Jeremy Zwelling, director of Jewish and Israel Studies Certificate Program, associate professor of religion, is retiring from Wesleyan after 43 years.
Zwelling came to Wesleyan’s Religion Department to teach a range of courses in Jewish studies in 1967. He established Wesleyan’s Program in Israel Studies, and helped create Wesleyan’s Certificate Program in Jewish and Israel Studies.
Zwelling received a bachelor’s degree in religion from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Hebrew literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He received a M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University.
At Wesleyan, Zwelling taught Introduction to Religion, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Religion and Story, Judaism and Story, Judaism, Religion and Film, Psychology and Religion and Performing Jewish Studies.
Colleagues, family and friends honored Zwelling during a retirement celebration May 2 in Beckham Hall. Photos of the event are below:
At left, Ron Cameron, professor of religion, congratulates Jeremy Zwelling, director of Jewish and Israel Studies Certificate Program, associate professor of religion, on his retirement from Wesleyan during a ceremony May 2 in Beckham Hall. Zwelling taught classes on Judaism, Jewish studies and religion for 43 years.
Jeremy Zwelling and his wife, Vicky Zwelling, associate director of the Career Resource Center, mingle with colleagues, friends and family. More than 165 guests attended the retirement celebration. Wesleyan President Michael Roth and his wife Kari Weil, visiting professor of letters, speak with John Shapiro ’74 during the retirement dinner. Shapiro and his wife, Shonni Silverberg ’76, endowed the new Jeremy Zwelling Professor of Religious Studies position at Wesleyan. President Roth announced that Magda Teter, associate professor of history, associate professor of medieval studies, and associate professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, will be the first holder of the Jeremy Zwelling Professor of Religious Studies position. Mary-Jane Rubenstein, assistant professor of religion, assistant professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, listens to Zwelling’s retirement speech. Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, professor of comparative literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, delivered a lecture titled, “Europe, Israel and America in the Twentieth Century: The Global Theatre of Jewish Tragedy, Epic and Comedy” prior to Zwelling’s retirement celebration. Krishna Winston, the Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, professor of German studies, professor of environmental studies and dean of the Arts and Humanities, speaks with colleagues at her table. Music graduate student Amanda Scherbenske leads the Wesleyan Klezmer Ensemble. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake)
Olivia Drake
Mike Mavredakis
Ziba Kashef
Andrew Chatfield