David Shneer
Center for Judaic Studies, University of Denver
Telephone: 303-871-2956
Email: show
David Shneer has been called a "taboo-breaking scholar" by Tikkun Magazine and a "new Jewish superhero," by Jewcy.com. David Shneer is the Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and an Assistant Professor at the University of Denver. His books include “Queer Jews”, “Yiddish and the Creation of Soviet Jewish Culture”, “New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora”, and “American Queer”. He has worked as a scholar and writer throughout the U.S. and in Russia, Germany and Israel. He lectures widely on modern Jewish society and culture, especially Yiddish culture, Russian Jewish history, and Jews and sexuality.
Gender Trouble
Queering Genesis and Thinking Beyond Binaries
Gregg Drinkwater,
David Shneer
Text and Thought
Was the first human a male? A female? Neither? Both? Were Abraham and Sarah challenged by more than just infertility? Together, we’ll explore the complexity of gender in the Book of Genesis and discuss the implications of looking at the Torah from a “queer” perspective. Can we use our sacred texts to expand our understanding of sexual and gender diversity? Come study with the editors of the forthcoming book “Torah Queeries” (NYU Press), inspired by the Web project: www.jewishmosaic.org/torah.
The Frontlines of LGBT Inclusion:
A Conversation with Agents of Change
Gregg Drinkwater,
Daniel Nevins,
David Shneer,
Aaron Weininger,
Tovah G.
Have lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews “made it” in liberal Judaism? Since 2006, the Conservative Movement opened two of its seminaries to gay and lesbian students, the Reform Movement ordained the first openly transgender rabbi, and Reconstructionists elected the first openly gay leader of a national rabbinic body. But too many LGBT Jews are still excluded from full integration into Jewish communal and institutional cultures. Come discuss the future of LGBT inclusion in Jewish life.
Yiddish and the Jewish Underdog
Global History and Culture,
Text and Thought
At different points in its 1,000 year history, Yiddish has been associated with women, workers, Communists, the masses, and more recently, with queers in California and haredim in Boro Park. Has Yiddish always been a language of the less powerful or marginal? Is it the language of the Jewish underdog? Together, we’ll study Yiddish texts from the 16th century, Communist sloganeering from the 20th, and lyrics from contemporary music as we explore the function of Yiddish in Jewish culture.
