Tuesday, October 27th at 7:00 pm in Merten 1201
At the dawn of the twentieth century, cultural pluralism, the precursor to modern multiculturalism, emerged out of conversations between two philosophers, Jewish immigrant Horace Kallen and Black American Alain Locke. Kallen and Locke understood friendship itself as a metaphor for cultural pluralism. Drawing inspiration from their story, Dr. David Weinfeld of Rowan University posits friendship as a new framework to understand and imagine Black-Jewish relations, replacing an older model of alliance.
Dr. David Weinfeld is a scholar of North American Judaism and Jewish history with a focus on ideas of diversity and the intersection of religion, race, ethnicity, and culture. He received his PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and History from New York University. His book, An American Friendship: Horace Kallen, Alain Locke, and the Development of Cultural Pluralism, was published by Cornell University Press in 2022. This book tracks the development of the idea of cultural pluralism--the precursor to modern multiculturalism--through the friendship of the two 20th century American philosophers who came up with the term, Jewish immigrant Horace Kallen and African American Alain Locke.
Join us for a brief lecture by Dr. David Weinfeld of Rowan University, followed by a conversation between the guest lecturer and Dr. LaNitra Berger, Associate Professor of History and Art History and Director of African and African American Studies at George Mason University and Board President of the Pozez JCC.
Co-sponsored by GMU Judaic Studies, GMU African and African American Studies, Mason Hillel, the Pozez JCC, and the JCRC of Greater Washington
Questions? Please contact judaics@gmu.edu