KEAN  UNIVERSITY’S

FACULTY SEMINAR ON COMPARATIVE CULTURES

 

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The Faculty Seminar on Comparative Cultures, currently celebrating its 10^th-year anniversary, constitutes resident faculty reflecting different disciplinary strengths.  The Seminar meets once monthly during the academic year to consider an annual theme. Themes over the years:

 

• 1999-2000:  “Emancipation and Liberation”
• 2000-2001:  “Diaspora”
• 2001-2002:  “Human Rights and Reparations”
• 2002-2003:  “Violence and the State”
• 2003-2004:  “Empire and Cultural Conquests”
• 2004-2005:  “Empire and Cultural Conquests” (continuation)
• 2005-2006:  “Representations of Genocide and Resistance”
• 2006-2007:  “Forgiveness: Political Considerations”
• 2007-2008:  “The Bystander”
• 2008-2009:  “Peace: Its Conditions and Conceptions”

 

Offering a variety of disciplinary perspectives, members enrich their own understanding of the theme under scrutiny and acquire new respect for their colleagues' scholarly endeavors. The Seminar stimulates significant pedagogical and research collaboration, with material benefits for students and the entire Kean University academic community.  Examples include:

 

• New courses: “Diaspora: A Senior Seminar,” “Western Religions: Christianity, Judaism, & Islam,” “Women & Resistance” “Freedom: Black and Jewish Perspectives,” “Holocaust, Genocide, and Modern Humanity”
• Provost Committee on Multidisciplinary Affairs and 200-plus page report, Multidisciplinary Affairs at Kean University
• Visiting scholars: Paula Rothenberg (William Paterson University); Clinora Hudson-Weems (University of Missouri, Columbia); Robert Smith (Barnard College); Chen Chen, author; Vincent Bakpetu Thompson (Connecticut College); J. Paul Martin (Columbia University); Aratai Rao,  human rights activist and UNICEF consultant, Leon V. Sigal (Social Science Research Council),  Rajeswari Sunder Rajan  (Wolfson College, Oxford University), Ambassador Dennis Ross (Washington Institute for Near East Policy), and Anthony Lewis (New York Times).
• Roundtables comprising seminar members & students
• Campus-wide lectures (on Iraq, North Korea, the Middle East, etc.)
• Seminar E-Book series – six volumes to date of original papers (http://www.kean.edu/communications/klein/html)

 

2008-09 Membership (in formation – new members welcome)

 

James Conyers (Sociology/African Studies)

Dean Casale (English)

Emily Filardo (Psychology/Women’s Stud.)

Sue Gronewold (History)

Nira Gupta-Casale (English)

Gilbert Kahn (Political Sci.)

Dennis B. Klein (History/Jewish Studies),

Sem.chr., dklein@kean.edu

Julia Nevarez (Sociology)

Brid Nicholson (History)                                                         

Nazih Richani (Pol.                      Sci./Latin Am Studies)

Sharon Snyder (English)

Jay Spaulding (History)

Melodie Toby (Philosophy and Religion)

Jacquelyn Tuerk (Fine Arts)

Roundtable chair

Frank Wetta (History)                    

Janet Yedes (Communication)