September 2025 Recap

Dear students, staff, and faculty: 

The Fall semester is well underway, and we hope everyone is enjoying classes, fall sports, and the joy of being back on campus with our amazing community. We love seeing you studying in the office, hanging out, and raiding the student pantry! For those who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, looking toward the new year 5786, we wish you l’shanah tovah u’metukah. May it be a better year for all.  

What’s happening in Jewish Studies 

To our new majors and minors: welcome to Jewish Studies! If you haven’t met the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Rami Zeedan (rzeedan@ku.edu) – stop by the Jewish Studies suite or make an appointment to meet and map out your academic career.  

We kicked the year off with our bi-annual Open House on September 3rd. The food was amazing with falafel, hummus, hot feta dip, and baba ghanoush from local Lawrence favorite, The Mediterranean Market. We also had bagels from Olive and I, and a Rad Platter! 

On September 15th, Dr. Rami Zeedan’s First Year Seminar: Life, Death, and Afterlife in Modern Israel joined us in the Jewish Studies suite for a surprisingly competitive game of Jew-pardy: Jewish Diversity. Shout out to Team 3 for a successful strategy and a big win! You crushed it! Thank you to Jewish Studies majors, minors, staff, and faculty who helped make this a fun (and loud) event.  

Today, Monday, September 22nd, Jewish Studies and our Hebrew language students celebrated Rosh Hashanah with a game of Hebrew Headbanz! They learned Hebrew words related to Rosh Hashanah, dipped apples in honey, noshed on pomegranates, honey cake, and challah, and celebrated the Jewish New Year and the beginning of the High Holidays. 

Speaking of holidays. . .   

For those who observe, please familiarize yourself with the guidelines established by the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX. If you are planning to miss classes during the High Holidays, please make sure you submit the following form and talk to your instructors. The form can be found here. 

The Jewish Studies office will be officially closed during Rosh Hashanah (Tuesday & Wednesday, September 23rd & 24th, Yom Kippur (Thursday, October 2nd), the no-work days of Sukkot (October 7th and 8th), and Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah (Tuesday & Wednesday, October 14th-15th). Students should check with their instructors in Jewish Studies or read the syllabus to find out if instructors will be observing these dates.  

Coming in October 

KU Jewish Studies partners with the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) in Overland Park, Kansas to bring you programming that delves into the history of the Holocaust. Jewish Studies faculty member and MCHE Historian and Director of Education, Dr. Shelly Cline, hosts weekly online talks that will deepen your understanding of the Holocaust and provide historical context that is relevant today.  

To learn more about the online or in-person Lunch and Learn Series, Policing the People: Incarcerating Dissent and Difference, visit: https://mchekc.org/programs-and-events/lunch-and-learn-policing-the-people/. There is a $60 program fee. Students of Jewish Studies who are interested in participating but need financial support should contact jewishstudies@ku.edu and inquire about financial assistance.  

Jewish Studies is happy to co-sponsor several of MCHE’s upcoming educational events: 

In honor of National Coming Out Day, Eric Marcus, founder and host of the award-winning Making Gay History podcast will discuss the experiences of LGBTQ people during the rise of the Nazi regime, World War II, and the Holocaust. This online event, Voices from the Shadows: LGBTQ Experiences During the Nazi Era, takes place Thursday, October 9th at 6:30PM. Details and registration available at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LWxATr5xSx-VtPhQ2WZCvg#/registration.  

The Soldier with No Name: Claude Cahun and Queer Jewish Resistance, a presentation by MCHE’s Dr. Melissa Karp, will cover the life of surrealist artist turned anti-Nazi resistor Claude Cahun, who fled France for the Channel Islands in 1937 and launched an artistic counterpropaganda campaign against the Nazis. This virtual event happens October 23rd at 6:30PM. Registration is required. 

Students enrolled in Dr. Cline’s Holocaust courses, Hitler and Nazi Germany or Ethics and the Holocaust, can earn extra credit for attending these talks. Chat with Dr. Cline for more information. 

More October events 

On October 16th and 17th Jewish Studies will co-host the 2025 Hybrid Bilingual Interdisciplinary Conference: “Druze in the Levant and the Diaspora - Discourses of Tradition and Modernity”. This timely and important conference is free and open to the public. To learn more, visit the conference page here. 

Would you like to share your enthusiasm for Jewish Studies with perspective students and their parents? Join us at the Jewish Studies table for Crimson and Blue Day on October 17th from 10AM-1PM in the Burge Union and get a free lunch for helping us sling Jewish Studies schwag and promote the program! 

Do you have siblings or friends who want to learn Hebrew and are considering becoming a Jayhawk? Tell your friends and family to visit Hebrew instructor, Noa Savir, and Jewish Studies at the 2025 World Languages Fair on Saturday, October 18th. The WLF provides an opportunity for middle and high school students to attend mini-lessons in a variety of languages, presentations on target cultures, and discussions of how intercultural competence can enhance different fields of study.  

Please join Jewish Studies and KAHAL student representative, Alexa Schwartz, for a bagel lunch on October 20th from 12:30-1:30PM in 4017 Wescoe to learn about this community building opportunity while you study abroad. 

From Alexa: 

“For Jewish students studying or planning to study abroad, the experience can sometimes feel isolating and scary, but KAHAL is here to help. Powered by JDC Entwine, KAHAL is committed to supporting the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students when they are abroad by connecting them with vibrant local communities and Jewish life around the world. Through KAHAL, students can access microgrants to help cover the cost of Jewish experiences, whether that’s attending a local event, celebrating a holiday, or hosting Shabbat. Students also have the chance to take on a paid leadership role as a Global Ambassador, helping to build community in their host city for themselves and others. Additionally with the Global Campus Shabbatons, students can travel across Europe, connect with Jewish communities, and explore new cities through a Jewish lens, KAHAL ensures that wherever you go, you’re supported, empowered, and never alone.” 

A message from our student representative: 

Hi! My name is Adina Thompson. I am a senior, Jewish Studies Major, and I am your student representative on the Jewish Studies Faculty Committee. I would love to get to know you, hear about your experience in Jewish studies, answer any questions, and share your feedback with the Jewish Studies faculty to help make our program the best it can be! You can email me at adinamthompson@ku.edu and look for updates from me in the monthly Jewish Studies newsletter! Shana Tova! Have a happy and sweet Rosh Hashana!  

Sneak Peek at Spring Courses: 

We’re excited, are you? Make an appointment with your advisor from Jayhawk Advising, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Jewish Studies, Dr. Rami Zeedan, and decide on which courses in Jewish Studies you plan to take this Spring. The schedule will go live and advising will begin on September 25th. 

• HEBR 120 Beginning Hebrew II M-F 11-11:50AM w/Noa Savir 
• HEBR 220 Intermediate Hebrew II MWF 12-12:50PM w/Noa Savir 
• HEBR 490 Independent Study of the Hebrew Language  
• JWSH 176 First-Year Seminar: Literature, Letters, and Latkes T TH 11-12:15PM w/Sam Cooper 
• JWSH 300 Folklore and Folklife 12:30-1:45PM T TH w/RB Perelmutter 
• JWSH 300 Outsiders, Pariahs, & Exiles 11-12:15 T TH w/Ari Linden 
• JWSH 300 U.S. & Israel Relations 3:30-4:45PM T TH w/Omri Senderowicz 
• JWSH 325 Intro to Judaism 2-3:15PM MW w/Sam Brody 
• JWSH 327 Jewish Secular Culture ONLINE w/Bogi Perelmutter 
• JWSH 329 Israeli Palestinian Conflict 2-3:15PM T TH w/ Omri Senderowicz 
• JWSH 336 Jewish American Culture and Literature 2-3:15PM MW w/Sam Cooper 
• JWSH 343 The Holocaust in History 4-6:30PM W w/Shelly Cline 
• JWSH 347 Jewish Ethics 2-3:15PM MW w/Bogi Perelmutter 
• JWSH 348 Graphic Novels as Memory ONLINE w/ Svetlana Vassileva-Karagyozova 
• JWSH 379 Prophets and Profits 3:30-4:45PM MW w/Sam Brody 
• JWSH 414 Israel Palestine: The War of 1948 4-6:30PM M w/Rami Zeedan 
• JWSH 420 Politics and Government in Israel ONLINE w/Rami Zeedan 
• JWSH 490 Independent Study 
• JWSH 600 Senior Capstone 
• JWSH 650 Service Learning in Jewish Studies 

Faculty spotlight: 

In addition to educating the KU community, our faculty do great work outside of their Jewish Studies courses. Thank you for your hard work on and off campus.  

Mazel tov to Sam Brody for his recent publication in the Boston Review, “In Search of Arab Jews”.  

Vitaly Chernetsky, who received the 2025 Kansas Board of Regents Faculty of the Year Award was recognized for his AY 23-24 efforts in public-facing scholarship and educating KU students and the local, national, and international community about the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine. This was reflected in his teaching, scholarship, and service, which were all inextricably intertwined. Vitaly was honored at the Kansas Board of Regents meeting in Topeka on September 17. Much deserved, Vitaly! 

Rami Zeedan and graduate student Asaf Day published an academic article "Populism in Israel: Netanyahu and the strategic approach" in Mediterranean Politics (2025). Rami co-authored a public-facing article in The Conversation with a colleague, Mr. Said Abou Zaki. This essay provides historical context on the struggle of the Syrian Druze and the massacre of Druze in Sweida this summer. You can read the article here. Rami was awarded the FY25-26 Research Excellence Initiative (REI) from the College Dean’s Office and the Druze Studies project was accepted into the Emerging Scholars Program!  

Stay tuned for more updates on upcoming events and opportunities to engage with your classmates, faculty, and members of our campus community!  

~KU Jewish Studies