Jewish Video Collection to Augment Judaic Studies at UMaine
Contact: George Manlove at (207) 581-3756
ORONO — What can we learn about Judaic life from TV’s Homer Simpson?
Plenty, says Laura Lindenfeld, A UMaine instructor in film and media criticism.
Several episodes of “The Simpsons,” which deal with Jewish family customs, are included in an extensive collection of videotaped movies, television programs and documentaries being acquired by the University of Maine in June.
The extensive 200-title collection of videos on Jewish life, history, culture and humor is the result of a grant application Lindenfeld submitted last spring to the Charles Revson Foundation in New York.
The $12,500 acquisition is expected to strengthen Judaic studies on campus and provide a rich cultural resource for the public statewide.
The Jewish Heritage Video Collection will be housed at UMaine’s Fogler Library and used in existing interdisciplinary classes or special topic courses. It also will be available through Maine’s Info Net interlibrary network to organizations and individuals, from Kittery to Fort Kent, Lindenfeld says.
“It’s a fabulous collection for Jewish studies and courses,” adds Ann Leffler, dean of the UMaine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, “not just here on campus but we’re going to make it available to the public statewide.”
Lindenfeld, who holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies with an emphasis on contemporary American cinema, hopes to coordinate Judaic studies so the program can reach more students on campus and provide more community resources throughout Maine.
The Revson Foundation and the Jewish Media Fund usually donate two collections a year to universities or Jewish-education organizations. Most states have a collection at major universities or Jewish centers, but as many as 15 states have none at all. The collection requires a $2,500 match from the institutions selected to receive the films. The match in this case came from the Minsky Judaic Studies Fund, supported by the families of Norman and Renee Minsky and Leonard Minsky of Bangor.
“Bringing in something like this video collection enlarges our capacity to do research and to provide cutting-edge resources to inspire course development,” Lindenfeld says. “Studying films like these can help us understand the broader contexts of culture and identity.”
Accompanying many of the videotapes will be suggested course materials to highlight the different questions and activities to include in existing courses and resources for creating entirely new classes.
Judaism has a long tradition in Maine, Lindenfeld says, and there are very few public resources available to learn about the subject. The Jewish Community Alliance in Portland has a Jewish Heritage Video Collection that’s available to the public, but it is not accessible through the statewide library network.
The collection of films — some humorous, some serious and some tragic — includes titles like “Annie Hall,” “Shalom Sesame,” “A Rug Rats’ Passover,” “Europa, Europa,” “The Diary of Ann Frank,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Yentl” and “Exodus,” plus television programs that involve some aspect of Judaism. They range from work by journalist Bill Moyers, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen to old Jack Benny, Sid Caesar and Jerry Seinfeld reruns.
“These are the classics,” she says, “If I were going to teach a course, I’d teach from these films.”
Lindenfeld, in fact, is scheduled to teach a class in fall, “Jews and Jewish Life in the Media,” through the Department of Communication and Journalism. She also will assist in organizing a local community film festival and a short course on Jewish American Cinema that will include titles from the Revson collection.
The collection offers UMaine new potential for ground-breaking research, which can help in understanding the contributions of Jewish families to the historical growth of Maine communities, according to Leffler.
For students at the university and elsewhere, the videos can provide perspectives on Judaism and Jewish life, its culture and history and also opportunities to analyze how and why specific kinds of stereotypes about Jews developed, Lindenfeld says.
“I think this is a step toward putting us more on the map, not just in Jewish studies resources, but in academic standing,” she adds.
Also, Leffler notes, “with religious differences a flash point in the world right now, it is especially important that students and others have an opportunity to learn about Judaism.”
UMaine currently has several courses that deal with Jewish life, culture and history, including sections of courses that teach about the Holocaust. They are offered through history, English, communication and journalism, political science and even the School of Performing Arts, as interdisciplinary subjects or special topics courses.
Trying to create a formal academic concentration, minor or major in Jewish studies seems impractical and too expensive, Lindenfeld and Leffler agree.
“I think the vision is to eventually create a concentration in Jewish studies that allows for different departments to have resources for Jewish studies,” Lindenfeld says.