The exclusion and inclusion of Jewish students and faculty have been central themes in the shaping and story of elite American universities. Despite the significant place of the University of Michigan among the nation’s public universities, little historical attention has been devoted to documenting U-M Jewish experience. Students in Judaic Studies 441: Jews at the University of Michigan: Exclusion and Inclusion in American Higher Education will present the results of their research projects focused on Jewish experience at U-M during the 1930s. Short student presentations will focus on a range of issues including Hillel, fraternities, gender issues within student life, spirituality, athletics; student radicalism; the experience of Jewish faculty members; and U-M responses to anti-Semitism and the rise of Hitler. Please join us as our undergraduate and graduate students add layers to the narrative and understanding of Jewish experience at the University of Michigan.

Photo: Hillel News, October 30, 1930, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan