I. Overview

The Association for Jewish Studies is pleased to announce the second year of the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project (LHJSP), a collaboration of the Legacy Heritage Fund and the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS). This initiative aims to promote sustained Jewish studies programming in small to mid-sized cities, foster relationships between scholars and the wider communities in which they work, encourage innovative and accessible teaching by AJS members, and highlight the nexus of Jewish studies and the study of world civilizations and cultures. It is the first program by the AJS to support the work of Jewish studies scholars as public intellectuals, pioneering programmers, and community builders.

In 2009, the AJS began providing one-year grants of up to $22,000 to Jewish studies programs at colleges and universities outside of major metropolitan areas that demonstrate scholarly resources, institutional support, a schedule of creative, and substantive public events, and a need in the general community for such programming. As in the past year, priority will be given to applications from institutions in the United States, but Canadian institutions will also be considered. In addition, institutions in the process of building a Jewish studies program are eligible to apply. Five institutions received grants in 2009 to support programming in the 2010-11 academic year; a second group of institutions will receive grants in 2010 to support programming in the 2011-12 academic year; and a final group will receive grants in 2011 to support programming in the 2012-13 academic year. Grantees may also later apply for a second-year of funding at the 50% level, contingent on their securing matching grants for the balance of second-year expenses. The application deadline for the 2010 competition is September 7, 2010.

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II. General Information

The Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project is based on the idea that the Jewish studies scholar has a critical role to play as a mediator of Jewish history and culture, the humanities, and social sciences not only on the college campus, but also in the broader community. This role is mutually beneficial: To the general public, the Jewish studies scholar brings expertise, depth of knowledge, and extensive teaching experience—traits that can open up Jewish topics in new and innovative ways, inspire intellectual excitement and appreciation for Jewish studies, and intellectually engage the public beyond campus walls. For the scholar, teaching outside of the college classroom brings a wider audience to one’s work and a broader range of perspectives and experiences to bear on one’s topic. This kind of programming helps to bridge the “town-gown” gap between colleges/universities and the cities within which they reside, promoting the view that Jewish studies programs have vital resources for a diverse community of learners and that the college/university is an essential and active community partner. Indeed, Jewish studies—with its focus on minority/majority relations and on the constant negotiation between particularist and universalist concerns—is ideally situated to serve as such a bridge between the academy and the public.

LHJSP supports Jewish studies faculty that design dynamic and inventive outreach events with a broad appeal. New models for public program formats, in addition to more traditional lecture series and conferences, are encouraged e.g., film screenings, dance performances, plays, concerts, field trips, walking tours, etc. (Click here for descriptions of the 2009 LHJSP projects.) These are examples; the AJS encourages new and innovative approaches, and a diversity of program structures that will attract wide participation. There is some flexibility as to the number of events produced—anywhere from three to eight events per academic year. Critical aspects of the programs are that:

• they are sustained and, built around a selected theme/year;
• they translate the specific expertise of scholars into a popular idiom;
• they draw primarily on the talent and expertise of local faculty, supplemented by guest presenters from out of town;
• they tie into courses being taught on campus and collaborate with local organizations to encourage wide participation;
• they attract a diversity of audiences; and
• they have clear methods of outreach and marketing to the general public

A central goal of the project is to nurture sustainable, long-term collaborative relationships between Jewish studies programs and their surrounding communities. To this end, grantees will have the option of applying for a second-year of funding (application date TBA), to be matched by local or national donors/organizations. Year one will be regarded as the “ignition” grant; in year two, the AJS will award 50% of the program budget to institutions that demonstrate financial commitment from local sources (e.g., local donors, foundations, Jewish federations) for the balance of the budget. A representative from each institution will also attend a one-day workshop on public programming and program development, to be led by the LHJSP Academic Advisory Committee (the workshop for 2010 grantees will be held in early January, 2011 in New York City). Thus, by the completion of a two-year cycle, each grantee will have hosted several major Jewish studies events; developed new relationships and contacts with dozens of people outside of the college/university community; attended a workshop on dynamic public programming; raised the profile of Jewish studies on the university campus and among the general public; and contributed ideas and suggestions to the AJS’s public programming website, which will serve as a resource to other Jewish studies scholars.

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III. Institutional Budget

Each institution will receive, at most, $22,000/academic year to support its programs. Below is a list of line items which are covered by the grant. Institutions are asked to submit a proposed budget with narrative and a preliminary event schedule with their application, and a final budget and event schedule before receipt of grant payments.  Applicants seeking support for any other line items must provide a rationale for the request. The LHJSP grant does not cover institutional overhead expenses; all budget lines covered by the grant are included below.

Expense
Faculty Honoraria (a maximum of $500/presenter/event)
Marketing (e.g., brochure design, printing, mailing, etc.)
Administrative Support
Class materials/AV. or film rentals
Travel Expenses (for up to two out-of town presenters)
Guest Speaker Honoraria (for up to two out-of town presenters, honoraria may be higher)
Space rental (to hold events off campus)
Refreshments

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IV. Eligibility Requirements

• The institution must be outside of a major metropolitan area (e.g., New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, etc.) and be able to demonstrate an underserved need in the larger, non-academic, community, as well as interest in proposed events; the institution must also demonstrate financial need to launch proposed programs
• The institution must have a Jewish studies program, or be in the process of developing a Jewish studies program
• Lead applicant from the institution must be: affiliated with the institution’s Jewish studies program or initiative to develop program; a current AJS member; and have approval from the Jewish studies program director to submit application
• The lead applicant must be available to attend a one-day workshop on public programming and program development (to be held in early January 2011 in New York City; all expenses covered)
• Grant recipients must: complete a mid and year-end report, distribute evaluation forms to audience after each event (template of evaluation form to be provided by AJS), provide attendance records, and maintain a file of marketing and media coverage of events
• Grant recipients will be required to acknowledge the support of the Legacy Heritage Fund in marketing and other written materials and verbally at all events

V. Application Due Date, Process, and Review

The AJS must receive applications by September 7, 2010.  Each institution will have a lead applicant, responsible for submitting all necessary materials.  Applications will be reviewed by a panel of senior Jewish studies scholars with expertise in public programming, Jewish studies program development, and community partnerships.  Proposals will be judged on the clarity, specificity, feasibility, potential impact, and innovativeness of the proposed schedule of events; the appropriateness of the project budget as well as the need demonstrated for such programming in the institution’s surrounding community.

Support for the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project is generously provided by Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.

Submission Instructions

Application Cover Sheet

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VI. 2009 LHJSP Recipients

Colby College
Directed by: David Freidenreich
Telling the Stories of Maine’s Jewish History
Telling the Stories of Maine’s Jewish History seeks to foster new and renewed reflection on Jewish experiences in Maine by sharing Freidenreich’s research, along with that of his students, and by providing Jewish Mainers with opportunities and resources to learn more about their own local heritage. Freidenreich will offer a series of evening programs, more storytelling than lecture, in Jewish communities across the state. In these programs, Freidenreich will offer a framework for recounting the history of Jewish experiences in Maine, illustrating it with anecdotes gleaned from oral histories, and will invite audience members to contribute their own stories to the mosaic. Colby will host a one-day conference on Maine’s Jewish history that will provide opportunities for student, amateur, and professional historians to exchange information about Maine’s Jewish history and place this information in broader historical context. Colby will also host a student-curated exhibition on Maine’s Jewish history (with a web-based component). Student curators will design a curriculum for public school group visits to this exhibit and the collections of the Colby Art Museum on the subject of “Life in Maine”; this program will directly complement the Maine history component of the state curriculum.

College of Charleston
Directed by: Adam Mendelsohn
Jews, Slavery and the Civil War
The Jewish Studies Program at the College of Charleston plans to organize a year of programming to coincide with the sesquicentennial commemoration of the outbreak of the Civil War. Our theme of Jews, Slavery and the Civil War will allow us to examine a variety of larger issues relating to the troubled past of a city that was at once accommodating to Jews and a center of slavery and secessionism. We plan to arrange several guided walking tours of sites in Charleston and its surrounds associated with Jewish slaveholding, a series of public lectures, and a conference in May 2011. We will also engage our students through a project that will involve them in the research and publication of a guide to sites connected with Jews, slavery and the Civil War in historic Charleston. As much as possible, these events will be integrated into the city-wide planning for the anniversary.

Dickinson College
Directed by: Andrea Lieber
Hazan Et HaKol: Jewish Perspectives on Food and Environmental Sustainability
Food sustains the Jewish people in many ways—from the laws of kashrut (dietary laws) to the Passover seder, from bagels and lox to the deli counter, food is an integral part of Jewish religion, culture and history. But, what does Jewish tradition have to say about the relationship between food and environmental sustainability? Where does our food come from and why does it matter? Through the study of Jewish texts from antiquity to the present, our series of programs considers the centrality of food in crafting a Jewish environmental ethic for the 21st Century. Key note events feature a kickoff event with Nigel Savage, founder of HAZON, and a closing session with Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, General Consultant for COEJL and Director of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network (BJEN). Through pod-casts and the use of distance learning technology available to us through the Penn State/Dickinson School of Law, our program will be enhanced by opportunities for collaboration with Penn State's LHJSP program.

Pennsylvania State University
Co-directed by: Brian Hesse, Margaret Cohen, and Paula Wapnish
Tend and Sustain It Forever
Modern Jewish food movements, including Jewish farming movements, organizations like Hazon, the development of ethically based kashrut designations, and other topics surrounding Jewish religious and cultural attitudes toward food production, sustainability, and eating practices, are increasingly occupying the minds of Jewish thinkers, theologians, and eaters. Tend and Sustain It Forever will offer a series of workshops, public lectures, and community action events in which Penn State students and faculty connect with members of the wider State College community to engage in discussion, come together in action, and enjoy opportunities to debate, work and eat together. Our location in central Pennsylvania provides a wonderful venue in which to study and then project the traditions and insights born by a small, but vibrant and diverse, local Jewish community into the surrounding rings of towns and farming communities that circle State College, home of Penn State. This series is designed to bridge the “town/gown” divide by encouraging direct interaction among educators, students, community members, religious leaders, and the agricultural community. The structure of Tend and Sustain It Forever reflects our commitment to this goal. Our first events will focus on providing information and education about Biblical and Talmudic issues surrounding Jewish food and food production and will also include a forum for active participation. The series then moves on to address modern Jewish appropriation and re-imagination of ancient traditions, and combines public education with opportunity for in-depth discussion by participants. Concluding the year are two capstone events which focus on community action. The field trip to a Jewish farm and the community meal are designed to be opportunities for students and community members to put the many Jewish traditions explored throughout the year to work in a real and physical way.

University at Albany, SUNY
Directed by: Barry Trachtenberg
Jewish Renegades in the Arts
The University at Albany, SUNY’s Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project series, Jewish Renegades in the Arts, combines lectures, book discussions, film screenings, and presentations on music and graphic arts, all of which demonstrate how Jewish artists have explored themes of rebellion, self-doubt, and the creative impulses that emerge from challenging the status quo. The program, which capitalizes on the strengths of Judaic Studies faculty members in modern literature, theatre, and film, looks at iconic as well as lesser-known artistic figures and phenomena as they challenge conventional wisdom, Jewish tradition, and societal norms. Individual programs include film screenings and discussions of Jewish jazz singers and leading men, book discussions on Philip Roth and other contemporary writers, and presentations on Yiddish drama, Jewish graphic novels, and the music of Ugandan Jews.

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