The CJS Welcomes Shaina Hammerman back to the GTU for a talk in celebration of the publication of her new book "Silver Screen, Hasidic Jews"
Motivated by Woody Allen’s brief comedic transformation into a Hasidic Jew in Annie Hall, cultural historian Shaina Hammerman examines the effects of real and imagined representations of Hasidic Jews in film, television, theater, and photography. Although these depictions could easily be dismissed as slapstick comedies and sexy dramas about forbidden relationships, Hammerman uses this ethnic imagery to ask meaningful questions about how Jewish identity, multiculturalism, belonging, and relevance are constructed on the stage and silver screen.
Shaina Hammerman is the author of Silver Screen, Hasidic Jews: The Story of an Image. She teaches Jewish studies, cultural history, and literature at the University of San Francisco, Mills College, and San Quentin State Prison. She received her Ph.D. in Jewish History and Culture and an M.A. in Jewish Studies from the Graduate Theological Union.