{"id":513,"date":"2021-06-07T16:32:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/?p=513"},"modified":"2021-06-07T16:32:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:32:52","slug":"judaic-studies-at-umaine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/2021\/06\/07\/judaic-studies-at-umaine\/","title":{"rendered":"Judaic Studies at UMaine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"University<\/a>The Judaic Studies program at the University of Maine is an interdisciplinary academic minor that also hosts guest speakers and other events of interest to the Jewish community of Eastern Maine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an academic program, Judaic Studies provides UMaine students with substantive understandings of the historical, religious, literary, philosophical, sociological, and political experiences of the Jewish people. In addition to drawing on coursework from across the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Judaic Studies offers four courses every year in modern Hebrew, Judaism, and Jewish history. Full details about the academic minor can be found at <\/span>https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/academics\/<\/span><\/a> or contact the program coordinator Derek A. Michaud <\/span>derek.a.michaud@maine.edu<\/span><\/a> or 207.581.3890.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While you might think of all this as the purview of \u201ccollege kids\u201d the truth is that <\/span>anyone <\/span><\/i>can enroll in Judaic Studies courses! In fact, UMaine courses are tuition-free for Mainers over the age of 65. To register or for more information just contact the Division of Lifelong Learning at <\/span>dlladvising@maine.edu<\/span><\/a> or 207.581.3143, or visit them at <\/span>https:\/\/umaine.edu\/dlladvising\/non-degree-student-information\/<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Fall semester, we offer <\/span>HBR 101 Beginning Modern Hebrew I<\/b> taught by Shellie Batuski. Designed for students with minimal or no previous knowledge of Hebrew this course offers a systematic study of the basics of the Hebrew language with equal emphasis on developing reading, listening comprehension, speaking, and writing skills. In the Fall 2021 this course is being offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-1:45 pm on campus at UMaine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

JST 200 Introduction to Judaism<\/b> is also offered in the Fall semester. This course surveys developments in Jewish belief, practice, institutions, and self-understanding from the Biblical period through the present day. Designed to familiarize students with the major canonical texts of Judaism, religious law, liturgy, rites of passage, the Sabbath, and festivals, the course is also an ideal \u201crefresher\u201d too. In the Fall 2021 semester Rabbi Darah Lerner will offer this course on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00-3:15 pm on campus at UMaine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Spring semester students can continue their study of Hebrew with <\/span>HBR 102 Beginning Modern Hebrew II<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

JST 205 Jewish History and Antisemitism from Antiquity to the Founding of the State of Israel<\/b> is also offered in the Spring semester. This survey of the history of antisemitism from pre-Christian Alexandria to the founding of the State of Israel explores academic and popular theories of antisemitism, debates about its proper scope and development, and integrate these ideas with a study of the arc of Jewish history, read closely together in primary sources. This course, developed by Rabbi William Siemers and first offered in the Spring of 2021, brings a systematic study of antisemitism to the university curriculum for the first time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to our academic program Judaic Studies also hosts public events and speakers with partners from academic departments, the Hillel student organization (<\/span>https:\/\/umaine.edu\/shac\/hillel\/<\/span><\/a>), and local congregations. While this has been especially difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic we had two fascinating talks in the fall of 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On October 14<\/span>th<\/span> we hosted <\/span>David L. Smith<\/b> from the University of New England for a ZOOM talk about his recent book <\/span>On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It<\/span><\/i> (Oxford University Press, 2020). A recording of Dr. Smith\u2019s talk can be found here: <\/span>https:\/\/youtu.be\/C319MYUvzNk<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On November 5<\/span>th<\/span> we hosted <\/span>Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg<\/b> for her talk on “Repentance and Repair in the Public Square.\u201d The award-winning author of <\/span>Nurture the Wow<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Surprised by God<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>The Passionate Torah<\/span><\/i>, and other books, Rabbi Ruttenberg shared her current research on the work of repentance and repair in the public square which will be published in her next book due out in 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plans are currently underway for a fuller series of speakers in the <\/span>2021-2022 academic year<\/b>. Details will be found on our website <\/span>https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/<\/span><\/a>, Facebook <\/span>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UMaineJudaicStudies<\/span><\/a>, Twitter <\/span>https:\/\/twitter.com\/JudaicUMaine<\/span><\/a>, and Instagram <\/span>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/UMaineJudaicStudies<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this is made possible through the generosity and vision of donors and supporters. The <\/span>Norman Minsky Fund for Judaic Studies<\/b> allowed for the creation of the minor in 2009 and continues to provide for our academic program today. In 2021 a new fund was started to supplement the Minsky Fund by supporting faculty development, research, travel, guest speakers, and other events. Donations to either fund can be made at <\/span>https:\/\/our.maine.edu\/judaicstudies<\/span><\/a> or by contacting the University of Maine Foundation at 207.581.5100 or 800.982.8503, or email <\/span>umainefoundation@maine.edu<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Judaic Studies program at the University of Maine is an interdisciplinary academic minor that also hosts guest speakers and other events of interest to the Jewish community of Eastern Maine.\u00a0 As an academic program, Judaic Studies provides UMaine students with substantive understandings of the historical, religious, literary, philosophical, sociological, and political experiences of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1692,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[78,8],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-judaic-studies","tag-judaic-studies-courses"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":5,"label":"News"}],"post_tag":[{"value":78,"label":"Judaic Studies"},{"value":8,"label":"Judaic Studies Courses"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"dmichaud","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/author\/dmichaud\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":41,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":41,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":78,"name":"Judaic Studies","slug":"judaic-studies","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":78,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":8,"name":"Judaic Studies Courses","slug":"judaic-studies-courses","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":16,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1692"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":515,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/judaicstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}