Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.206 January 26, 1994 1) Yiddish Grad and Undergraduate Programs (Keith Weiser) 2) Karik (Meyer H. David) 3) Rachel Korn (Mark Flumerfelt) 4) Yiddish Language & Literature at JTS (David Roskies) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Jan 21 17:41:35 1994 From: "Keith Weiser (TD 1994)" Subject: Yiddish Grad and Undergraduate Programs I am writing this message to share information that I have gathered in the last few months with all those others interested in Yiddish studies. I know of Yiddish programs at Columbia, Harvard, McGill, UCLA, U of Texas at Austin, Oxford, U of Tel-Aviv,the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,Yeshiva U, and the U of Ohio. I believe programs may also exist at Bar-Ilan and UPenn (A professor just wrote yesterday about Yiddish offerings there). I believe that Khana Kronfeld at Berkeley will be offering a Yiddish Lit program one year from now, and I think it is possible to study Yiddish there now in the Comp Lit Department. Anita Norwich at U of Michigan apparently teaches Yiddish literature there, but she is (I think) in the English Dep't and I don't believe a Yiddish Studies program exists there. I am an undergraduate at Yale, where only a class entitled "Yiddish for German speakers" is now offered. This class provides an introduction to Yiddish language, culture, and literature. It is taught by Howard Stern, a German professor here whose first language was Yiddish. Mr. Stern is also willing to do tutorials with individual students or small groups in Yiddish Literature. An introductory language class is taught at the Yale Hillel by Sid Resnik, who is the primary organizer of the Yale Yidisher Vinkl, a Leyenkrayz meeting weekly. Prof. Benjamin Harshav is also at Yale in the Comp Lit Dept. He is the author of several anthologies and translations of Yiddish and Hebrew verse, as well as books such as "The Meaning of Yiddish" and "Language in the Time of Revolution" (By the way, I highly recommend both books.) As far as I can tell, Columbia offers one of the more diverse programs in Yiddish Studies. It seems to provide training in linguistics and ethnology, as well as history and literature. McGill seems to concentrate in history and literature, and Harvard mainly in literature with a multidisciplinary cultural background. Both the U of Texas and UCLA offer dual masters programs in Yiddish and German,and seem to offer much linguistics and folklore, as well literature. I have been in contact with all of these schools and most express a good amount of willingness to mold their programs to fit the needs and interests of students. Hebrew is an absolute necessity for those with more than a passing interest in history, and a combination of German, Hebrew, and a Slavic tongue would of course be beneficial for the study of Yiddish language and linguistics. Most programs expect you to know Hebrew before entering or to master it very soon after admission. These 5 are the only programs which I have thus far researched in depth, so I don't really feel qualified to comment on the others. I am glad to see so many other inquiries about Yiddish from younger students, for I feared that I was one of a few. Blayb gezund, Kalmen Weiser 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Jan 21 23:02:10 1994 From: mhd@world.std.com (Mark H David) Subject: karik Dr. Arthur Komar writes Aykhet hob ikh fun Russishe Yidn dos vort "kerick" gehert ven zay maynen "tsirik" "karik" vert zeyer oft banitzt bay litvakes. s'iz nisht ken grayz. dos vort gefint zikh in vaynraykh mit an opshik tsu "tsurik". kh'her es zeyer oft bazondersh bay mayn khaverte Hasia Siegel, vos iz gekumen fun ponovesh (lite) mit 50 yor "karik". meyer 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat Jan 22 10:28:10 1994 From: Mark Flumerfelt Subject: Rachel Korn I'm not sure if this is the proper forum for this, but I just read a poem by Rachel Korn that I would like to share with other Mendeleniks. It is one of the most beautiful poems I have ever read. Unfortunately, I have only read the English version. It is entitled A New Dress: Today for the first time after seven long years I put on a new dress. But it's too short for my grief, too narrow for my sorrow, and each white-glass button like a tear flows down the folds heavy as a stone. What do you think? Mark Flumerfelt 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jan 23 09:57:55 1994 From: daroskies@theo.jtsa.edu Subject: Yiddish Language & Literature at JTS A well-kept secret, but since Mendele has already blown Philologus's cover, I thought I might do one better. The Jewish Theological Seminary now offers a full complement of graduate courses in Yiddish Language and Literature. As of Fall 1993, Peysakh Fiszman offers Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced Yiddish. Each course meets twice a week. The core curriculum in Yiddish literature consists of a three-semester course on the History of Yiddish Literature: 1780-1880, 1880-1918 and 1918-1976. These courses are taught in Yiddish and are required of all students studying for the MA or Ph.D. We are currently completing the sequence for the first time and will be starting all over again in the Fall of 1994. In addition, I am offering a course on I. B. Singer and the Yiddish Tradition, taught in English, but with all the texts painstakingly reproduced in PARALLEL TEXT EDITIONS. (They are not for distribution outside the classroom.) I am also giving a course on the Literature of the Holocaust with an emphasis on Yiddish writings in the ghettos and death camps (for instance, the writings of Yehoshua Perle). The Department of JewsLiterature, which offers specializations in medieval and modern Hebrew literature and Liturgy as well. Students with an interest in combining literature and history can apply to the program in Modern Jewish Studies. Here, Prof. David Fishman offers numerous courses on East European Jewish history and culture. If anyone out there is interested, s/he may contact me via E-mail or by phone @ 212-678-8914. The time to apply for next year is NOW. Especially for financial aid. David Roskies ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.206 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files