Featured Student
Joel Pratt
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We are excited to feature Joel Pratt in this first issue of Kol Mevaser.
Joel was one of the first students to enter the Certificate in Jewish Studies program and was the first recipient of the Baer Scholarship which is awarded annually to outstanding students pursuing a Certificate in Jewish Studies.
An English major, Joel graduates this spring. He feels that "pursuing a Certificate in Jewish Studies has been a natural extension of his discovery while at CU."
After graduation, he plans to stay in Boulder and continue to teach with long term goals of entering Hebrew Union College to pursue Rabbinic ordination.
Help us ensure students like Joel will have the leading edge in Jewish Studies education at the University of Colorado.
To learn how you can help support our programs or scholarships, contact Mary McGee at the CU Foundation at mary.mcgee@cufund.org.
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Welcome to the inaugural issue of Kol Mevaser - The Voice of Jewish Studies at CU-Boulder!
Kol Mevaser ('The Herald' in Hebrew and Yiddish) is named after the first regularly appearing Yiddish newspaper in Odessa, Russia in the 1860's. We aspire to live up to this name by bringing you latest news in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado and beyond.
We are thrilled to be part of the CU family and are grateful for the warm reception on campus and throughout the community. As many of you may have heard, CU-Boulder was just rated as the "Greenest Large Campus" in the nation by Sierra Magazine. We are proud to be part of a campus committed to sustainability. To that end, this electronic newsletter - Kol Mevaser - rather than paper mailings that end up in the trash or recycle bin, will be our primary means of communication. Please help us reach as many people as possible and forward this to friends and colleagues that you think might be interested in learning more about our program. We welcome your thoughts and comments so please feel free to contact our offices or stop by and visit us in the University Club (located across Euclid from the UMC). David Shneer
Associate Professor, History
Director, Program in Jewish Studies
University of Colorado at Boulder
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Faculty Updates...
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The Program in Jewish Studies is fortunate to be guided by an exceptional group of faculty working in disciplines throughout the University. Watch this section for updates on their research, the latest information on their publications and where they might be speaking throughout the community. Our Executive Committee includes the following CU faculty:
Zilla Goodman
Senior Instructor of Hebrew & Coordinator of the Hebrew Language & Literature Program
Janet Jacobs
Professor of Sociology & Director of the Farrand Residential Academic Program
Paul Shankman
Professor of Anthropology
David Shneer
Associate Professor of History & Director of the Program in
Jewish Studies
Davide Stimilli
Associate Professor of German &
Comparative Literature
We are also thrilled to welcome Naomi Gale. Professor Gale is our visiting Schusterman Scholar and is an Associate Professor of Israel Studies, Gender and Law. Dr. Gale comes to us from Bar Ilan University's Askelon Academic College where she teaches courses in gender in the modern Middle East, Jews and Arab Lands, and Theories of Conflict and Social Change. She has written extensively on violence against women, immigration, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. Boulder is proud to host Dr. Gale and looks forward to having her become part of our academic and larger community. Our gratitude to the Schusterman Foundation for helping us bring cutting edge scholarship to the Boulder campus and beyond.
David Shneer, together with his father, James Shneer edited and annotated Charles Shneer's oral history (David's grandfather). A true labor of love, this is a compelling story about a Jewish boy in Ukraine living through WWI - an example of the small town Jewish experience during the Great War. To learn more, visit www.lulu.com/content/2616913.
The Program in Jewish Studies at CU Boulder was recently featured in articles by The Forward and the IJN.
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Chancellor's Reception Welcomes David Shneer and launches Challenge Grant... |
In late September, Chancellor Peterson and his wife hosted a  reception welcoming David Shneer to campus as Director of the Program in Jewish Studies and to thank the many faculty, donors and community leaders who have helped make this program a reality.
David Shneer, Mrs. Ida Goldberger,
Chancellor Bud Peterson and Dean Todd Gleason
The evening also provided a wonderful surprise - an anonymous donor has issued a $25,000 Challenge Grant. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched 100% up to $25,000. This $50,000 will go directly to supporting our students and their education efforts by:
(1)helping us create new courses for our curriculum,
(2)supporting students financially through scholarships and jobs,
(3) supporting graduate students which will allow CU to compete
with the highest ranked programs nationally like Stanford,
Berkeley, Harvard and Princeton, and
(4) create new public education opportunities that provide an opportunity for the community to engage in the highest level of Jewish Studies.
To learn how you can help make this happen, contact Mary McGee at the CU Foundation at 303.541.1470 or via email at mary.mcgee@cufund.org.
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Events Not To Be Missed...
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Tuesday, October 21
12:30 p.m., CU-Bouler Campus, Ramaley N1B23
Reading Jewish American Popular Culture, from John Garfield to Jon Stewart
David Shneer welcomes special guest, Professor Henry Bial. Professor Bial is the Director of Graduate Studies in the Theatre Department and a Professor of Theatre and Film at the University of Kansas. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Theatre and the Program in Jewish Studies.
Space is extremely limited - please RSVP to Jamie.Polliard@colorado.edu to secure your space. (Students enrolled in this class do not need to RSVP.)
Sunday, October 26
5-9 p.m., Boulder JCC, 3800 Kalmia
A Celebration of Jewish Russia
 The Program in Jewish Studies at CU-Boulder and the Boulder JCC invite you to engage in an evening of Russian culture as part of the Festival of Books & Culture! Enjoy an art show, Russian food, The Hermitage Trio and to wrap up the evening - a screening of Farewell, a poignant Russian documentary that focuses on an elderly man leaving his shtetl for Israel. Professor David Shneer will introduce the film and lead a talk-back after the film.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Student tickets are available for $8 per person. RSVP to Kathryn@boulderjcc.org or call 303.998.1021. Additional information is available at www.boulderjcc.org.
Thursday, November 6
A Day with Adam Rovner, Assistant Professor of English and Judaic Studies at the University of Denver
Professor Rovner joins the Program in Jewish Studies for two special events in Boulder as part of the year-long series Seriously Funny: Jews and Humor - a joint production of CU's Program in Jewish Studies and DU's Center for Judaic Studies.
Join us at 4 p.m. for an intimate seminar for faculty, students and community members that examines humor and the Holocaust. This event will be held in the University Club's Seminar Room 6. Space is limited - please
RSVP to jamie.polliard@colorado.edu.
Nervous Wrecks: Jewish Men and the Women They Love
7 p.m., Boulder JCC, 3800 Kalmia
Professor Rovner will lead a discussion that examines how Jewish men and women are portrayed in our contemporary culture and what those images tell us about ourselves. Writers, scholars, and comedians all point to a recognizable strain of "Jewish humor" that winds its way from the Hebrew Bible, to rabbinic commentaries, and through to today's literary humorists and stand-up comics. And this history of Jewish humor is full of examples of fools,bumblers,schlemiels and the women they love.
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 303.998.1021. For more information, visit www.boulderjcc.org.
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Spring semester registration begins soon...
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 Registration for continuing students begins October 27! Check out the expanding list of Jewish Studies courses for Spring semester on our website at www.colorado.edu/jewishstudies.
Questions about courses or the Certificate in Jewish Studies? Contact our offices at 303.492.7143 or email jamie.polliard@colorado.edu
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What's happening around town...
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The Festival of Books & Culture at the Boulder JCC begins Sunday, October 26. For more information, visit www.boulderjcc.org.
Professor David Shneer will host a pre-opera discussion for
The Dybbuk Project at the Mizel Arts & Culture Center at the JCC on Saturday, November 1. Student tickets are available at $5. For more information, visit www.jaammfest.org.
The Colorado Chamber Players in conjunction with the Holocaust Awareness Institute at the University of Denver are presenting a special performance Monday, November 10 at 7 p.m. to commemorate the events of Kristallnacht 70 years ago. Tickets for Kristallnacht@70: A Musical Remembrance are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Grammy award winning baritone, Patrick Mason will join this special performance.
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