The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

—commonly called the Katz Center—is a postdoctoral research center devoted to the study of Jewish history and civilization.

History

The Katz Center is the continuation of two pioneering institutions devoted to advanced research:

Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning or Dropsie University, at 2321–2335 N Broad St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was America's first degree-granting institution for post-doctoral Jewish studies. Funded by the will of Moses Aaron D ...

and the Annenberg Research Institute. Dropsie College was the first accredited doctoral program in Judaic studies in the world. The Annenberg Research Institute was a center for advanced study in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam founded in 1986 with staff and collections carried over from Dropsie College. The founding director of the Katz Center was David B. Ruderman. The current Ella Darivoff Director is

Steven Weitzman Steven Weitzman (born 1952) is an American public artist and designer known for his figurative sculptures, murals, and aesthetic designs for highway and bridge infrastructure projects. Weitzman owns and operates three companies. Weitzman Studios ...

. The Katz Center was established in 1993 as a part of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. It was first named the Center for Judaic Studies (CJS); later, the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (CAJS)—and in 2008, the Katz family endowed the center in memory of former board chair and philanthropist Herbert D. Katz. It is located in an award-winning building across from Independence National Historical Park in Center City Philadelphia. The Katz Center houses offices for scholars who are in residence throughout the academic year for postdoctoral research, as well as an extensive library of Judaica, a reading room, and seminar and meeting spaces.

Fellowship program

The Katz Center's primary activity is an academic fellowship program, which brings scholars from around the world to Philadelphia for a semester or a year. The program supports approximately 20 fellows each year; scholars apply if their current research fits the annual theme. Weekly seminars allow fellows to share their findings with each other and with invited scholarly guests; annual conferences are open to the wider academic community. WTP2 Mike Reali 06b

In addition, the Katz Center offers public programs and a summer intensive course for graduate students.

Library at the Katz Center

The combination of the Dropsie/Annenberg library with the Judaica holdings of the

Penn Libraries The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

resulted in a 350,000-volume collection of Judaica, including more than 8,000 rare books and an assortment of cuneiform tablets. There are also 451 codices in eleven alphabets and 24 languages and dialects. Some of the languages and dialects represented include Hebrew, English, German, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, Latin, Judeo-Arabic, Armenia, Telugu, and Syriac. Fragments from the Cairo Geniza and others written in Coptic and Demotic on papyrus round out the collection. The library also holds the personal letters of more than 50 Jewish-American leaders from the 1800s and 1900s, including Isaac Leeser,

Sabato Morais Sabato Morais ( he, שבתאי מוראיס; April 13, 1823 – November 11, 1897) was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Th ...

, and Abraham Neuman (three ministers of Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia), Cyrus Adler (president, Dropsie College,

Mikveh Israel Mikveh Israel ( he, מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל, 'Hope of Israel') is a youth village and boarding school in the Tel Aviv District of central Israel, established in 1870. It was the first Jewish agricultural school in what is now Israel ...

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...

; librarian,

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

), Charles Cohen (president, Mikveh Israel,

Fairmount Park Commission Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

), his journalist sister

Mary M. Cohen Mary M. Cohen (pen name, Coralie; February 26, 1854 – July 2, 1911) was an American social economist, journalist, belletrist, educator, communal worker, and proto-feminist of the long nineteenth century. She was also an artist, wood-carver, st ...

, Yiddish journalis
Ben Zion Goldberg
and the benefactor Moses Dropsie.

Publications

The Katz Center houses the '' Jewish Quarterly Review,'' the oldest continuously published journal of Judaic Studies in English. Founded in England in 1888 under the editorship of Claude Montefiore and

Israel Abrahams Israel Abrahams, MA ''(honoris causa)'' (b. London, 26 November 1858; d. Cambridge, 6 October 1925) was one of the most distinguished Jewish scholars of his generation. He wrote a number of classics on Judaism, most notably, ''Jewish Life in the ...

, ''JQR'' first came to the U.S. in 1911 under the editorship of Solomon Schechter and Cyrus Adler. It is currently published by

Penn Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...

Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Libraries Halper 317 f 1r

The Katz Center partners with the

University of Pennsylvania Press The University of Pennsylvania Press (or Penn Press) is a university press affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press was originally incorporated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 26 Ma ...

to publish the book serie
Jewish Cultures and Contexts
The series is edited by

Shaul Magid Shaul Magid (born June 16, 1958) is the Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. From 2004-2018 he was a professor of religious studies and the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair of Jewish Studies in Modern Judaism at Indiana U ...

, Francesca Trivellato, and Steven Weitzman.

Notable fellows

* Israel Bartal: winner of the

Landau Prize The Landau Gold Medal (russian: Премия имени Л. Д. Ландау) is the highest award in theoretical physics awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences and its predecessor the Soviet Academy of Sciences. It was established in 1971 ...

for the research of the history of the Land of Israel (2009) * Menachem Ben-Sasson: former member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for Kadima; former president of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

(2009-2017) *

Amnon Ben-Tor Amnon ( he, אַמְנוֹן ''’Amnōn'', "faithful") was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah. He was the heir apparent to the th ...

: winner of the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for archaeology (2019) *

Yoram Bilu Yoram Bilu is an Israeli professor of anthropology and psychology emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is known for his work on folk religion (messianism, saint worship); the interaction between culture and mental health; the sanc ...

: winner of the

for Sociology and Anthropology (2013) *

Richard I. Cohen Richard I. Cohen, also known as Richard Yerachmiel Cohen is a professor of history, presently holding the Paulette and Claude Kelman Chair in French Jewry Studies in the Department of Jewish History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He speci ...

: winner of the Arnold Wischnitzer Prize (1998) *

Natalie Zemon Davis Natalie Zemon Davis, (born November 8, 1928) is a Canadian and American historian of the early modern period. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of History and Anthropology and Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto in C ...

: winner of the

Holberg International Memorial Prize The Holberg Prize is an international prize awarded annually by the government of Norway to outstanding scholars for work in the arts, humanities, social sciences, law and theology, either within one of these fields or through interdisciplinary ...

(2010); Companion of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

; recipient of the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...

(2012) *

Daniel J. Elazar Daniel Judah Elazar (August 25, 1934 – December 2, 1999) was a political scientist known for his seminal studies of political culture of the US states. He was professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Temple University ...

: founder and former president of the

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an Israeli research institute specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. Currently, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs's research portfolio consists of five primar ...

Yaakov Elman Yaakov Elman (1943 – July 29, 2018) was an American professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies where he held the Herbert S. and Naomi Denenberg Chair in Talmudic Studies. He was the founder of the ...

: founder of the field now known as Irano-Talmudica * Seymour Gitin: winner of the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

's Percia Schimmel Prize (2004) * Nurith Gertz: winner of the Brenner Prize for Literature (2009); recipient of the Israeli Book Publishers' Association Gold Award (2010) *

Moshe Greenberg Moshe Greenberg (Hebrew: משה גרינברג; July 10, 1928 – May 15, 2010) was an American rabbi, Bible scholar, and professor emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Biography Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in Bible (1994) *

Bonnie Honig Bonnie Honig (born 1959), is a political, feminist, and legal theorist specializing in democratic theory. In 2013-14, she became Nancy Duke Lewis Professor-Elect of Modern Culture and Media and Political Science at Brown University, succeeding A ...

: winner of the Foundations of Political Thought Book Prize (1994) *

Gershon Hundert Gershon David Hundert (born 1946) is a Canadian historian of Early Modern Polish Jewry and Leanor Segal Professor at McGill University. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Toronto, Hundert is one of the three sons of Charles and Norma Hunder ...

: winner of the Judaica Reference Award from the

Association of Jewish Libraries The Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) is an international organization dedicated to the production, collection, organization and dissemination of Judaic resources and library/media/information service. AJL has members in the United States, Can ...

(2008) *

Moshe Idel Moshe Idel ( he, משה אידל; born January 19, 1947) is a Romanian-Israeli historian and philosopher of Jewish mysticism. He is Emeritus Max Cooper Professor in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and a Senior Researcher at the ...

: winner of the

for Jewish thought (1999) * Sara Japhet: former president of the World Union of Jewish Studies (2005-2009); winner of the

for Biblical studies (2004) * Yosef Kaplan: winner of the

for the history of the Jewish people (2013) *

Ruth Mazo Karras Ruth Mazo Karras (born February 23, 1957) is an American historian and author of the Middle Ages whose interests are masculinity and sexuality in Christian and Jewish society during the Middle Ages. Her book, ''Unmarriages: Women, Men, and Sexual ...

: co-winner of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

's Joan Kelly Memorial Prize (2012) *

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (born September 30, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario) is a scholar of Performance and Jewish Studies and a museum professional. Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University, she is best known for her int ...

: Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews; recipient of the

Foundation for Jewish Culture The Foundation for Jewish Culture (formerly the National Foundation for Jewish Culture) was an advocacy group for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States. Founded in 1960, it supported writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, cho ...

award for lifetime achievement (2008) * Norman Kleeblatt: winner of the National Jewish Book Award (2009); former chief curator at the Jewish Museum (1982-2017) *

David C. Kraemer David Charles Kraemer is a professor of Talmud and Rabbinics and the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. As director of the Library, Kraemer "oversees the most extensive collection of Judaica—rare and ...

: director of the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Library at the

: winner of the American Academy of Religion Award (2008) *

Michael A. Meyer Michael Albert Meyer (born 1937) is a German-born American historian of modern Jewish history. He taught for over 50 years at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is currently the Adolph S. Ochs Emeritus P ...

: winner of the National Jewish Book Award (1968, 1989, 1997); co-founder of the Association for Jewish Studies *

David Nirenberg David Nirenberg is a medievalist and intellectual historian. He is the Director and Leon Levy Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He previously taught at the University of Chicago, where he was Dean of the Divinity Schoo ...

: dean of the

University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...

; founding Roman Family Director of the

Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society The Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society is a collaborative research center located on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. History The Neubauer Collegium was established in June 2012. It was founded with a gift ...

* David B. Ruderman: founding director of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies; winner of the National Jewish Book Award (2010) *

Maurice Samuels Maurice Samuels (born August 9, 1968) is the Betty Jane Anlyan Professor of French at Yale University. He graduated with a BA (''summa cum laude'') in 1990 from Harvard University, where he also earned his MA (1995) and PhD (2000). Before moving t ...

: director of the

Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism The Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism (YPSA) is an interdisciplinary center at Yale University in New Haven, CT devoted to the study of both historical and contemporary forms of antisemitism. Housed at the Whitney Humanities Center, YPSA s ...

; winner of the Gaddis Smith International Book Prize (2004) *

Edwin Seroussi Edwin Seroussi (born 26 December 1952 in Montevideo) is an Israeli musicologist of Uruguayan origin. He is the Emanuel Alexandre Professor of Musicology, director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a vis ...

: winner of the

for the study of culture, art, and musicology (2018) * Stephanie B. Siegmund: winner of the

's Herbert Baxter Adams Prize (2006) *

Gershon Shaked Gershon Shaked ( he, גרשון שקד) (1929–2006) was an Israeli scholar and critic of Hebrew literature. Biography Gerhard Mandel (later Gershon Shaked) was born in Vienna, Austria. He immigrated to Mandate Palestine alone in 1939, and was l ...

: winner of the

for Hebrew literature (1993) * Anita Shapira: winner of the

for History (2008) *

Anna Shternshis Anna Shternshis is an Al and Malka Green Professor of Yiddish studies and the director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.

: co-creator and co-director of the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

nominated album ''

Yiddish Glory ''Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II '' is a 61st Annual Grammy Awards nominated album by Six Degrees Records which consists of Yiddish songs written during World War II and the Holocaust.Reuven Snir Reuven Snir ( he, ראובן שניר; born 1953) is an Israeli Jewish academic, Professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Haifa, Dean of Humanities, and a translator of poetry between Arabic, Hebrew, and English. He is the ...

: winner of the Tchernichovsky Prize for Translation (2014) *

Michael C. Steinlauf Michael C. Steinlauf is an Associate Professor of History at Gratz College, Pennsylvania. Steinlauf teaches Jewish history, theatre and culture in Eastern Europe as well as Polish-Jewish relations.

: director of Poland's branch of the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

* Guy Stroumsa: winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2008); Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite *

Susan Rubin Suleiman Susan Rubin Suleiman is a Hungarian-born American literary scholar. She is the C. Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Biography Suleiman was born in Budapest and ...

: recipient of France's

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

merit (2008) *

S. Ilan Troen Ilan Troen is an Israeli scholar. He is the Karl, Harry and Helen Stoll Professor of Israel Studies at Brandeis University. Biography Selwyn Ilan Troen grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is a graduate of Brandeis, with an M.A. and Ph.D ...

: founding director of the journal '' Israel Studies'' * Yaron Tsur: co-founder of the Open University of Israel * Chava Turniansky: winner of the

for Jewish language and literature (2013) *

Elliot R. Wolfson Elliot R. Wolfson (born November 23, 1956) is a scholar of Jewish studies. Wolfson earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in philosophy at Queens College of the City University of New York, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Near Eastern and Judaic studies f ...

: winner of the American Academy of Religion Award (1995, 2012); winner of the National Jewish Book Award (1995, 2005) *

Joseph Yahalom Joseph Yahalom (born April 11, 1941) ( he, יוסף יהלום) is a professor of Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Since 1983, he has been a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. Biography Joseph Yahalom was born i ...

: winner of the Bialik Prize (2012); winner of the Ben-Zvi Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2003)

References

External links

* *
Library at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
{{coord, 39.947312, -75.148493, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Judaic studies Jewish studies research institutes University of Pennsylvania Old City, Philadelphia 1993 establishments in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1993