The Jewish Studies Program co-sponsored an international conference on community and critique, and their many-faceted roles in democratic society, here at the University of Virginia in early October. Jewish Studies Professor Asher Biemann served as one of the key organizers of this conference, and Professor Jennifer Geddes gave a lecture on Holocaust testimonies in one of the sessions. Among the invited scholars giving keynote addresses were Hebrew University law professor Moshe Halbertal, an expert on Maimonides; University of Chicago Professor Sarah Hammerschlag, a leading scholar of Judaism, Religion, and Literature; and University of Connecticut Professor Gordon Lewis, who was the founder of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University.

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Professors Martin Chung (Hong Kong Baptist University), Jennifer Geddes (UVA Jewish Studies Program), Vanessa Ochs (UVA Jewish Studies Program), and José Casanova (Georgetown University, emeritus) at the Community & Critique conference co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program.