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Series to consider facets of Jewish experience worldwide

January 14, 2004 By Barbara Wolff

Political, historical, artistic and other aspects then and now of the Jewish experience worldwide will be explored through the Jewish Heritage Lecture Series this spring.

The series begins Wednesday, Jan. 28, by addressing critical issues surrounding the conflict in the Middle East. Joel Bainerman, renowned Israeli journalist, will investigate the origins, leaders, participants and initiatives of the conflict in the Middle East. “Why the Middle East Conflict Continues to Exist” is the 2004 Weinstein/Minkoff Lecture.

Also part of the series will be:

  • “Recovering Jewish Ukraine: Findings from Yiddish Ethnography and Oral History,” Jeff Veidlinger, associate director of the Boris Jewish Studies Program and associate professor of history and Jewish studies at Indiana University, Monday, March 8. Veidlinger will present findings from the Indiana University Yiddish Ethnographic Project, which captures living memories of pre-Holocaust life in Eastern Europe through interviews with Yiddish speakers in the Ukraine. These subjects have brought new insights into Jewish family life, religious observances, culture, health, recreation, education, cuisine, language and more. This lecture is the 2004 Sanford J. Ettinger Memorial Lecture.
  • “Experimental Jews: Projecting Jewish Identity in the New Millennium,” a daylong panel discussion with participants from around the globe in the fields of dance, performance and installation, video, film and more, Thursday, March 25. Under discussion will be the contributions of Jewish artists and critics to modern and post-modern theory.
  • “The Distanced Mirrors of Memory: Contemporary Artists Respond to Nazi Imagery and Evil,” Norman Kleeblatt, curator of the Jewish Museum of New York, Thursday, March 25. Basing the lecture on a 2002 exhibition, Kleeblatt will talk about a shift by artists away from Nazi victims to perpetrators of evil, which he says has been driven by the media and other forces at work in society. His will be the 2004 University Lecture.

All lectures except the panel discussion will take place at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union. Check Today in the Union for exact rooms. The panel discussion, “Experimental Jews,” will begin at 9 a.m. in the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space of Lathrop Hall. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Anita Lightfoot, 265-4763, allightf@wisc.edu.

In addition, Cinematheque will present a festival of Jewish film beginning Saturday, Feb. 7. Watch the next Wisconsin Week for details, or visit http://cinema.wisc.edu/.