THE GREAT JEWISH-AMERICAN NOVEL:
1934-1969
AN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA ODYSSEY

Caren Neile

DESCRIPTION: You don’t have to be Jewish to love Jewish-American literature! Partcollege seminar, part-reading group, part-performance event, this lecture series will acquaint— or re-acquaint—participants with some of the greatest, and most beloved, novels of our age. Through lecture, discussion, staged readings, film, video interviews with authors, and other means, participants will experience these unforgettable works of art in new and innovative ways. Participants are invited to keep up with each week’s reading, or to just sit back, enjoy, and discover the essence of the novels discussed. Either way, participants will leave this class with a new perspective not only on the books, but also on their own lives, their relationship with literature, and their understanding of what it once meant to be Jewish in America. Join us and discover what makes a great Jewish-American novel.

EIGHT LECTURES:

1. Henry Roth: Call It Sleep (1934)
   
2. Herman Wouk: Marjorie Morningstar (1955)
   
3. Leon Uris: Exodus (1957)
   
4. Edward Lewis Wallant: The Pawnbroker (1961)
   
5. Saul Bellow: Herzog (1964)
   
6. Bernard Malamud: The Fixer (1966)
   
7. Chaim Potok: The Chosen (1967)
   
8. Philip Roth: Portnoy’s Complaint (1969)

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Caren S. Neile holds PhD and MFA degrees. She was founding director of the South Florida Storytelling Project at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), where she taught Storytelling Studies. A former Fulbright Senior Specialist, Dr. Neile has performed and lectured across the U.S. and abroad, and has contributed to numerous books, including The Encyclopedia of Jewish-American Literature and Hidden: A Brother and Sister in Nazi Poland (co-writer). She is the former chair of the National Storytelling Network and served on the boards of the Healing Story Alliance and the Florida Storytelling Association. Dr. Neile is also a founding co-editor of the international academic journal Storytelling, Self, Society.