What would you like Perspectives to be?

Riv-Ellen Prell

University of Minnesota

I would like Perspectives to continue its focus on emerging issues in the field of Jewish Studies, and to learn from colleagues whose research creates and shapes those questions. At the same time, Jewish Studies is being thrust inexorably into a different type of engagement as the university is, once again, an arena in which political and academic issues are linked, interwoven, and contested. There is no reason to assume that all colleagues affiliated with Jewish Studies view these issues similarly, and there may be variations among us. However, Perspectives is in a position to open conversations about academic boycotts, how Jewish Studies intersects with Israel Studies, and how to engage these issues as they emerge. Many of our colleagues are confident about precisely how to respond. But many other colleagues also feel unable to find a language that emphasizes complexity in the face of jagged polarizations. This timely and powerful publication might be just the space to begin complicated and exceptionally important conversations. These issues will inspire not only campus activism, but scholarship and teaching. These pages, digital or print, should be part of our own work to address this moment and those that lie ahead.