YIVO Appoints David Braun as Its Academic Advisor in Yiddish Language, Pedagogy, and Linguistics

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is delighted to announce that David Braun has been named by the Max Weinreich Center for Advanced Jewish Studies as the Academic Advisor in Yiddish Language, Pedagogy, and Linguistics. The Max Weinreich Center is YIVO’s education department, offering courses in Yiddish and Jewish history and culture, both in- person and online. Established in 1968, it is dedicated to the advancement of research in the field of Ashkenazic Jewish life and letters.

As the Academic Advisor, Braun will play an instrumental role in guiding the education department’s winter, spring, and fall semesters in faculty recruitment, curation of YIVO’s Yiddish course catalog, the standardization of Yiddish language levels of study, development of course materials and more. He will also serve as the editor for all Yiddish language materials produced by YIVO.

Braun was appointed as Academic Director for the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture in 2019 and will continue in this role in addition to his new role as Academic Advisor.

“Dovid (David) is one of a handful of people on the planet who have such broad mastery of the Yiddish language,” said Ben Kaplan, YIVO’s Director of Education. “He brings an erudition and depth of knowledge—both linguistic and institutional—that is invaluable to YIVO’s work. It’s a great joy to have him stepping into this advisory role, in which I have no doubt he will help us lay the foundation for the future of Yiddish Studies.”

“YIVO has played a deeply meaningful role in my intellectual and spiritual life for as many decades as I can remember being alive,” said Braun. “I’m honored to assume this new role with an institution that means so much to me.”

Braun, who studied at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, has taught all levels of Yiddish language at YIVO’s intensive summer program since 1990. He inaugurated and taught in the intensive summer programs of the Yiddish Book Center (Amherst, MA) and Jewish Historical Institute (Warsaw, Poland). He has held teaching positions in Yiddish language, Yiddish linguistics, and/or general linguistics at Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Gratz College, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and he regularly participates in varied research projects involving Yiddish language and culture. He serves as co-president of the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center (Bronx, NY) which is now the only Greater NYC venue devoted exclusively to public Yiddish cultural events.

For the second year in a row, the YIVO-Bard Summer Program will be held both in person and online. Limited spaces are still available in the 2023 program, which runs from June 20 to July 28. Applications will be accepted through May 16, 2023. Visit summerprogram.yivo.org for more information.

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Shelly Freeman
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YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story