Local author Michael Hoberman will talk about his new book, A Hundred Acres of America: The Geography of Jewish American Literary History. From the book's description: "...Hoberman combines literary history and geography to restore Jewish American writers to their roles as critical members of the American literary landscape from the 1850s to the present, and to argue that Jewish history, American literary history, and the inhabitation of American geography are, and always have been, contiguous entities. " All are welcome to attend this free discussion and Q&A. Books will be available for sale.

Snow date: February 9

https://templeisraelgreenfield.org/events/michael-hoberman-book-talk

Location: Hilary J. Boone Center
Having moved from the United States to Israel, Ilana Blumberg will discuss what it means to teach English literature in an Israeli university where social diversity isn't just an aim, it's an everyday reality. As questions of democracy and equality are debated in the Israeli media and government, what does the actual pursuit of those ideals look like in a college classroom filled with half Jewish Israelis and half Palestinian Israelis? How does a professor make use of the opportunities of the social integration of the classroom without politicizing it in ways that inhibit students from the freedom to learn? What is the place of contemporary and local politics in a college classroom devoted to the study of literature and the liberal arts? Ilana will discuss how her approach to the study of literature shifted with her move to new students, the Israeli context, and the ever-present, elusive desire for equality, co-existence, and peace.

Ilana Blumberg is the author of Houses of Study: a Jewish Woman among Books (University of Nebraska Press, 2008), winner of the Sami Rohr Choice Award, and Victorian Sacrifice: Ethics and Economics in Mid-Century Novels (Ohio State UP, 2013). She is also the author of the memoir, Open Your Hand: Teaching as a Jew, Teaching as an American (Rutgers UP, 2019), where she writes about her experiences teaching in a wide range of classrooms, from kindergarten through university.

Blumberg is Senior Lecturer in English at Bar Ilan University where she coordinates the Creative Non-Fiction track in the Shaindy Rudoff Program in Creative Writing. She previously taught at Michigan State University for ten years, where she was awarded the university’s Teacher-Scholar Award.

The event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the Boone Center lot (enter from Columbia Avenue, yes, it is gated, but the gate will be opened for exit or there will be tokens available from the Boone Center's main desk). There will also be a free dessert reception immediately following the lecture.

https://jewishstudies.as.uky.edu/diversity-democracy-teaching-life-writing-jewish-and-palestinian-israelis?fbclid=IwAR1Jl1yxyVJ3gB5qEzb2u6lDHNSW4N03V9rW5a5_XqIEqBFvhL4Cs2bP-UM

Join A Hundred Acres of American author Michael Hoberman as he discuses his book at Fitchburg State University Library Archives, Hammond Building Fitchburg MA 01420. Sponsored by the English Studies Department and the Fitchburg State University Library.

Jewish writers have long had a sense of place in the United States, and interpretations of American geography have appeared in Jewish American literature from the colonial era forward. But troublingly, scholarship on Jewish American literary history often limits itself to an immigrant model, situating the Jewish American literary canon firmly and inescapably among the immigrant authors and early environments of the early twentieth century. In A Hundred Acres of America, Michael Hoberman combines literary history and geography to restore Jewish American writers to their roles as critical members of the American literary landscape from the 1850s to the present, and to argue that Jewish history, American literary history, and the inhabitation of American geography are, and always have been, contiguous entities.  

White Guys on Campus author Nolan L. Cabrera discusses "White Immunity: Working through the Pedagogical Pitfalls of Privilege." Held in the San Diego State University Union Theatre.   

Join Emmy Award-winning journalist, playwright, and novelist Eric Burns as he discusses his new book The Politics of Fame at the Norwalk Public Library for an AuthorSpeak event at noon. A light lunch will be served to attendees. 

Join Mickey and Dick Flacks as they discuss their memoir Making History / Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America at the Fairview Branch Library of the Santa Monica Public Library. Details tbd.

Join author Mike Messner as he discusses his book Guys Like Me: Five Wars, Five Veterans for Peace at the Peace Center in Los Angeles. The event is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles chapters of Veterans for Peace, About Face: Veterans Against the War, and Military Families Speak Out.