Join Samuel Kessler, Ph.D. and Gabriel Reich, Ph.D. for a town-hall style discussion pertaining to questions about Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. All questions asked respectfully will be heard and discussed. Note: The legitimacy and continued existence of the State of Israel will be broadly assumed.

Speakers

Samuel Kessler’s research focuses on the interaction of religion and modernity in European history and literature, and he has written on topics in Jewish history, the history of science, travel writing, postmodern theory, Holocaust, and American literature. He is the author of "The First Modern Rabbi: The Life and Times of the Nineteenth-Century Scholar and Preacher Adolf Jellinek" (Brown Judaic Studies, 2022) and co-editor (with Prof. George Y. Kohler, Bar-Ilan) of "Modern Jewish Theology: The First One Hundred Years, 1835-1935" (JPS/Nebraska, 2023). He is currently editing two books—the travel diary of James George Frazer and an essay collection on modern Jewish theology (also with Prof. Kohler)—and writing a book on modern midrash.  

Gabriel Reich’s area of special interest is the developing field of historical consciousness, which includes historical thinking and understanding. This sub-field of history and history/social studies education focuses on the ways in which young people come to understand history and to apply historical frameworks to orient themselves in the world. Within this larger sub-field, Dr. Reich’s current research focuses on the collective memories of the Civil War and Emancipation, and how those memories are affected by cultural tools, such as state history standards, examinations, public monuments, family stories and the practice of teaching.