SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 4 PM
1525 S. Robertson Ave., Los Angeles

From Tuskegee to Vilna:
How A Southern Black University Influenced Studies of Polish Jewish Youth in the 1930's(Part II on the Pre-Eminent Dr. Max Weinreich, Founder of YIVO)

A Multi-Media Presentation by

Dr. Leila Zenderland, Ph.D
Professor of American Studies at Cal State University, Fullerton

This presentation focuses on the visionary Yiddish linguist, journalist, and founder of YIVO, Dr. Max Weinreich. While in the United States to study at Yale in 1932, Weinreich made a trip into the segregated South. What he learned from his visits to African American universities, among them Tuskegee Institute, regarding the effects of prejudice on youth and what can be done to counteract it, deeply affected his plans for researching and bettering the plight of young Polish Jews, who in the 1930's were faced with unrelenting anti-Semitism. Dr. Zenderland's skillful and stimulating talk sheds insights and draws connections between one man's profound personal odyssey and the sweep of history and challenges of identity experienced by two disparate groups.

Dr. Zenderland is currently writing a book showing how psychological ideas travelled around the world in the 1930s. In addition to publishing books and articles, she was a Fulbright Professor of American History in Germany and has also given talks on her research in Canada, England, Ireland, Netherlands, and Israel. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

This program is co-sponsored by Workmen's Circle/ArbeterRing and is made possible by the generous support of: The Ruth Ziegler Foundation, Nurit and Rick Amdur, The Baron Family Foundation, and Web Station One.

Admission:
$10 CIYCL members; $12 General
Free for FT students
For Reservations and to RSVP:
Miriam@yiddishinstitute.org 310.745.1190

Mit Yidish Nemt Men Ayn Di Gantse Velt   מיט ייִדיש נעמט מען אײַן די גאַנצע װעלט

Yiddish Lives in Barcelona, Spain!

CIYCL Director Miri Koral, recently invited to give a talk on modern Yiddish poetry in Barcelona for Congregation Atid and its Yiddish Club (Der Meshugener Fareyn), discovered the surprising fact of an active Yiddish-speaking enclave in the heart of historic Sefarad (the Hebrew word for Spain) as well as an enormously rich Jewish legacy. Reflections on this link in the great "Golden Chain" are explored in her two-part article in the Yiddish Forverts, Click Here.

For those who can't yet read Yiddish, a translation will soon be available.

This outreach and research project was thanks in part to support from the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies made possible by a grant from the Irene and Michael Ross Endowment Fund in Yiddish and Jewish Studies.

Check back soon for upcoming programs in the 2010-11 CIYCL Showcase of Contemporary Culture, supported by the Ruth Ziegler and the Chaim Schwartz Foundations.