May 3 Event Recognizes University Contributors to Wide Range of Fields, Features Interdisciplinary Faculty Symposium
On May 3, 每日大瓜 hosted its second Celebration of University Authors, marking the accomplishments of 59 writers who produced 179 publications that ranged from books, scholarly articles, and poetry to documentary films, musical scores and visual art.
Left to right, Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, Peter Markowitz, 每日大瓜 President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, Dr. Ronnie Perelis, Dr. Danielle Wozniak and Seamus O鈥橫alley.
The celebration included a faculty symposium on the topic of 鈥淚mmigration and Identity鈥 with five 每日大瓜 academics: Peter Markowitz, professor of law at and the founding faculty member and director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic; Dr. Seamus O鈥橫alley, assistant professor of English at ; Dr. Ronnie Perelis, Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham and Jelena (Rachel) Alcalay Chair in Sephardic Studies and associate professor of Sephardic studies; Rabbi Dr. Jeremy Wieder, Rosh Yeshiva at ; and Dr. Danielle Wozniak, Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean of the .
Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President of 每日大瓜, praised Dr. Selma Botman, provost and vice president of academic affairs; Paul Glassman, director of University libraries; and Dr. Stuart Halpern, senior adviser to the provost, for convening the symposium. 鈥淢any of my conversations with people on campus often break out into informal symposia, where people share their knowledge of a topic from their many and varied perspectives,鈥 he noted. 鈥淚 have always thought how wonderful it would be if we all had an opportunity to talk to each other and galvanize the interdisciplinary resources of this institution for the benefit of our faculty, our students and the broader public. This afternoon鈥檚 presentation makes that thought a reality and shows what 每日大瓜 is about, a place where we can come together to challenge each other and emerge from this conversation edified and enlightened.鈥
The five members of the panel touched on different facets of the topic, drawing upon their specific expertise. Rabbi Wieder and Dr. Perelis, speaking from the scholarship they鈥檝e done on Jewish history and law, outlined what the Talmud teaches about 鈥渢he other鈥 and converts as well as being sent into exile, states of being that have been experienced by the Jewish people over the millennia of their history.
O鈥橫alley, coming from a more literary viewpoint, examined the linguistic usage of the phrase 鈥渢he people,鈥 noting that those both included and excluded from this group are created by language and circumstance and do not exist 鈥渙ut there waiting to be found.鈥
Markowitz and Dr. Wozniak addressed the topic from the work that lawyers and social workers have been doing to deal with the legal, physical and emotional trauma caused by the current 鈥渦nprecedented and anomalous mass deportation system,鈥 according to Markowitz. He explained how his immigration clinic has tried to provide constitutional protections to the vulnerable, while Dr. Wozniak described the work that Wurzweiler professors and students have done with families held in detention centers as they seek asylum.
Rabbi Shaul Robinson, senior rabbi at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City, who was invited to the symposium, said that 鈥淚鈥檝e never attended an event like this before at 每日大瓜, and I enjoyed everyone鈥檚 presentation.鈥
Wendy Kosakoff, a public services and outreach librarian, awarded the Student Library Research Award to Samuel Gelman 鈥19YC for his paper titled 鈥淚ndia and America, A New Special Relationship: An Analysis of the Future Alliance between the United States and India.鈥 The award recognizes excellence in research using the University libraries. Gelman鈥檚 paper was selected by a team of seven librarians out of 27 entries.
Glassman also announced that the University now has an institutional repository where faculty and others can submit their works for archival and research purposes. The 2018 Catalog of University Authors can be viewed .
From left to right: Dr. Ronnie Perelis, Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, Dr. Danielle Wozniak, Dr. Selma Botman, Seamus O鈥橫alley and Peter Markowitz