Message from the Director

I am thrilled to have completed my third year at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. During my last few years here at the University of Tennessee, the number of Judaic Studies majors and minors has increased, we have expanded our course offerings, and offered some world class programming.

I am thrilled to announce that among the exciting classes we are preparing to offer is a student trip to Israel this May. Erin Darby, our Hebrew Bible professor, and I will lead students on a two week trip to Israel where students will have the opportunity to spend six days in Jerusalem followed by an educational tour around the country to historic and archeological sites.

In terms of exciting programming, we recently brought in David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion; Anna Shternsis, creator of the Grammy nominated Yiddish Glory, Israeli author and filmmaker Etgar Keret, and Professor Richard Elliott Friedman, author of the book Who Wrote the Bible. These lectures were made possible by the Abraham and Rebecca Solomon and Ida Schwartz Distinguished Lecture Fund for Judaic Studies and the Karen and Pace Robinson endowment on Modern Israel.

On a personal note, this past year I had the privilege of receiving a University of Tennessee Humanities Center fellowship which allowed me the opportunity to finish my book manuscript on hunger in the Nazi ghettos and begin work on a manuscript on Auschwitz.

Sincerely,
Helene J. Sinnreich
Director, Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies