Visiting Scholars 2008

Joining us again in summer 2008 will be Dr. Eli Yassif, who received his Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature in the Middle Ages from Hebrew University, and is the Zvi and Sara Berger Professor of Jewish Folk Culture at Tel Aviv University.  Dr. Yassif is on leave this spring 2008 at Yale University, and this summer at MSU will teach two courses during the first session:

IAH 211D—Area Studies Middle East: Focus on Israeli Culture
ENG 344—Jewish American Literature

With his expertise in Hebrew literature and Jewish folklore, Eli Yassif was among the founders of the Department of Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University and has recently served as Chair of Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv University.

Among his books are: Jewish Folklore: An Annotated Bibliography (1986, Choice academic book award for 1987); The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning (1994, National Jewish Book Award, 1999), The Book of Memories (2001), and The Collection of Tales in the Middle Ages (2004). He received the Sholem Aleichem Award in 1999 for his contribution to the study of Jewish folklore.

Eli Yassif has been visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, Oxford University, the U. of Chicago, the U. of Michigan, and currently Yale University.