Author: Jacob Labendz

Symposium and Keynote Address (5/22-24)

Posted on by Jacob Labendz

CONTACT: Meetings and Movements of Jewish People and Artifacts across Cold-War Boundaries
Co-sponsored by the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies at YSU and the Jewish Studies Program at Purdue University

May 22-24, 2022 at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor (Steel Museum), 151 W. Wood Street, Youngstown

Keynote: May 22 at 6:00 in person and online
Dr. Anat Plocker, “‘A Dream of Belonging’ The Expulsion of Jews from Communist Poland”

All sessions are open to the public. More information.



Keynote Address Announcement

Posted on by Jacob Labendz

We’re excited for Dr. Anat Plocker’s keynote address, “‘A Dream of Belonging’: The Expulsion of Jews from Communist Poland”

Sunday, May 22 at 6:00 PM eastern at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor (Steel Museum). We also hope to livestream and record the talk.

Dr. Plocker’s Keynote will open our symposium, co-organized with the Jewish Studies Program at Purdue University, “Meeting and Movements of Jewish People and Artifacts across Cold-War Boundaries.”

More information / Purchase Dr. Plocker’s book.

Model Knesset, Spring 2022

Posted on by Jacob Labendz

What a wonderfully successful and educational event!
To learn more about Dr. Adam Fuller’s Model Knesset program, click here.
To view pictures from this year’s Model Knesset, click here.

The Winning Coalition
From right to left: Jacob Stanko (Likud), Nicholas Spano (Labour), Casey Schwab (Ra’am)
Antonio Campolito (Religious Zionist Party), Ryan Sinopoli (Blue & White), Justin Madura (Shas) Ryan Scherer (United Torah Judaism)

“Models of Israeli-Palestinian Peace” – Dr. Ilan Peleg

Posted on by Jacob Labendz

We welcomed Dr. Ilan Peleg (Lafayette College) to YSU on April 11th for a discussion about different pathways to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We are grateful to Dr. Peleg for his time and for allowing us to share his talk online for those who may have missed it or those who would like to revisit his ideas. We also thank Dr. Adam Fuller for inviting Dr. Peleg to join us.

Lecture: Dr. C. Tova Markenson, “Jewish Feelings: Performing Tsuris (Troubles) at the Yiddish Theatres in Buenos Aires, 1880-1940” (3/15)

Posted on by Jacob Labendz

Online webinar (only). Register here.
In partnership with the Jewish Studies Program at Kent State University

Dr. C. Tova Markenson
Assistant Professor
Academy for Jewish Religion

“Jewish Feelings: Performing Tsuris (Troubles) at the Yiddish Theatres in Buenos Aires, 1880-1940″

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 5:00 pm (eastern) / Online only with registration in advance.

Dr. Markenson asks, “How can we be present to the past when that history is filled with shame?” This project is the first full-length study of a locus of shame for diasporic Jews, the Yiddish theatres in Buenos Aires, which many believed maintained business ties with Jewish pimps. Amidst antisemitic stereotypes that Jews were sexually deviant—and the historical reality that some Jews were sex workers—many have dismissed the Argentinean Yiddish theatres as a “low brow” cultural arena. Arguing that the Yiddish theatres in Buenos Aires were a flash point for conflict about acceptable performances of Jewishness, I build on methods from theatre studies and affect studies to support interdisciplinary scholars of Jewish Studies in “making sense” of shame.