The different essays are both personal and impersonal, addressing the spiritual, the communal and the academic undercurrents making up the Hebraist tradition in America. Their efforts result in a book that takes readers on a kaleidoscopic journey through Jewish identity, Israel, the diaspora and the common denominator that ties them all together: the Hebrew language.
A new collection of original essays edited by Naomi B. Sokoloff (Near Eastern Language & Civilization and Comparative Literature) and Nancy E. Berg (Hebrew and Comparative Literature, Washington University) draws on diverse perspectives to probe the state of Hebrew language studies in contemporary America and beyond.
What We Talk about When We Talk about Hebrew (and What It Means to Americans) (University of Washington Press, 2018) gathers twelve essays, chiefly from the May 2016 UW conference Hebrew and the Humanities: Present Tense.
In Moment magazine, reviewer Anis Modi praises the book’s “kaleidoscopic” approach that views the topic through multiple lenses:
The different essays are both personal and impersonal, addressing the spiritual, the communal and the academic undercurrents making up the Hebraist tradition in America. Their efforts result in a book that takes readers on a kaleidoscopic journey through Jewish identity, Israel, the diaspora and the common denominator that ties them all together: the Hebrew language.
Sokoloff gives a talk about the new book on Monday, October 29, at 3:30 pm in HUB 145.
The 2016 Hebrew and the Humanities conference was organized by Sokoloff, Berg, and Hannah Pressman, formerly of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, who contributed a chapter. It was sponsored by Near Eastern Languages & Civilization, Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media, the Stroum Center, and the Simpson Center for the Humanities. Sokoloff also organized a 2005 Simpson Center symposium on American Jewish Writing Today.
Congratulations, all!