Media Type: Book
The Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History
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Though never more than a tiny percentage of the population, Jews have been persistent–if perplexing–participants in the American community at least since they first arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654. This volume creates a vibrant dialogue among the varied approaches to the study of American Jews, taking stock of the field and working to move it forward in conversation with American history and modern Jewish history. Its authors are drawn from the ranks of the senior scholars who pioneered American Jewish history, often from the vantage point of other areas of study, as well as younger scholars, both those trained as historians and those studying American Jews from other disciplines. The Handbook will act as a guide for outside scholars looking to understand American Jews and for those within American Jewish history interested in up-to-date accounts of key themes in the field. Its essays explore a variety of conceptual frameworks that have been and continue to be important for understanding American Jews and move forward into the arena of American Jewish studies, highlighting how new methodologies can enhance scholarly understandings. Taken as a whole, the Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History makes a compelling case for the importance of this community for American and world histories.
The Entrepreneurial Scholar: A New Mindset for Success in Academia and Beyond
In the increasingly competitive world of academia, simply mastering your discipline is no longer enough to guarantee career success or personal fulfillment. The Entrepreneurial Scholar challenges scholars at all stages—from doctoral students to tenured professors—to break free from conventional academic pathways by adopting an entrepreneurial mindset. What opportunities can you create based on who you are, what you know, and who you know?
Drawing on her experiences in higher education, start-ups, and management consulting, as well as interviews with a range of academics and entrepreneurs, Ilana Horwitz provides a road map for those stifled by traditional academic norms and expectations. This book calls on scholars to create ideas—not just consume them. It offers strategies to thrive in academia with limited resources and in the face of uncertainty. Embracing an entrepreneurial mindset entails viewing yourself as a knowledge producer, enhancing collaboration, creatively identifying resources, and effectively sharing your ideas.
Horwitz empowers all scholars—particularly women and first-generation, low-income, and BIPOC individuals—to see themselves as proactive agents in their educational and career trajectories, despite structural constraints, unclear expectations, or unresponsive advisors. With actionable advice, real-world applications, and inspiring success stories, this guide is vital for anyone aspiring to excel within and beyond the ivory tower.
Wild Visionary, Maurice Sendak in Queer Jewish Context
Wild Visionary reconsiders Maurice Sendak’s life and work in the context of his experience as a Jewish gay man. Maurice (Moishe) Bernard Sendak (1928–2012) was a fierce, romantic, and shockingly funny truth seeker who intervened in modern literature and culture. Raising the stakes of children’s books, Sendak painted childhood with the dark realism and wild imagination of his own sensitive “inner child,” drawing on the queer and Yiddish sensibilities that shaped his singular voice.
God Grades & Graduation, Religion’s Surprising Impact on Academic Success
Identifies a new type of childrearing logic that cuts across social class groups: religious restraint
Draws on 10 years of surveys with 3,290 teenagers, along with 220 in-depth interviews with American teenagers across the class and racial spectrum
Explains how the different combinations of religious restraint, class, and gender shape the academic trajectory of teens from high school to college
Includes a unique chapter on academically successful atheist students
The Birth of Conservative Judaism, Solomon Schechter’s Disciples and the Creation of an American Religious Movement
Solomon Schechter (1847–1915), the charismatic leader of New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), came to America in 1902 intent on revitalizing traditional Judaism. While he advocated a return to traditional practices, Schechter articulated no clear position on divisive issues, instead preferring to focus on similarities that could unite American Jewry under a broad message. Michael R. Cohen demonstrates how Schechter, unable to implement his vision on his own, turned to his disciples, rabbinical students and alumni of JTS, to shape his movement. By midcentury, Conservative Judaism had become the largest American Jewish grouping in the United States, guided by Schechter’s disciples and their continuing efforts to embrace diversity while eschewing divisive debates.
Cotton Capitalists, American Jewish Entrepreneurship in the Reconstruction Era
In the nineteenth century, Jewish merchants created a thriving niche economy in the United States’ most important industry—cotton—positioning themselves at the forefront of expansion during the Reconstruction Era. Jewish success in the cotton industry was transformative for both Jewish communities and their development, and for the broader economic restructuring of the South. Cotton Capitalists analyzes this niche economy and reveals its origins. Michael R. Cohen argues that Jewish merchants’ status as a minority fueled their success by fostering ethnic networks of trust. Trust in the nineteenth century was the cornerstone of economic transactions, and this trust was largely fostered by ethnicity. Much as money flowed along ethnic lines between Anglo-American banks, Jewish merchants in the Gulf South used their own ethnic ties with other Jewish-owned firms in New York, as well as Jewish investors across the globe, to capitalize their businesses. They relied on these family connections to direct Northern credit and goods to the war-torn South, avoiding the constraints of the anti-Jewish prejudices which had previously denied them access to credit, allowing them to survive economic downturns.
Yiddish Studies
At the annual Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) meeting this December, there was a notable refrain: “Yiddish is everywhere!” Over three days, more than forty panels, roundtables, and seminars featured at least one—and often more than one—presentation that substantially engaged with Yiddish-language materials. The topics ranged across fields, including history, literature, musicology
New Developments in Caribbean Jewish Studies
A rich historiography of Caribbean Jewry had begun to emerge in the work of scholars such as Natalie Zemon Davis and Jonathan Schorsch, building on earlier studies by Robert Cohen and other