Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for American Jewish Experience

Tulane University Green

Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University

In 2019, Tulane University received a transformational gift from the foundation to establish Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for American Jewish Experience. It is among the largest gifts to the Tulane School of Liberal Arts and the largest ever to the Department of Jewish Studies.

The gift from the Grants’ I Could Do Great Things Foundation will double the number of research faculty in the Jewish Studies department and create new intellectual connections and practicing across disciplinary and subfield boundaries. The Grant Center is built around two strategic pillars: a world class faculty, and dynamic programming that will transform the field of American Jewish Studies.

Programs at the Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience

What do we know about American Jewry?

What do we know about American Jewry? A Conversation on the 2020 Pew Survey of Jewish Americans

Featuring Dr. Ilana Horwitz (Tulane University), Dr. Ari Y. Kelman (Stanford University), Dr. Becka A. Alper (Pew Research Center), and Dr. Leonard Saxe (Brandeis University).  Dr. Ilana Horwitz, Fields-Rayant Chair in Contemporary Jewish Life at Tulane University, will be joined by sociological and education experts Dr. Ari Y. Kelman of Stanford, Dr. Leonard Saxe of Brandeis, and Dr. Becka A. Alper of the Pew Research Center in a discussion of the results of the 2020 survey of Jewish Americans.

Black [but / AND​ / or] Jewish: A Conversation on Intersections within and across Communities

Black [but / AND / or] Jewish: A Conversation on Intersections within and across Communities

Featuring Rabbi and author Shais Rishon, also known by his pen name MaNishtana; theatre-maker, rabbinical student, and Jewish life consultant Kendell Pinkney (JTS, RebootLABA, and Ammud); Rabbi and Jewish diversity advocate Rabbi Isaama Goldstein-Stoll (Yale Slifkin Center and B’Chol Lashon); and moderated by Dr. Mia L. Bagneris (Tulane).  Dr. Mia L. Bagneris, Associate Professor of African Diaspora Art & Studies of Race in Western Art and Director of the Africana Studies Program, will moderate a discussion on starting and changing the conversation about intersectional Jewish identities, what it means to be Black AND Jewish, and how Black Jews can be supported.

Wild Visionary

Wild Visionary: A Book Launch and Conversation on Maurice Sendak

Featuring Dr. Golan Moskowitz (Tulane University); Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and numerous other works; Brian Selznick, award-winning author and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Harry Potter series’ 20th Anniversary covers, and Dr. Marah Gubar (MIT). With the launch of Dr. Golan Moskowitz’s book Wild Visionary: Maurice Sendak in Queer Jewish Context (Stanford University Press, 2020), Dr. Marah Gubar (MIT) will moderate a conversation between Dr. Moskowitz, Gregory Maguire, and Brian Selznick – both friends and colleagues of Sendak – on Sendak’s life and legacy in the Jewish, Queer, and literary world. Recieve 20% off the book with the code VISIONARY20.

No Hate No Fear

Antisemitism Uncovered

Featuring Dr. Golan Moskowitz (Tulane University); Jonathan Greenblatt, Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL); Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University) and Dr. Magda Teter (Fordham University).

ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) has published a comprehensive new guide to contemporary antisemitism. Titled “Antisemitism Uncovered: A Guide to Old Myths in a New Era,” it offers a concise history of anti-Jewish hatred and explores seven myths that underpin it.

Dr. Golan Moskowitz (Tulane University) will moderate a conversation about the project’s conception, its contents, and how it frames the state of antisemitism today. The distinguished panel includes Jonathan Greenblatt (National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League), Dr. Jonathan Sarna (Brandeis University) and Dr. Magda Teter (Fordham University).

America’s Jewish Women

America’s Jewish Women:

A History from Colonial Times to Today

What does it mean to be a Jewish woman in America? Dr. Pamela S. Nadell will explore her groundbreaking history of how Jewish women maintained their identity and influenced social activism as they wrote themselves into American history. Dr. Nadell’s book won the National Jewish Book Award–Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year.

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