 1994 was that there would be some sort of ‘outreach’ to the Greater Bridgeport/Fairfield Jewish community, this was never clearly defined nor mandated,” she says. “It was, however, one of the things that attracted me most about the [teaching] position at Fairfield University – a position which included serving as director of the center. From the center’s inception, we have sponsored lectures and other special events open to the general community, Jewish and non-Jewish, most of which are free of charge. Our undergraduate students learn a great deal from the well-informed questions regularly asked of our speakers by adults in the audience and, I think, enjoy being part of an audience that is more diverse in terms of age and religious background/affiliation than is the undergraduate Fairfield University population.”

The Trinity College Jewish Studies program brings to the Hartford campus two or three speakers every semester, often in collaboration with Trinity College Hillel. “It’s not that we ‘have to,’ but we want to offer an intellectual resource to the community,” says program director Dr. Samuel Kassow. “Sometimes it’s nice when adults come and ask questions and give another point of view. There is usually a reception after the talk, where students and community-members can interact and discuss the topic.”

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