FANTASTIC VISIONS OF THE PAST AND FUTURE, YIVO’s 2022 Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization, to Take Place Online

(New York, NY) – FANTASTIC VISIONS OF THE PAST AND FUTURE, the 2022 YIVO-Bard Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization, to be held online this winter (January 4-21, 2022), offers a diverse lineup of presenters from around the world, bringing together public intellectuals from Yale Historian Timothy Snyder to literary and cultural historian Justin Cammy, along with scholars from leading institutions across the globe. The deadline for registration is December 15, 2021.

Held annually in January since 2012, the YIVO-Bard Winter Program on Ashkenazi Civilization delves into Ashkenazi Jewish life and culture throughout its thousand-year history in Eastern Europe and in the diaspora. The program presents an opportunity to engage with the Jewish Ashkenazi experience through history, culture, politics, and art, with courses not typically found outside of the university setting.

A keynote lecture entitled “How should we think about freedom?” will be delivered by Timothy Snyder at 1:00pm ET on January 5, 2022. This year’s Winter Program will feature courses taught by Rosamund Bartlett, Elisabeth Gallas (The Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow), Enrico Lucca (The Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow), Dovid Katz, Tony Michels (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Anita Norich (Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan), Ilan Stavans (Amherst College), and more.

FANTASTIC VISIONS OF THE PAST AND FUTURE explores the movements, ideologies, and speculative visions that have shaped Jewish history in the 20th century and beyond. From the utopian visions of Jewish anarchists and science fiction writers to the writings of Bruno Schulz and the Russian futurists to the work of Jewish American writers like Grace Paley and Philip Roth and the revival of European-Jewish thought after 1945.

The 2022 Winter Program courses will delve into key transformations that shaped the thoughts and ideals of pivotal figures in the realms of politics, history, and culture. Conducted via Zoom for the second time, the 2022 Winter Program features small class sizes, allowing students to work closely with instructors from the comfort of home.

“YIVO’s global community of learners has grown substantially during the pandemic,” said Ben Kaplan, YIVO’s Director of Education. “I’m thrilled we can once again bring together our world-class Winter Program faculty to offer these courses to individuals no matter where they are in the world.”

Concurrent with the Winter Program, YIVO is also running a semester of short Winter Yiddish courses for the first time this January. These courses range in topic from Yiddish cinema and theater to cooking with Yiddish recipe books, Yiddish literature, Yiddish humor, and more.

Learn more about the Winter Program and register at https://yivo.org/Winter-Program. To learn more about YIVO’s Winter Yiddish courses, visit https://yivo.org/Winter-Yiddish.

This year’s Winter Program joins YIVO’s growing and robust line-up of digital offerings, including our Shine Online Educational Series, which is now being offered for free. The Shine Online series includes its newest course, A Seat at the Table: A Journey into Jewish Food, as well as courses that delve into the evolution of Yiddish theater, the rich history of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, Ashkenazi folklore and much more.

Also follow our regular digital public programs, taking place via Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube, and explore our free online resources, such as the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections, and the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum.

For any media inquiries please contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff

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