Voices of the Russian-Jewish Diaspora: An Autobiography Contest for the 21st Century
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
This past year marked the 40th anniversary of the Let My People Go campaign, a political movement started by a handful of dissidents and Zionists in the Soviet Union that sought free Jewish emigration. This group attracted supporters in Israel, the United States and Western Europe. Through the tireless work of human rights workers throughout the world, refuseniks and prisoners of Zion forced the Soviet government to allow increasing numbers of Jews to emigrate. But what made emigration a true mass movement was ordinary Jewish families—and many non-Jews—in Riga, Kiev, Moscow, Odessa, Novosibirsk and other cities and towns across the Soviet Union. They made the often risky decision to leave their native country and to face an uncertain future abroad. They applied for an exit visa despite the danger of being left for years in limbo, without a job or a means of subsistence, if they were refused permission to emigrate.
Following examples set by early-twentieth century scholars such as Max Weinreich of the Yiddish Institute for Jewish Research and Boris Bakhmeteff of Columbia University, Rebecca Kobrin, a member of Columbia University’s History Department and Harriman Institute, seeks to collect autobiographical accounts of Russian-Jewish émigrés, before their crucial personal recollections that provide “full and free picture” of this era are lost. These autobiographies will serve as a time-capsule for today’s and tomorrow’s scholars concerned with Jewish life in the former Soviet Union as well as immigrant Jewish life in the age of mass migration and globalization.
We encourage everyone to write up their stories with honesty and accuracy. Not only will each submission be eligible for a monetary prize but those judged to be of the greatest historical and literary value will be published in a volume for world-wide distribution.
Follow link for more information and contest guidelines.
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Professor Padma Desai Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award from "India Abroad"
Thursday, 01 May 2008
Padma Desai and husband Jagdish Bhagwati were honored by "India Abroad" magaginze with Lifetime Achievement awards, presented by Salman Rushdie, at a ceremony held on March 28th in New York. Bhagwati, University Professor at Columbia and a leading free-trade economist, and Desai, the Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Comparative Economic Systems, are credited with helping create a blueprint for India's modernization through their book, "India: Planning for Industrialization" (1970).
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Lynn Garafola, Recipient of Barnard College's 34th Emily Gregory Award, Curates Exhibit on Jerome Robbins
Thursday, 01 May 2008
Lynn Garafola, Professor of Dance, is the Recipient of the 34th Annual Emily Gregory Award. The award recognizes one Barnard College professor for outstanding performance in the classroom. Nominated by a Barnard student through a formal essay, the recipient is honored for having made a significant contribution to the academic community through her teaching.
In other news, Garafola curated the exhibit "New York Story: Jerome Robbins and His Word" for the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts. The exhibit runs through June 28, 2008.
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