Jewish Studies - University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan was formed as an independent program under the leadership of Jehuda Reinharz in 1976 and expanded into its current model in 1988. A strong faculty with a variety of expertise has allowed the interdisciplinary program to grow significantly in recent years. Areas of special interest include numerous faculty with strengths in Rabbinics, Yiddish literature and modern Jewish history. The current director, Dr. Deborah Dash Moore, is the author of GI Jews, chronicling the role of Jews in the United States military and co-editor of the two-volume Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Other leading faculty members include Zvi Gitelman, Todd Endelman, Anita Norich, Madeline Kochen, Mikhail Krutikov, Elliot Ginsburg, Scott Spector and Julian Levinson. Recent arrivals include Ryan Szpiech (Spanish, Sephardic Culture, Medieval Iberia) and Rachel Neis (Rabbinics, Late Antique Judaism).

In Fall 2005, the Frankel Center announced the establishment of a new Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies. The Institute hosts a dozen scholars annually for intensive research. The 2008-09 Frankel Institute theme is titled "Studying Jews" and visiting scholars include Hana Wirth-Nesher, Aharon Oppenhiemer, Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Howard Lupovitch, Chaya Halberstam, and Gabriele Boccaccini.

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