Conference: “The Stranger at Our Gates”, Transdisciplinary Conference at JTS

Please Join Us for “The Stranger at Our Gates”  A Transdisciplinary Conference on Political and Religious Issues of Identity Speakers Nancy Berlinger, The Hastings Center Michael Gottsegen, Brown University Jenny Labendz, Barnard College Oliver Leaman, University of Kentucky Ranen Omer-Sherman, University of Miami Maeera Schreiber, University of Utah Monday, April 23, 2012 9:00 a.m.–7:30 p.m. The Jewish Theological Seminary 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City Registration for the all-day conference is $25 (free for graduate students); this includes breakfast, lunch, and coffee. The conference concludes with the Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture, a public panel entitled “‘The Stranger at Our Gates’: Jewish Perspectives on Exclusion and Inclusion in Contemporary America,” at 6:00 p.m. Registration for the conference automatically includes the evening panel. To register or for further information, please contact Ute Steyer at utsteyer@jtsa.edu. Space is limited. Please note: If you are interested in attending the Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture only, it is free, but reservations are required. RSVP online at www.jtsa.edu/stranger or call (212) 280-6093 (this does not include registration for the all-day conference). Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to allow sufficient time for check-in, and have photo ID available. This event is cosponsored by the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS, and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary. The Center for Pastoral Education is generously funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the Booth Ferris Foundation. ABOUT THE CONFERENCE Globalization has increased mobility and international collaboration, and facilitated the creation of transnational entities such as the European Union. However, national identities have become more impenetrable at the same time. In the United States, there has been steadily increasing concern with questions of identity and citizenship. The dichotomy between “citizens” and “aliens” (whether “documented” or not) is ever apparent in debates about immigration policy, especially in arguments about access to public services such as education and health care. There are two basic questions: What normative principles define the rights of entry and access? What principles inform (or should inform) the criteria for membership and group identity? Since policy decisions in these areas often are moral decisions rooted in religious or quasi-religious arguments, it is important to examine how the public debate is informed by underlying religious premises: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have much to say about the politics of inclusion and exclusion. This transdisciplinary conference devoted to issues of identity will focus on the contribution of the Jewish experience to the debate about those issues. Jews have played the roles of both “self” and “other” in various times and places from the biblical period to the present. While Jewish law is protective of the rights of “strangers,” these nevertheless may be met with suspicion, and regarded as a threat to ethnic/religious identity and group solidarity. The papers presented will explore questions of identity and otherness from various fields of Jewish studies, including Contemporary Israeli Literature, Philosophy, and Talmud and Rabbinics: PROGRAM 9:00 a.m. Breakfast and Opening Remarks by Professor Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor, JTS 9:15 a.m. “Recognizing the Other as Us: Undocumented Immigrants and Access to Health Care”—Dr. Nancy Berlinger, deputy director and research scholar, The Hastings Center 10:15 a.m. “How Comparable Are Jews and Muslims as ‘the Other’?: Is the Jewish Experience a Paradigm of Integration and Persecution of the Other?”—Dr. Oliver Leaman, professor of Philosophy and Zantker Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Kentucky 11:15 a.m. “Levinas and the Stranger at the Gates: The Ethics of Asylum in Israel and the United States. Balancing Ethical Responsibilities between the Other and the ‘Third’ Part”—Dr. Michael Gottsegen, visiting assistant professor of Judaic Studies and Hirschfeld Presidential Fellow in Comparative Studies, Brown University 12:15 p.m. Lunch 1:15 p.m. “Ancient Rabbinic Models of Learning with Non-Jews: The Role of the Gentile in the Rabbinic Discourse”—Dr. Jenny Labendz, term assistant professor of Religion, Barnard College 2:15 p.m. “Addressing Others, Acquiring Selves: The Buberian Poetics of Admiel Kosman and Liberation from Confines of Identity in Modern Israeli Literature”—Dr. Maeera Shreiber, associate professor of English and affiliated associate professor at the Middle East Center, University of Utah 3:15 p.m. “Mr. Mani and The Liberated Bride: Jews as ‘Other’ and Arabs in A. B. Yehoshua”—Dr. Ranen Omer-Sherman, professor of English and Jewish Studies, University of Miami 4:15 p.m. Concluding Remarks by Ute Steyer, research and program manager, Center for Pastoral Education, JTS 6:00 p.m. The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lecture “‘The Stranger at Our Gates’: Jewish Perspectives on Exclusion and Inclusion in Contemporary America” Panelists Saul J. Berman, JD, associate professor of Jewish Studies, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University;                            adjunct professor of Law, Columbia Law School Suzanne Last Stone, JD, University Professor of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, professor of Law,                             and director of the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law,                             Yeshiva University Burton L. Visotzky, Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies, Louis Stein Director of the Louis                            Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies, and director of the Milstein Center for Interreligious                            Dialogue, JTS Moderator Justus Baird, director of the Center for Multifaith Education,  Auburn Theological Seminary The Jack and Lewis Rudin Lectures provide the opportunity for eminent academics, religious leaders, intellectuals, and public figures to discuss topics of interest with the JTS community and the public at large.