CONTACT: Amy Yuen, Communications Manager, Stanford University School of Education/External Relations, (650) 724-9440, amy.yuen@stanford.edu
COMMENT: Professor Ari Y. Kelman, Jim Joseph Chair in Education and Jewish Studies, (650) 723-0792.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Stanford School of Education and the Jim Joseph Foundation are proud to announce the appointment of Professor Ari Y. Kelman as the inaugural Jim Joseph Chair in Education and Jewish Studies. Kelman will lead the new academic Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies.
Kelman
comes to Stanford from the University of California at Davis, where he
established himself as a leading scholar of contemporary Jewish life,
with an emphasis on media, ethnic identity, and American religious
culture. Kelman has authored three books about American Jewish life and
culture. Sociologist Steven M. Cohen praised Kelman, saying, “We live
in a time of fluid and hybrid identities, Jewish and otherwise. And we
live in a time with equally fluid understandings of the character and
methods of education, Jewish and otherwise. No one studies these issues
as well, as insightfully, and as imaginatively as Ari Y. Kelman.”
Charles E. Ducommun Professor Emeritus of Education Lee Shulman
observed, “The study of how personal and social identity develops and
how it affects civic engagement, educational aspirations and group
membership has become a central topic of educational research. Kelman’s
appointment strengthens ongoing work at Stanford on the interactions of
religion, ethnicity, identity and education, and may well prefigure
future growth in this area.
Dr. Kelman will design and direct
the Concentration, which is integrated with existing programs for the
preparation of education scholars. He will also facilitate
collaborations between the School of Education and the Taube Center for
Jewish Studies. Professor Steven Weitzman, Director of the Taube Center
for Jewish Studies said, “Dr. Kelman's research places him on the
cutting edge of Jewish thought today, and my colleagues and I are
thrilled to be able to collaborate with him. We are excited by what it
means to have one of the world’s leading schools of education addressing
such issues.”
The Chair and the Concentration are the result of
a $12 million gift from the Jim Joseph Foundation. The gift, the
largest in the history of the School of Education, endowed the Chair and
will provide fellowships for graduate students.
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