Robby Adler Peckerar joins the CU faculty as assistant professor of Jewish Literature and Culture and a member of the Jewish Studies Executive Committee. He is our first joint hire with the Department of German and Slavic Languages and Literature. For Fall semester he is teaching two sessions of our gateway course, HEBR/JWST 2350 Introduction to Jewish Culture. Professor Adler Peckerar comes to CU from the University of California at Berkeley where he earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Comparative Literature.  His concentration in focused on Yiddish, Hebrew and German literature. He has also completed course work in Modern Standard and Levantine Arabic.  He is a translator of Yiddish and Hebrew short fiction and poerty and an avid TV and film buff.  Orginally from Washington D.C., he is excited to call Colorado home. Professor Adler Peckerar will be doing a special evening presentation as part of our MoVeRs series on Jews & Soccer on October 27.  Watch our website for details!

Dina Danon is teaching HIST/JWST 4348 Jews Under Islam this semester as an adjunct professor in History and Jewish Studies. A doctoral candidate in the Department of History at Stanford University, her main area of research is Sephardi Jewry. She spent last year in Jerusalem where she conducted dissertation research at the Central Archives for History of the Jewish People and the Ben Zvi Institute. Her dissertation focuses on class conflict in the Jewish community of Izmir in the late 19th century. She has also recently lectured on Ottoman Jewry at Touro College and the JCC of Manhattan and has written about Ladino for The Jewish Week.  She is looking forward to helping introduce Sephardic Studies to CU-Boulder this fall.

Zach Levey is serving as the Schusterman Visiting Professor in Israel Studies, Political Science and International Affairs.  This semester he is teaching a course on the Cold War for the Political Science Department and a special session of The Arab-Isaeli Conflict for Global Studies Residential Program.

Professor Levey received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1994.  He has taught courses in international relations at the University of Haifa since 1997, and specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli foreign policy and Great Power involvement in the Middle East.  Professor Levey will be teaching courses in conjunction with the Program in Jewish Studies, the Department of Political Science and International Affairs throughout the upcoming academic year.  He looks forward to exploring Boulder and Colorado with his wife and young son.