Updates from The Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience
New Work on American Jewish Literature
From the Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, Dr. Josh Lambert shares some of his insight into recent American Jewish literature and studies that, in his opinion, have been unjustly neglected during the past year marked by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jewish Literature
Lambert recommends work by author Amy Feinstein, chronicling the widely misunderstood legacy and literature of Gertrude Stein. According to Feinstein in her book Gertrude Stein and the Making of Jewish Modernism (University Press of Florida, 2020), Gertrude Stein was misrepresented by American journalistic critics as being a sympathizer of the Axis WWII powers and thus is deserving of more serious consideration in respect to her commentary about Jewish identity, as a queer Jewish woman.
Jewish Academic Journals
Dr. Lambert also emphasizes the significance of the journal American Jewish History, which profiles the complexities of Jewish life in America through meticulously researched articles. Lambert remarks, “despite its title, the journal consistently presents excellent studies of literature, and especially remarkable was last summer’s double issue . . . [including] a long-overdue, thorough study of Dr. Nathan Mayer’s too-little-known novel of American Jews and the Civil war”. Other notable works include Jessica Kirzane’s article on American Jewish author Emma Wolf and Ashley waters on Anna and Rose Strunsky—and their intimate relationships with Jack London and Sinclair Lewis.
About the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience
At Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience, academic exploration of the American Jewish experience is encouraged. The integrity of the Grant Center is supported by a comprehensive program and exceptional faculty, driven to revolutionize the field of Jewish Studies.
The Grant Center advances research via conferences, working groups, and academic research and seminars; public programs such as lectures, roundtables and films also drive exploration into the understanding of the American Jewish experience.
Read more about the Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience here