By Robert Center, , Seattle
As the chair of the advisory board to the Stroum Jewish Studies Program at the University of Washington, I was pleased to read and agree with Professor Jaffee’s August 7 column regarding the Stroum Lectures (“A learning experience”). The program is proud of its many contributions to the field of Jewish Studies as well as to its contributions to the greater community. At the same time, we recognize the importance of expanding the audience and participation of the Jewish community in deriving benefit from what the program has to offer. This is the community’s opportunity to be exposed to leading research in various aspects of Jewish Studies as well as to engage with renowned scholars in the field.
One of the goals of the advisory board is to support the program by bridging the gap between academia and the community at large as well as to expand that interaction. In this regard we seek to provide input and feedback to the program on the interests of the community, to widely advertise the many events, lectures and programs open to the public, and to ensure that interesting programming is accessible to all who are not necessarily scholars in the field. These activities also require providing financial support to the program in addition to that which is regularly allocated from the Stroum and other endowments.
We look forward to interacting with and supporting the Stroum Jewish Studies Program faculty in the coming year to continue offering the community exceptional learning experiences from scholars in Jewish Studies. We welcome input and feedback from the community with ideas to enhance its benefit and participation in the program.