UMaine Judaic Studies

06/15/2026

Hi everyone✨We hope you’re all enjoying summer! We also hope you like our new student orientation poster!!

Stay cool this summer and stay tuned for updates.☀️🌻

06/15/2026

“The First Amendment protects religious freedom. It does not separate popular faiths from unpopular ones.”

06/05/2026

Together with Jewish studies instructor Lauren Cohen Fisher, we'll explore Jewish and Arab identities in Mizrachi* poetry. Open to all; no prior knowledge of Israel, Mizrachim, or poetry needed to participate! (*Mizrachi Jews=Jews with recent ancestry in the Muslim and Arab world). Come to the conference to learn with us! Register here: https://jewishlife.colby.edu/maine-conference-for-jewish-life/

05/29/2026

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), set for release Monday, May 25, will address “the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.” Breaking with tradition, the pope will launch the document at a public event that will inc...

05/27/2026

The Maine Conference for Jewish Life is coming right up, and if you have not registered yet now is the time! Join us for our 13th conference, complete with an inspiring array of sessions, services, music, art, and opportunities to connect with our amazing community. Don't miss out! Check out the full schedule and register here: https://jewishlife.colby.edu/maine-conference-for-jewish-life/

05/11/2026

Photo of 6 Army Nurse Corps members, with Martha G. Metter on the bottom left National Museum of American Jewish History, 2012.33.147. Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz.

05/11/2026

Ashland seventh graders created art to celebrate Holocaust resistance, which will be displayed at the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine.

04/28/2026

Dear Friend of UMaine Judaic Studies,

It's Maine Day of Giving, and your support makes a lasting impact on campus and in the greater Bangor area. As you know, our programs, including academic courses, public events, reading groups, etc., are entirely supported by the generosity of donors like yourself.

This year, we're especially excited about our project to renovate the Hans Weisz room in the Maples building into the first dedicated Judaic Studies facility on campus. Dr. Hans Weisz was a Jewish intellectual who narrowly escaped the German invasion of Vienna in 1938. Both a physician and a PhD in mathematics, he practiced medicine at UMaine and taught in the Philosophy Department until his passing in 1975.

The Hans Weisz Reading Room will include our growing collection of Jewish books as well as space for quiet study during the day and community gatherings in the evening.

You can have an immediate impact on our public programs and help us reach our goal of creating the Hans Weisz Reading Room by contributing to Judaic Studies.

Thank you,

Derek Michaud, Coordinator

[email protected]

207.581.3890

Join me and make a gift to University of Maine!

04/28/2026

Dear Friend of UMaine Judaic Studies, 

It's Maine Day of Giving, and your support makes a lasting impact on campus and in the greater Bangor area. As you know, our programs, including academic courses, public events, reading groups, etc., are entirely supported by the generosity of donors like yourself. 

This year, we're especially excited about our project to renovate the Hans Weisz room in the Maples building into the first dedicated Judaic Studies facility on campus. Dr. Hans Weisz was a Jewish intellectual who narrowly escaped the German invasion of Vienna in 1938. Both a physician and a PhD in mathematics, he practiced medicine at UMaine and taught in the Philosophy Department until his passing in 1975. 

The Hans Weisz Reading Room will include our growing collection of Jewish books as well as space for quiet study during the day and community gatherings in the evening. 

You can have an immediate impact on our public programs and help us reach our goal of creating the Hans Weisz Reading Room by contributing to Judaic Studies at
https://engage.umaine.edu/campaigns/75700/donations/new

Thank you, 

Derek Michaud, Coordinator

[email protected]

207.581.3890