Professors

SFSU JEWISH STUDIES FACULTY

Fred Astren, Professor and Director JS
Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1993

(415) 338-3152 : phone

fastren@sfsu.edu
http://www.sfsu.edu/~jewish/fastren/fastren.html

Marc Dollinger, Professor
Ph.D., History, UCLA, 1993

(415) 338-3160 : phone

mdolling@sfsu.edu
http://www.sfsu.edu/~Jewish/
mdollinger/profd.html

Professor Dollinger serves as the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University. He is author of "Quest for Inclusion: Jews and Liberalism in Modern America," Princeton University Press, 2000 as well as "California Jews," co-edited with Ava Kahn, Brandeis University Press, 2003. He is a winner of UCLA's distinguished teaching award.

SFSU FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR PROGRAMS

Mary Felstiner, Professor (Department of History)
Ph.D., History, Stanford University, 1971

Jameson Goldner, Professor (Department of Cinema)
M.F.A., Film, UCLA, 1962

Irving Halperin, Professor (Department of English)
Ph.D., Literature, Washington University, 1957

Jo Keroes, Professor (Department of English)
Ph.D. English, Stanford University 1983

Eileen Levy, Professor (Department of Social Work)
Ph.D., Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin, 1983

Sandra Luft, Professor (Department of Humanities)
Ph.D., History of Ideas, Brandeis University, 1963

Lois Lyles, Professor (Department of English)
Ph.D., English and American Literature, Harvard University, 1977

Christopher Jackson, Assistant Professor (Department of History)
Ph.D., History, Harvard University, 1993

Barbara Tomash, Lecturer (Creative Writing and Jewish Studies)
M.F.A., Creative Writing, San Francisco State University, 1998

CSU, CHICO JEWISH STUDIES FACULTY

Julie Danan, Lecturer, Modern Jewish Studies and Religious Studies
M.A.. Hebrew Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 2000

(530) 898-5108 : phone

jdanan@csuchico.edu

Julie Hilton Danan is an instructor in Modern Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at California State University, Chico, where she teaches Hebrew language and Jewish studies courses. She received an independent Rabbinic ordination through ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal in July of 2000, and serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Chico. Previously she was spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am (JRF) in San Antonio, an instructor at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas, and an instructor for the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in San Antonio. Rabbi Danan received her M.A. in Hebrew Studies, with a major in Rabbinic Literature and a minor in Biblical Literature, from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Hebrew Studies through the same program. She wrote her thesis on, "Between Earth and Heaven-Elijah the Prophet in Rabbinic Literature," and for her doctoral research is studying the topic of "Ruah Hakodesh" or "Holy Spirit," in the Aggadic literature of the Amoraic period. She received a B.A. with honors in English Literature from Tel Aviv University and also studied in the Combined Judaic Studies major for Israeli students at Bar-Ilan University, and in the Plan II honors program at the University of Texas.

Rabbi Danan is the author of "The Jewish Parents' Almanac" (Jason Aronson, 1994) and has written about Jewish religious observance for over two dozen Jewish and general publications. Her interests as a rabbi include Jewish education, public speaking, Pastoral Care (as an AAPC Pastoral Care Specialist) and interfaith dialogue (she was co-founder of the Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue of San Antonio). A non-traditional student, Rabbi Danan embarked on her graduate and professional training in her thirties, as the mother of five.

Samuel M. Edelman, Professor and Director MJIS (MJIS 156,153,214,219,256)
Ph.D. Speech Communication and Jewish Studies, University of Arizona, 1981

(530) 898-4336 : phone
(530) 898-5751 : phone
(530) 898-4096 : fax
(530) 579-5719 : fax

sedelman@csuchico.edu

Dr. Samuel M. Edelman is a professor of Jewish and Holocaust Studies as well as rhetoric and Communication Studies. He is the founder of the program in Modern Jewish and Israel Studies at the California State University Chico in Northern California and its current director. Edelman is also the coordinator of the California State University Statewide Modern Jewish Studies BA Degree. He recently was Scholar-in-Residence at Haifa University in Jewish Education. Edelman has just been appointed Director of the California State Center of Excellence in Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance Education and chief liaison to the State Taskforce on Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance Education.

Edelman is the editor of “Within a Widening Gyre” published by Hampden Press. This work focuses on expanding our perspective of rhetoric beyond the Greco-Roman tradition. Edelman is also the editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Jewish American Literature.

Edelman has been chair of the CSU, Chico Academic Senate and is currently a Statewide Academic Senator representing CSU, Chico. He has served on the Fiscal and Governmental Affairs Committee of the ASCSU, the Academic Affairs Committee and is currently Vie Chair of the teacher Education Committee. He has been at CSU, Chico now for 24 years.

His Ph.D. is in Communication Studies and Jewish Studies from the University of Arizona and his BA and MA are from the Pennsylvania State University. He has been an academic for 33 years. Edelman has been a consultant in public speaking, intercultural communication and organizational communication to numerous companies and governmental organizations in the United States, Israel and South Africa. He has done training for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency. He lectures on the topics of Jewish rhetoric, the Arab Israeli Peace negotiations, the Holocaust as well as on the use of modern technology for distance learning.

Edelman has been teaching and lecturing on the Shoah for 24 years. His major focus is on Cultural Resistance. He has produced five documentaries on the Shoah for public radio and is the winner of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for humanities documentaries. He is also written extensively and teaches on Jewish rhetoric, Israeli Public Address, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Andrew M. Flescher, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies
Ph.D. Religious Studies, Brown University, 2000

(530) 898-5534: phone

aflescher@csuchico.edu

My scholarly pursuits lie in the field of contemporary religious thought, with interests rooted in three areas: ethics (moral epistemology, normative ethics, applied ethics); late 18th to 20th century Judaic and Christian thought; and the philosophy of religion (religious subjectivity, religious pluralism). These areas of foci identify me primarily as a scholar of Western (Jewish and Christian) religious thought; however, they also have given me extensive breadth in Eastern traditions.

My book, Heroes, Saints, and Ordinary Morality is scheduled to be published by Georgetown University Press in December of 2003. I am currently the director of CSU Chico's Center for Applied and Professional Ethics. My teaching responsibilities include RS 10 Introduction to Religion, RS 139 Religion, Freedom and Evil, RS 148 Ethical Issues in Religion, RS 154 Wealth, Power and Justice in the World's Religions, and RS 150 Religion and Film.

Daniel Veidlinger, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies
Ph.D. South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 2002

(530) 898-4637: phone

dveidlinger@csuchico.edu

My training is in the texts and practices of South and Southeast Asian religions, in particular Buddhism and Hinduism. I am interested in studying and teaching these religions from historical, sociological and philosophical perspectives, with the aim of providing a rich understanding of these traditions that is ever more important in today's world. My current research focuses on the roles that different communications media have played in the formulation and transmission of religious texts and ideas in Asia. My teaching responsibilities include RS 5 Asian Religion, RS 164 Buddhism and RS 165 Hinduism.

Jed Wyrick, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies (MJIS 1,2, 122,128,130)
Ph.D. Comparative Literature and Languages, Harvard University, 1999

(530) 898-5860: phone

jwyrick@csuchico.edu

Jed Wyrick, an assistant professor of Religious Studies since the Fall of 1999, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, into a family of classical musicians. Dr. Wyrick received his B. A. from Brandeis University in Classics (Greek and Latin literature) in 1990, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Comparative Literature (specializing in ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Yiddish) in 1999. Dr. Wyrick is an enthusiast of ancient culture, literature, religion, biblical interpretation, and dead languages, and is interested in the Jewish and Hellenistic roots of Western thought.

Dr. Wyrick specializes in teaching Judaism, where he emphasizes the tradition's biblical and rabbinic roots, medieval and post-Enlightenment challenges, and literary and philosophical responses to modernity. He also teaches courses in the history of Western religion (including Christianity and Islam), the Bible, Religious Dimensions of Literature, Cults and Sects, and Myth and Ritual. Dr. Wyrick has taught Modern Hebrew, and frequently instructs students in ancient Greek, Latin, and the piano in his spare time. He enjoys reading science fiction (especially the writings of Robert Jordan and J.R.R. Tolkien), philosophy, and literary theory.

Dr. Wyrick is the author of The Ascension of Authorship: Attribution, Textualization, and Canon Formation in Jewish, Hellenistic, and Christian Traditions (soon to be published by Harvard University Press).

CSU, CHICO FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR PROGRAMS

Carol Edelman, Professor (MJIS 153,156, 256)
Ph.D. Sociology and Holocaust Studies, University of Arizona 1985

(530) 898-6171 : phone
(530) 898-4571 : fax

cedelman@csuchico.edu

Professor Carol Edelman has been on the academic staff of CSU, Chico since 1981. She is currently the Associate Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and a Professor of Sociology. She has been the Director of the Honors Program at CSU, Chico. For the last 21 years she has actively been involved in scholarship, research and creative work on the general topic of the Jewish response to the Holocaust. Her research work includes investigation into the Jewish social structure before and during the Holocaust in Eastern Europe; research into cultural responses to the genocide of the Jews; interviewing and collecting materials on social issues from survivors. She with Professor Sam Edelman is the recipient of numerous grants for her work as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award for Outstanding Documentaries in the Humanities for her documentary on cultural response to Genocide. Professor Carol Edelman currently is completing a book on the Holocaust entitled, Underground Without Bullets.

George C. Grosscup, Professor (MJIS 246a)
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Massachusetts 1988

Nasim Jawid, Professor (MJIS 266)
Ph.D. History, UCLA 1970

(530) 898-5386: phone

njawed@csuchico.edu

Adrian Mirvish, Professor (MJIS 135)
Ph.D. Philosophy and Jewish Studies, University of Cincinnati 1976

(530) 898-5296: phone

admi@flash.net

Irving Schiffman, Professor (MJIS 128)
Ph.D. Political Science, UC Davis 1970

(530) 898-5199: phone

ischiffman@csuchico.edu
http://www.csuchico.edu/pols/FacultyBios/
Schiffman/Schiffman.htm

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY JUDAIC STUDIES FACULTY

Zev Bar-Lev (Hebrew 100,101,102,200, 201)
Ph.D. Linguistics, Indiana University, Professor, 1979

Lawrence Baron (Hist.436, 440, 488, JS 100)
Ph.D. History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor, 1974

(562) 985-5090 : phone

dschwart@csulb.edu
www.csulb.edu/~dschwart

Professor Baron has served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History and as the Director of the Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies at San Diego State University since 1988. He is also the founder and current president of the Western Jewish Studies Association. Prof. Baron received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin and taught at Saint Lawrence University from 1975 until 1988.

He authored a book on the German Jewish anarchist, Erich Muehsam, as well as over sixty articles on modern Jewish history. Dr. Baron's current research focuses on the depiction of the Holocaust in recent feature films. He acted as the historical consultant and chapter writer for Sam and Pearl Oliner's The Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe, and CO-edited the anthologies: Embracing the Other: Psychological, Philosophical, and Historical Perspectives on Altruism, and Martin Buber and the Human Sciences. He serves on the editorial boards of Shofar, an interdisciplinary journal of Jewish Studies, and the Syracuse University Press Series on Religion and the Holocaust.

Prof. Baron has presented lectures at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Leo Baeck Institute of New York, the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as numerous American universities, conferences, synagogues, and churches.

Risa Levitt-Kohn (RS 301, 320, 330)
Ph.D. Biblical History, University of California-San Diego, Asst. Professor, 1997

Ita Sheres, (Eng.405)
Ph.D. English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor, 1971

SDSU FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR PROGRAMS

Alfred Boe (English 405)
Ph.D. English, University of Arizona, Associate Professor, 1968.

Shelly Chandler (Hum 130)
Ph.D. Sociology, University of California-Los Angeles, Associate Professor 1966.

Rebecca Moore (Will Teach Jewish-Christian Relations Course with R. Kohn) Ph.D., Religious Studies, Marquette University, Assistant Professor, 1996.

Veronica Shapovalov (Rus 435)
Ph.D. Russian, University of Illinois, Urbana, Associate Professor, 1988.

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR PROGRAMS

Arlene Lazarowitz

California State University, Long Beach
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Lecturer, CSU, Long Beach (Dept. of History).

(562) 985-3860: phone

lazarowi@csulb.edu

Areas of Expertise: 20th Century U.S. foreign relations and political history, Cold War years, Democratic party in the 1950s, American Jewish history

Donald Schwartz

California State University, Long Beach
Ph.D., New York University, Professor, CSU, Long Beach (Dept. of History).

(562) 985-4589: phone

dschwart@csulb.edu

Areas of Expertise: 19th and 20th century Europe, modern European diplomatic history, the Holocaust

Additional Information: Co-authored a Holocaust survivor's account of the Nazi Death March, The Road to Hell. Is working on a book concerning survivors' adjustment to life following World War II.

Michael Meyer

CSU, Northridge