New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies will host “Yiddish/Jewish Cultures: Literature, History, and Thought in Eastern European Diasporas,” on Sun., Feb. 26 and Mon., Feb. 27 at NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (53 Washington Sq. South, betw. Sullivan and Thompson Sts.). Conference speakers include the following: NYU’s Tony Michels, Lawrence Schiffman, Hasia Diner, and Gennady Estraikh; Rebecca Margolis of Montreal’s Vanier College; David Roskies, Jewish Theological Seminary; and Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University. “Performing Yiddish Identities,” “Constructing Yiddish in Interwar Europe,” and “Yiddish Theater and Its Discontents” will be among the conference panels.

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, University Professor and professor of performance studies at NYU, will deliver the keynote address, “Yiddish Studies: Towards a 21st Century Mandate” on Sun., Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public, whom may call 212.998.8981 or email gsas.hebrewjudaic@nyu.edu to RSVP for individual sessions. Reporters interested in attending should contact James Devitt, Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu. For a complete schedule of events, go to www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/hebrew/YiddishConf.html.

This conference for emerging scholars is sponsored by the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies with the support of the Melvin Rauch Foundation, Inc.

  • WHAT: Conference: “Yiddish/Jewish Cultures: Literature, History, and Thought in Eastern European Diasporas”
  • WHO: NYU’s Tony Michels, Lawrence Schiffman, Hasia Diner, and Gennady Estraikh; Kathryn Hellerstein, University of Pennsylvania; David Roskies, Jewish Theological Seminary; and Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University
  • WHEN & WHERE: Sun., Feb. 26 & Mon., Feb. 27, NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (53 Washington Sq. South, betw. Sullivan and Thompson Sts.) [Subway Lines: A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street); N, R, W (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place)]

The conference is also supported by NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, its Taub Center for Israel Studies and Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History, and the Yiddish Forward.

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