The lecture will explore representations of “chameleon” or hybrid Jewish figures in cinema: Jewish characters that change their appearance, transform their identity, infiltrate other cultures and express their Jewishness by becoming “other-than-Jewish.”  The hybrid Jew will be discussed from the theoretical perspective of postcolonial studies, feminism and queer studies, post-structural French philosophy and traditional Jewish sources. The films that will be discussed are mixtures of Jewish characters and themes with genres that usually do not include Jews (for example the…

  This talk explores the Watts Writers Workshop, founded in the heart of Watts by Jewish American writer Budd Schulberg immediately after the Watts Rebellion of 1965, and argues that the success and final demise of the project tracks Schulberg’s shift from prose to property. Drawing on Schulberg’s archives, including lease contracts, letters, and personal notes, I argue that Schulberg’s personal and financial investment in Watts re-located his political standing as the “neighbor” to the Watts writers with whom he…