8:45am-10:00am—Panel 1: The Second World War and the Aftermath of the Holocaust

Discussant: Professor Amy Simon

– Avi Cohen “A Dichotomous Assessment of Eastern European Plight During the Development and Progression of the Second World War”

– Talia Gruber “Holocaust Survivors and the Immigration to North America Post-World War II”

– Leah Welch “Hidden Hate or Hate Hardly Hidden?: Following the Life of a Holocaust Denial Ad on College Campuses in the Early 1990s”

10:05-11:20am— Panel 2: Examining Antisemitism on the MSU Campus

Discussant: Professor Ben Lorch

– Ian Donahue “Jewish on Campus: A Student Ethnography in Uncertain Times”

– Morgan Wolf  “Exploring the Effects of Antisemitism on the MSU Jewish Community”

– Troy Distelrath “Contradictions Within Communism: Antisemitism in Marx’s “Egalitarian” System”

11:20am-12:00pm— Panel 3: In Prof. Marc Bernstein’s Honor

12:10-1:10 Lunch (outdoors behind the Wells Hall Starbucks)

– Toast in honor of Professor Marc Bernstein’s retirement

– Faculty honorable mentions: Professor Amy Simons’s Teacher-Scholar Award and Professor Yore Kedem’s Excellence in Service to Education Abroad Award 

– Student honorable mentions: Serling Institute Student Achievement Awards

Samantha Chaben, Troy Distelrath and Leah Welch

1:20pm-2:00pm Keynote and Discussion

David Mindell, Jewish Studies Minor Alumnus 2009

Mr. Mindell will discuss his experience applying what he learned through the curriculum of the Jewish Studies minor, including his visits to Israel, to his career in consumer protection law at a nationally recognized plaintiff’s law firm, Edelson PC.

2:10pm-2:50pm— Panel 4: Israeli Foreign Policy 

Discussant: Professor Yael Aronoff 

– Sami Chaben “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Military and Political Effectiveness of Operation Pillar of Defense (2012) and Operation Protective Edge (2014)”

3:00pm -4:30pm— Panel 5: Jewish American Culture Past and Present

Discussant: Professor Kirsten Fermaglich

– Maegan Jankowski“God of Vengeance: Prostitution, White Slavery, Theatre and its Connections with the Jewish Community Across Europe and the Americas in the Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century”

– Shimon Likhtman  “Well, Talk About Bad Taste!” – Holocaust Consciousness through Humor in Mel Brooks’ The Producers”

– Jordan Robinson “Jewish Humans of Metro Detroit”