In a demonstration of cross-campus collaboration, recent and upcoming events at UM’s Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and EMU’s Center for Jewish Studies (CJE) have brought the director of each program to the other’s campus. At the end of September, EMU’s CJE Director Robert Erlewine gave a talk at the Frankel Center on “The Human Question: Jewish Thought in the Anthropecene.” On October 30th, Frankel Center Director Maya Barzilai will present at the CJE on “Our Golems, Ourselves: What the Golem Narrative Teaches About the Modern Human Condition.”
When asked about the reciprocal programs, Erlewine said, “I think this emerged fairly organically. Maya and I both stepped into Director positions at our respective institutions at around the same time (summer of 2022). We met at a Federation event pretty early on after I arrived in town. I think we have always been pretty friendly and supportive of each other in our roles. Various folks at the Frankel Center have been friendly and collegial with me, and I have happily attended their events when I can.
“As for my invitation of Maya to come and speak at Eastern, it had a great deal to do with her excellent reputation as a scholar and the subject of her research. At the Center, we are doing a couple of holiday events this year. We are hosting a Hanukkah party following one of the performances of “Connected” by the Israeli playwright, Ori Urian (we are partnering with Spinning Dot Theatre and Engage@EMU to bring Urian to Ann Arbor to participate in talkbacks for two showings of the play.) We are also bringing the comedian, Ariel Elias, to perform right before Purim (March 20th.) In line with this schedule, I wanted to invite Maya to speak for the Second Annual Martin B. Shichtman Lecture, right before Halloween. While Halloween isn’t a Jewish holiday, there is plenty of relevant material in the Jewish culture. And Maya, of course, has written an award winning book on the legacy of a storied monster, the Golem, so I was really eager to invite her to come and speak right before Halloween. I was delighted she agreed.”
Barzilai’s account showed a similarly high esteem for her cross-town colleague: “When I first met Bob and heard about his recent research on the ways in which climate change poses a fundamental challenge to Western thought and particularly Jewish thought, I was very intrigued. At the same time, my colleagues at UM, Rafe Neis and Mostafa Hussein, proposed the theme of “Life” for a lecture series in 2023-2024. The series includes Jewish perspectives on pressing issues such as reproductive rights and climate change. I made the connection to Bob’s research and thought it would be wonderful for our faculty and students to learn about his work. We had several graduate students in German Studies attend the talk, as well as the current Director of the UM German department, Andreas Gailus.
“Bob and I intend to continue our collaboration, whether through planning joint events, or simply encouraging our students and faculty to attend talks and performances on the different campuses. We both think that more coordination and collaboration between EMU and UM is beneficial for students, faculty, and the broader community.
Robert Erlewine is Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of History & Philosophy and Director for the Eastern Michigan University Center for Jewish Studies. Erlewine is a scholar of German Jewish thought and its afterlives in North America and beyond with a particular interest in Jewish responses to such issues as religious diversity and climate change.
Maya Barzilai’s research focuses on twentieth-century Hebrew, German, and Yiddish literatures, translation theory, and visual culture. Her 2016 book Golem: Modern Wars and Their Monsters, explores the mass appeal of golem narratives in the German-speaking world around World War I, as well as the ongoing association of golem figures with mass warfare and its technologies in American and Israeli cultures of the mid- to late twentieth century. It received the 2017 Jordan Schnitzer Book Prize and an honorable mention for the Salo Baron First Book Prize. She also published widely on issues of translation, self-translation, and adaptation between Hebrew and German literatures.