THE “GOLDSTEIN GOREN”
CENTER FOR HEBREW STUDIES
1. HISTORY
The “Goldstein Goren” Center for Hebrew Studies was set up in 1998 by the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest in cooperation with the “Cukier Goldstein Goren” Foundation of Israel. The Center focuses on the following academic offer and research lines:
· Specific academic curricula (advanced studies (MA) in Hebrew culture and civilization, PhD programs in Jewish studies, practical courses in the Hebrew language)
· Academic modules coordinated by visiting professors
· Research programs in Jewish history, philosophy, civilization and arts
· Conferences, seminars, workshops
· Study and research grants for students and scholars
· Academic resources – library, data-bases
· Publication of research works
· Publication of the Studia Hebraica review
The Center currently provides:
· open courses in the Hebrew language to students, academic staff and the public at large;
· MA and PhD programs in Jewish studies;
· research facilities to scholars, alumni and students
· publication of Jewish authors, works on Jewish issues, etc.
2. ADMINISTRATION
a) Coordination
The “Goldstein Goren” Center for Hebrew Studies’ Administrative Board is led by Dr. Liviu Papadima, Dean of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest and Dr. Liviu Rotman (Co-directors). The current activities of the Center are coordinated by Dr. Felicia Waldman.
b) Members
The Center counts among its members internationally renowned personalities who give lectures, carry out research projects and take part in related international programs.
Some of the Center’s outstanding members are:
Prof. Dr. Moshe Idel, Israel
Prof. Dr. Carol Iancu, France
Prof. Dr. Leon Volovici, Israel
Prof. Dr. Raphael Vago, Israel
Dr. Radu Ioanid, USA
Prof. Dr. Victor Neumann, Romania
Prof. Dr. Alexandru Barnea, Romania
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Cornilescu, Romania
Prof. Dr. Vasile Morar, Romania
Dan Matei, Romania
c) Staff
1. Permanent academic staff
Lecturer Dr. Felicia Waldman, Practical course in Hebrew, Hebrew Grammar, Jewish thought
Dr. Măriuca Stanciu, Hebrew grammar, Jewish arts, Jewish civilization
Prof. Dr. Francisca Băltăceanu, Ancient Jewish history, Biblical exegesis, Biblical archeology
2. Visiting professors
The Center operates with associate and visiting professors from Romania and abroad, in an attempt to provide the students with the best expertise available in each relevant field. The Center enjoys, each year, the presence of important academics from all over the world, who give lectures and modular courses on themes of utmost interest. Among them are:
Prof. Dr. Moshe Idel (Israel), Jewish thought
Prof. Dr. Leon Volovici (Israel), History of Jewish intelligentsia
Prof. Dr. Carol Iancu (France), History of Romanian Jews
Dr. Radu Ioanid (USA), Holocaust studies
Dr. Liviu Rotman (Israel), Jewish history
Prof. Dr. Raphael Vago (Israel), Jewish historiography
Dr. Lucian Zeev Herscovici (Israel), Yiddish language and culture
Prof. Dr. Leonard Greenspoon (USA), Hellenistic Judaism
Prof. Dr. Armin Lange (USA), The Dead Sea Scrolls
Dr. Raphael Shuchat (Israel), Major Themes in Jewish philosophy
3. Associate teaching staff
Dr. Michael Shafir, Holocaust denial
Dr. Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, Medieval and modern Jewish history
Dr. Andrei Cornea, Ancient stereotypes about Jews, History of Anti-Semitism
Andrei Oișteanu, Jewish imagology
Andreea Păstârnac, Ph.D. candidate, Hebrew grammar
Dr. Mihai Chioveanu, European far right and anti-Semitism, Contemporary Jewish History
Manuela Cazan, Israeli literature
Alina Popescu, Ph.D. candidate, Jews, Christians & Muslims in the Middle Ages
d) Alumni
Some of the most outstanding students who have graduated the M.A. program in Jewish Studies organized by the Center with the Faculty of Letters have become alumni of the Center and are now active participants in its activities:
Madeea Axinciuc, Biblical Hebrew
Manuela Cazan, Israeli literature
Cristina Toma, Sephardic studies
Gina Pană, Holocaust studies
Alina Popescu, Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
3. ACADEMIC RESOURCES
The Center has an increasingly large library, which provides students with both scientific and literary works in several languages. The Center’s staff is also working on a Jewish reference data-base of issues and trends.
4. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Center develops joint projects and cooperates in various activities with internationally renowned institutions, such as:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Beer-sheva University, Israel
Universita degli Studi Milano, Italy
New York University, USA
Paul Valery – Montpellier III University, France
US Holocaust Memorial Museum, USA
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel
CEU Budapest, Hungary
University of Vienna, Austria
Creighton University, USA
CENTROPA (Austria)
The Center is also a member of TRES (“Teaching Religions in a Multicultural European Society” Thematic Network) and a partner in EPOS (“Europe as a Post-secular Society” project).
International events organized by the “Goldstein Goren” Center during the academic year 2004–2005
Seminars, symposiums, round tables:
“Violence and Holocaust” – student session: papers presented by 7 doctoral students whose work is supervised by members of the Center (November 11, 2004)
“Reflection of the Minorities’ Problems in the Romanian Public Space” – round table (November 12, 2004) – several members of the Wiesel International Commission for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania (Leon Volovici, Raphael Vago, Jean Ancel, Liviu Rotman, Michael Shafir, Victor Neumann, Vasile Ionescu, Zoltan Tibori Szabo, William Totok, George Voicu) presented the Commission’s Report (issued the previous day) and submitted it to public debate; special guest: Michele Sarfatti (Italy) (a transcript of the round table works was published in Studia Hebraica 4/2004)
Training session for history teachers in Holocaust education co-organized with the Romanian Institute for Recent History, with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and Yad Vashem (May 30 – June 1, 2005)
“The Holocaust in Romania: Pre-requisites, Facts and Consequences”, international seminar co-organized with the Romanian Institute for Recent History (June 2–3, 2005)
Book presentations:
The International Struggle for the Emancipation of Romanian Jews, by Carol Iancu (France), published by Hasefer Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005 (May 12, 2005)
Lectures:
Carol Bines (Israel) – Romanian Jewish Emigration to Israel and the Integration of Romanian Jews into the Israeli Society (November 2, 2004)
Kristian Gerner (Sweden) – The Holocaust, Communism & Cultural Bivalence in Central Europe (November 8, 2004, in cooperation with the Romanian Institute for Recent History and the Swedish Embassy in Bucharest)
Klas-Goran Karlsson (Sweden) – The Holocaust in European Historical Culture: A General Comparative Perspective (November 9, 2004 in cooperation with the Romanian Institute for Recent History and the Swedish Embassy in Bucharest)
Moshe Idel (Israel) – Maimonides and Jewish Mysticism (February 4, 2005)
Amnon Ben Tor (Israel) – Archeological Discoveries at Hatzor (March 16, 2005)
Marcelo Dascal (Israel) – Conflictive Communication (May 25, 2005)
Martin Smok (Czech Republic) – The Shoah Visual Memory Foundation (July 9, 2005)
5. RESEARCH
During the academic year 2003–2004 four research projects were carried out under the aegis of the “Goldstein Goren” Center for Hebrew Studies:
Măriuca Stanciu – doctoral studies on the outstanding figure of Moses Gaster (Prof. Dr. Mircea Anghelescu)
Gina Pană – doctoral studies in the Christian Churches relations with the Holocaust (Prof. Dr. Vasile Morar)
Cristina Toma – doctoral studies in Sephardic history under joint coordination (with Prof. Dr. Yom Tov Assis, Israel)
Alina Popescu – doctoral studies in the field of Jewish arts (Prof. Dr. Vasile Morar)
6. PUBLICATIONS
Books
Mihai Canianu, Studies and Collections of Romanian folklore, Minerva, Bucharest 1999 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Sal. Segal, Of the Jewish People’s Folklore, Minerva, Bucharest 2000 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Ion-Aureliu Candrea, Folklore Studies. Of the Romanian People’s Customs and Beliefs, F.N.S.A. Bucharest 2001 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Madeea Axinciuc, Moses Maimonides, F.N.S.A. Bucharest 2002 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Felicia Waldman, The Occultation Phenomenon in Jewish Mysticism, Paideia, Bucharest 2002 (in Romanian – available from Paideia)
Mihail Sebastian, Jurnal de Epocă [Diary of an Epoch], F.N.S.A. Bucharest 2002 (ed. Cornelia Ștefănescu) (in Romanian – available upon request)
Mihail Mîndra, Strategists of Assimilation, F.N.S.A., Bucharest 2003 (in English – available upon request)
*** The Holocaust and Romania: History and Contemporary Significance, Semne ’94, Bucharest 2003 (in English – available upon request)
Lazăr Șăineanu, Folkloric Studies, F.N.S.A. Bucharest 2003 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Mihai Chioveanu, Faces of fascism. Politics, ideology and history writing in the 20th century, Bucharest University Press 2005 (in Romanian – available upon request)
Reviews
Studia Hebraica no. 1, Bucharest University Press 2001
Studia Hebraica no. 2, Bucharest University Press 2002
Studia Hebraica no. 3, Bucharest University Press 2003
Studia Hebraica no. 4, Bucharest University Press 2004
7. CONTACT
For details regarding the activities of the Center and the admission procedures to the M.A. program in Hebrew Culture and Civilization organized by the Center together with the Faculty of Letters please contact us at: Decanat, Facultatea de Litere, Universitatea din București, Str. Edgar Quinet no. 5–7, sector 1, București, tel./fax: (+4021) 313 43 36, e-mail: felice@xnet.ro.
Website: http://www.unibuc.ro/ro/cc_cstebrgg_ro
