The annual Stroum lecture series is a long-standing tradition at the
University of Washington.

“Next spring will be 34 years,” explained Paul Burstein, who recently completed his five-year term as chair and Pruzan professor of the Jewish studies program and is also a professor of sociology and adjunct professor of political science, as well as a member of the Jewish studies program faculty.

The idea to start such an ambitious lecture series was truly ahead of its time.

“When the Stroum lectures began, there weren’t many major lecture series, and in Jewish Studies, the lectures were just about unique,” Burstein said. “In terms of Jewish life in the Seattle area, the community was smaller, and there were few big events; bringing in a major scholar from outside was a major community event.”

It was Samuel and Althea Stroum who stepped forward to support what would become the Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectureship in Jewish Studies.

Paul Burstein, who recently completed his five-year term as chair and Pruzan professor of the Jewish studies program and is also a professor of sociology and adjunct professor of political science, as well as a member of the Jewish studies program faculty.

“It really had two purposes right from the start,” Burstein explained. “The first was that the lectures were for the community, not just UW professors and students, they were supposed to draw in people from the community; obviously, not just the Jewish community, the community outside the university. So there was a very strong community relations aspect to it, connecting the university to the community.”

The other purpose was more academic. Today, with the Stroums’ support, The University of Washington Press has published more than 16 books based on the lectures. Several have won national book awards, and many are used in university courses around the country.

This year’s series brought professor Michael Walzer of the Institute for Advanced Study to examine the politics of the Bible. Walzer used modern political theory to consider intriguing questions: In the Hebrew Bible, what was seen as the best regime? How much power were kings to have? How was their power limited by the independent voice of the prophets?

 “As he said at the time, he was talking about the Bible not as somebody who’s an expert on the Bible, but as a political philosopher who thought that it would be possible to learn some interesting things from that point of view about the Bible and about the history of the Jewish people,” Burstein said. “The Bible's concerns about politics – about how to both create and limit power – resonate strongly with the concerns people still have about politics today.”

In keeping with the original intent of the lecture series, Walzer not only gave lectures on campus, he also spoke with members of the local community during his stay in Seattle.

“This is supposed to be something that reaches out into the community,” Burstein emphasized. “When the people come here, and they’re here for the better part of a week usually, they don’t just give the lectures.”

In the past, speakers have met with local educators, religious leaders and community groups.

“We always make a special effort to get people out into the community,” Burstein said.

In addition to setting up meetings with community groups, event organizers also reach out through UWTV.

“We want to reach students, and we also want to reach non-students,” Burstein said.

Each of the Stroum lecture series since the year 2000 on is available at uwtv.org to watch via webstreaming or downloadable podcast. Current and past series are also shown on UWTV, available throughout Washington state and the nation, and on Puget Sound cable channel 27.

Burstein is especially enthusiastic about next year’s lectures. Yael Zerubavel, professor of Jewish studies and history at Rutgers University, will be the featured presenter.

Zerubavel’s involvement in the series brings full circle a journey begun by another Stroum series lecturer and Harvard professor Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi.

Yerushalmi’s 1980 Stroum lectures at the University of Washington focused on the importance of memory, and resulted in the book “Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory.  “People who give lectures always hope that they’ll be influential, that they’ll affect the thinking of the people in the audience and the book that they publish will affect people,” Burstein said. “And Yerushalmi’s book strongly influenced Zerubavel early in her career. She, too, will be talking about Jewish history and Jewish memory.”

“For people who know Yerushalmi’s work, to see his influence on a new generation is something that’s very meaningful, not just from a scholarly perspective, but also emotionally,” Burstein explained. “These particular lectures, I think, are going to be a very special occasion.”

Zerubavel’s lectures will focus on her particular studies of memory, and how people, especially Jewish people, view themselves historically.

“There is concern that the university be seen as open to the community, and that’s something that’s very much at the heart of the mission of Jewish studies,” Burstein said. “We do this in a great many ways, throughout the year, but the Stroum lectures is the way that we’ve been doing it probably the longest, and in the most focused, ongoing way, and so it’s a very important part of what we do.”

For more information about Insider features, contact Erin Lodi at erinlodi@u.washington.edu.