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Join us for "Images of a People: Jews in Art," a captivating six-part online series led by renowned scholar Professor Marc Michael Epstein. This thought-provoking journey delves into how Jews, Jewish stories, and Jewish spaces have been portrayed throughout history. Starting with The Earliest Images – Jews as an Object of Fascination (November 7, 2024), the series explores both positive and negative depictions, from Exemplification – Good Jews: Priests, Prophets, Monarchs (November 14, 2024) to Demonization – Jews as the Root of All Evil (November 21, 2024). We'll also examine The Jewish Jesus in Art (December 5, 2024) and Jewish Spaces in Christian Art (December 12, 2024), concluding with From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism – Echoes in Modernity and Postmodernity (December 19, 2024). Whether you're passionate about art, history, or Jewish culture, this series offers profound insights into how images shape identity and influence perception across time.
Winner of CSP's 4th Annual "Maimonides Award for Excellence in Adult Jewish Education" as well as the 2015 Jewish Book Award in Visual Arts for Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts, Marc Michael Epstein is the product of a mixed marriage between the scions of Slonimer and Lubavitcher Hassidim and Romanian socialists, and grew up, rather confused, but happy, in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently Professor of Religion at Vassar College, where he has been teaching since 1992, and was the first Director of Jewish Studies.  At Vassar, he teaches courses on medieval Christianity, religion, arts and politics, and Jewish texts and sources. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, received the PhD at Yale University, and did much of his graduate research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has written numerous articles and three books on various topics in visual and material culture produced by, for, and about Jews.  His book, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination (Yale, 2011) was selected by the London Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 2011.  During the ‘80s, Epstein was Director of the Hebrew Books and Manuscripts division of Sotheby's Judaica department. He continues to serve as consultant to various libraries, auction houses, museums and private collectors throughout the world, among them, the Herbert C. and Eileen Bernard Museum at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, for which he curated the inaugural exhibition, and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. He is the Director of Beit Venezia, the home for International Jewish Studies in Venice, Italy.