Jewish Studies. Already courses are in the
works with the history, political science, art,
education, theater and art departments.
"We have lots of different kinds of stu-
dents on our very diverse campus, and we
want to broaden the knowledge of all of
them to the Jewish experience,' Shichtman
said. "Most EMU students know very little
about Judaism or about Jewish culture. Many
are not aware of ever having met a Jew.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that
comprehensive universities like EMU, insti-
tutions dedicated to promoting an under-
standing of American diversity, also need to
provide their students with an awareness of
Jewish life and culture,' he said.
"It became very evident there was more
attention needed to the academic enter-
prise of Jewish studies',' said Provost Jack
Kay, EMU's chief academic officer, who
appointed Shichtman to his new position.
"Ifs pretty amazing to me how much coop-
eration is going on and how this is seen as
a way of understanding different cultures,
ideologies and world views:"
Shichtman has held fellowships at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
and Brandeis University's Summer Institute
for Israel Studies. In 2008, he was chosen
as a Hillel International Summit Scholar.
He co-teaches a Holocaust class as part of
the general education curriculum that has
attracted more than 300 students, more
than half non-Jewish.
Campus-wide programming with the
involvement of the community has been
very successful and will continue. Past
programs included Aaron Lansky of the
National Yiddish Book Center as art of
a series on Jewish culture, scholars John
Pawlikowski of the Catholic Theological
Union and Guy Stern of Wayne State
University, and Elie Rekhess, head of the
Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab
Cooperation at Tel Aviv University.
Shichtman also coordinated a Middle
East Lecture Series that kicked off with Ian
Troen, director of the Brandeis University
Shusterman Center for Israel Studies, and
has featured James Zogby of the Arab
American Institute and U-M's Juan Cole.
"It's good that our faculty and students
engage in conversations about important
and sometimes difficult issues',' Shichtman
said. "We can respect disagreement without
having to go along with everything that is
presented."
Jeffrey Bernstein, who has taught politi-
cal science at EMU for 14 years, has worked
with Shichtman.
"To understand the world today, it is
important to understand world religions
and the Jewish authors and Jewish themes','
he said. "We want future educators and stu-
dents to know that understanding Jews and
Judaism is an integral part of learning in
the 21st century and can be very helpful:
This week, Shichtman and Carla
Damiano, professor of German Language
and Literature, are accompanying 10 stu-
dents to Germany, the Czech Republic and
Poland as part of a study-abroad course,
"Representing the Holocaust."
The Jewish Community Relations
Council (JCRC) of Metropolitan Detroit is
coordinating a trip to Israel for President
Martin for November. Shichtman has also
been involved in the planning.
"This is very exciting for us and long
overdue,' Martin said. "We're looking for-
ward to establishing relationships with edu-
cational and other institutions to provide
opportunities, especially for our non-Jewish
students."
In August, EMU is partnering with the
Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington
Hills to offer "Reading the Holocaust: A
Seminar for Teachers" to be taught by fac-
ulty from EMU, U-M, UM-Dearborn and
Grand Valley State University
EMU's Hillel
Hillel at EMU is the one Jewish resource
connected with all of the campus and
regional players.
"We've just had a fantastic year and it just
keeps building;' said Clara Silver, Hillel's
executive director for the past five years.
Thirteen students sit on the Hillel Student
Advisory Board, 40 get together to bowl regu-
larly and more than a dozen prepare Shabbat
services and dinner for themselves and
others. Active Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) for
men and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi (SAEPi) for
women have active EMU chapters that work
with Hillel and can use its facilities.
More than 100 students attended last
year's Chanukah celebration and more than
200 students and guests gathered for Purim
fun this year.
"Students who want to get involved here
rrtt lt.'t^
4-
Drumming up business
for Hillel at EMU:
Heather Haberman,
West Bloomfield;
Kaitlin Winningham,
Dayton, Ohio; Beth
Kent, Marlboro, N.J.;
Max Rashes, Ann
Arbor; Lauren Cohn,
Huntington Woods
EMU Jewish Studies
director Marty
Shichtman is passionate
about integrating
Jewish programming
into campus life.
ram;
have a very wide range of opportunities','
Silver said."They get a hands-on experi-
ence of how to create a Jewish community
because it's up to them to do it."
Hillel and official EMU sources estimates
about 1,000 Jewish students are on campus;
a figure hard to verify given that public uni-
versities don't identify students by religion.
But while involving and connecting Jewish
students is at its core, Hillel also seeks to
engage the diverse student body.
"Much of what we do is of interest to a
broad group of students',' Silver explained.
"When you are a small community you
need to recognize what your strengths are
and how to leverage the multiplicity of
resources. We're part of the campus com-
munity and we've become kind of experts
at leveraging.
"Our partnership with the university is
very active and dynamic," she said."In just
the past two years, we've collaborated on
seven or eight joint programming efforts
on campus. In just the past two years, we've
collaborated on seven or eight joint pro-
gramming efforts on campus."
Hillel at EMU began in 1997 as part of
Hillel of Metropolitan Detroit with a part
time campus director. It became officially
independent in July 2008 and now has a full
time executive director, a full time program
staff person, and several student interns. This
past school year it extended its services to
students at Washtenaw Community College.
As a stand-alone Hillel, it has stepped up
its own fundraising. Working with the EMU
Foundation it raised $25,000 this past year,
surpassing its goal.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann
Arbor provided $11,000 this past year, the
same as the previous year even though its
overall campaign declined.
"It's about the only allocation we haven't
cut',' said David Shtulman, Federation
executive director. "It's doing what it needs
to do, and we're doing everything we can to
support them."
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit allocated $87,976 to Hillel and
invites EMU students to participate in its
Birthright missions to Israel and to apply
for interest-free college loans through its
Jewish Education Loan Service (JELS).
Community Outreach
Besides reaching out to Jewish alumni and
institutions in Metro Detroit, EMU has
also found an enthusiastic partner in its
own backyard, the Jewish Federation of
Greater Ann Arbor.
"We had a number of leaders from
EMU come to our Federation Board meet-
ing, and it started a great relationship:'
Shtulman said. "A board member told me,
I've been living here for 20 years and I
learned more about EMU today than I
have in all that time:"
The connection has led to Federation
Making Its Move on page 12
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