Center
Database
|
From the Center's Archives:
Temple University
and the Jewish Studies Program and History Department,
American University
Invite[d] you to Participate in a Conference on
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN JEWISH POLITICAL CONSERVATISM
on
THURSDAY APRIL 15
and FRIDAY APRIL 16, 1999
at
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
|
For more information
please contact |
This conference is the first major exploration of the history of American Jewish political conservatism in this country. The growth of a Jewish conservative movement began in the 1930s among a small group of intellectuals who broke with Communism and Stalinism. It expanded during the Cold War among a number of thinkers and activists who began to challenge not only Soviet expansionism but the welfare state as well . In the 1970s and 1980s this group of primarily New York intellectuals gained wider attention and played a significant role in the Reagan administration. As we move to the close of this century, a larger group of young conservative Jewish intellectuals and activists are working in Washington "think tanks, the media, and academia. They have helped to develop a body of conservative political thought and action that has contributed to the ascendancy of the political conservatism of recent years. The importance of tracing the historical development of American Jewish political conservatism lies in the need to recapture this often ignored and important part of the American Jewish experience.
Registration is free.
For more information please call (215) 665-2300.
E-mail: MurrayFrie@aol.com
This program is funded by The Lynne and Harry Bradley Foundation.
Thursday, April 15th - Day One
Butler Board Room, American University
9:00 A.M. RE G I S T R AT I O N
9:30-10:00 A.M. WE L C O M E
Introduction:
Murray Friedman , Director Feinstein Center and Director,
Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee
10:15 A.M.-12:00
noon
HISTORIC AND RELIGIOUS ROOTS
Moderator
: Alan Kraut , Professor of History, American University
Presenters :
David Dalin , Visiting Associate Professor, Jewish Theological
Seminary,
"Helping Others to Help Thems elves : The Jewish Philanthropic
Tradition
From Biblical Israel to Modern America
Jonathan Sarna , Joseph H. and Belle R. Br aun Professor of American
Jewish History and Chair, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic
Studies , Brandeis University,"American Jewish Conservatism
in
Historical Perspective
David Saperstein , Director, Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism ,
"Contemporary Jewish Liberalism : Its Roots in Religious
Thought and
Historic Practice
Respondent : Pamela Nadell , Director, Jewish Studies Program
and
Associate Professor of History, American University
12:15-1:45
P.M. Break for Lunch
2:00-4:00 P.M. THE PREMATURE JEWISH NEO-CONSERVATIVES
Moderator
: Carolyn Adams, Dean, College of Liberal Arts,
Temple University
Presenters:
George Nash, independent scholar,"Forgotten Godf athers:
Premature
Jewish Conservatives and the Rise of The National Review
Hillel Fradkin , Associate Director, Shalem Center and Director
of the Center,s Washington office ,"Leo Strauss as a Premature
Neo-Conservative
Richard Gid Powers, Coordinator, American Studies Progr am ,
Graduate
Center, City University of New York , "Roy Cohn And Ri ght-Wing
Conservatism
Respondent: John Diggins , Distinguished Profess or of History,
Gr aduate Center, City University of New York
4:15-5:45
P.M. THE MAKING OF A JEWISH NEO-CONSERVATIVE
Moderator:
Edward S. Brown , Feinstein Center Founder and
Advisory Board Member
Presenter: Midge Decter, author and critic
6:00-7:15 P.M. Break for Dinner
7:30-9:30 P.M. JEWISH CONSERVATIVES AND ISRAEL:
A PANEL DISCUSSION
Moderator:
Rita Simon , Distinguished University Professor,
School of Public Affairs ,American University
Panelists:
Charles Krauthammer, syndicated columnist , contributing editor
to
The New Republic
Elliot Abrams , President , Ethics and Public Policy Center
Paul Berman, c ritic-at-large
Friday, April
16th - Day Two
SIS Lounge, American University
9:00-11:00 A.M. THE NEO-CONSERVATIVES
Moderator:
Richard Immerman, Professor and Chair,
Department of History, Temple University
Presenters:
Jerald Podair, Assistant Professor of History, Lawrence University,
"Mugged Liberals: Jews, Blacks and New York City,s Ocean
Hill -Brownsville
Crisis
John Ehrman, Independent Scholar, "Commentary,
The Public Interest and the Frustrations of American
Jewish Conservatism
Edward Shapiro, Professor of History, Seton Hall University,
"Jewish Neo-Cons and the Rift With in Conservativism
Jay Winik , Senior Scholar and Adjunct Professor at the School
of
Public Affairs , University of Maryland at College Park , "Jewish
Political Conservatism and Ronald Reagan,s Foreign Policy
Respondent: Leo Ribuffo, Professor of History,
George Washington University
11:15-12:55
P.M. THE NEXT GENERATION
A PANEL DISCUSSION
Moderator:
Sanford Unger, Dean, S chool of Communications ,
American University
Panelists:
David Brook s, senior editor, The Weekly Standard
Lisa Schiffren, writer
Adam Wolfson, Executive Editor of The Public Interest
Respondent: Michael Kazin, Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center and
Professor of History, American University
12:55-1:00
P M WRAP UP MURRAY FRIEDMAN