| Northwestern launched its Jewish Studies Program in 1984 under the direction of Professor Kenneth Seeskin. Since then, thanks to the generosity of numerous benefactors and the leadership of Professor Seeskin and his successors, Professors Jacob Lassner and Benjamin Sommer, the Program has expanded steadily. Especially important in this process was the naming gift provided by the Crown family, which permitted the founding of the Center in 2000 and the hiring of additional faculty. The Center now has 17 affiliated faculty members offering approximately 40 quarter courses per year on historical, literary, philosophical, political, and religious topics, as well as in the study of Hebrew and Yiddish. Students can expect to find classes that satisfy their curiosity about nearly all dimensions of Jewish civilization, from the biblical period to the present day. Whatever the specific subject, teachers emphasize critical thinking, close analysis of texts, the evolution of ideas and themes across time, and the mutual influence of developments among Jews and the cultural and temporal settings in which these occurred.
| NewsThe Crown Center has awarded the Jill Stacey Harris Prize for the 2010-2011 academic year to Alexandra Raynor for her paper "Organizing Survival: The Question of Prisoners' Morality During the Holocaust" This prize is awarded each year to the best paper submitted by a Northwestern undergraduate in the area of Jewish Studies. congratualtions to Alexandra! Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern's book The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Making of the Ukrainian Jew was named a co-winner of the 2009-2010 book prize of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies. Ken Seeskin won the 2010 National Jewish Book Award for The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture in the category of collections and anthologies. This volume was edited by Seeskin, the Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization, and Professor of Philosophy and Judith Baskin of The University of Oregon.
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