Penn State Jewish Studies Program

Congratulations to recent graduate Max Lustig, who completed a Holocaust and Genocide Studies certificate with the Jewish Studies Program, in addition to double majoring in History and African Studies!

Max will be pursuing a legal career as an intern with Major League Baseball and as a student at Brooklyn Law School.

“The College of the Liberal Arts is underrated,” he said. “It teaches you communication, empathy, how to explain things to people and how to analyze text. It makes you more open-minded and well-rounded. Those are all essential skills for a lawyer.”

To learn more about Max, his time at Penn State, and his next steps: https://www.psu.edu/news/liberal-arts/story/history-and-african-studies-graduate-charts-path-legal-career

Daniel Falk (Jewish Studies & CAMS) gave a paper today entitled “Prayer Performance in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism” at the annual conference of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies in Sackville, New Brunswick.

The session was organized by Rob Jones, assistant director of Jewish Studies.

We had a great time celebrating our excellent students and their many great academic achievements at the Jewish Studies awards ceremony this evening! Thank you to our students, faculty, and staff for another wonderful academic year! Good luck to all the graduating seniors!

Three of our Jewish Studies majors will be presenting at the Lycoming University Humanities Research Conference this weekend!

Congratulations and good luck to Tori Korman, John Weisser, and Oli Patchell! Excellent work!

Meet our newest graduate minor in Jewish Studies!

Gabrielle Johnson is a rhetorician whose research examines Evangelical Christianity, with particular attention to purity culture and how it integrates narratives from the Hebrew Bible in messaging directed toward women. Her work analyzes how Evangelical rhetorical practices shape belief, gendered identity, and moral formation, especially among women navigating their notions of self through memoir, autobiography, and self-reflection. Drawing on communication and rhetorical approaches, Gabrielle explores how stories of femininity, sexuality, obedience, and belonging are constructed, circulated, and contested within Evangelical contexts. Informed by her previous roles as an Assistant Director of Student Services and a Student Success Advisor, Gabrielle brings a data-informed yet student-centered perspective to her scholarship and pedagogy. She is committed to advancing research that critically engages religion, gender, and power while contributing to inclusive and reflective academic communities.

Welcome to the Program, Gabrielle!

https://jewishstudies.la.psu.edu/people/gabrielle-johnson/

April events! See the posters for more details!

April 8: Robert Morrison (Bowdoin College), "Jews on the Move in the Mediterranean," 5:00 to 6:30 pm in Flex Theatre, 132 HUB-Robeson

April 9: Rafael Balulu (Israeli filmmaker), "Jewish Stories from the Middle East and North Africa" and Mimouna dinner, 5:00 to 7:00 pm in 102 Weaver Building

April 15: Zainab Saleh, "The Right to Uproot: Citizenship and Denaturalization in Modern Iraq," 4:00 to 5:30 pm in 102 Weaver Building

Yesterday, the Jewish Studies Program took two buses (60 students!!) to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

Dr. Kobi Kabalek and Dr. Miranda Brethour shared their expertise with students before and during the tour of the museum.

This trip was generously supported by the Chaiken Dean’s Fund for Antisemitism Education. We were joined by our friends Rabbi Rob and Shir from Penn State Hillel, who provided snacks for our students. Thanks also to Dr. Rob Jones, Dr. Michael Goyette (CAMS), and Dr. Tran Truong (Linguistics) for volunteering their Saturday to help make this trip possible!