The Melting Pot and the Salad Bowl: Assimilation vs. Alienation in American Jewish Literature

On Wednesday evening, January 19th, 2011 from 7:30pm -9:30pm at Temple Beth Sholom Hazak at 1901 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 will host Professor Michael Aaron Rockland. The program is funded by the Horizons Speakers Bureau of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The program is open to all and is free. Join us at Temple Beth Sholom for an interesting and provocative evening of discussion.

Michael Aaron Rockland is a professor of American Studies at Rutgers University. His early career was in the U.S. diplomatic service, during which he was a cultural attaché in both Argentina and Spain. He is the author of twelve books, three of which have received special recognition. His first book, Sarmiento's Travels in the United States in 1847 (Princeton), was chosen by The Washington Post's Book World as one of the "Fifty Best Books of the Year." His novel, A Bliss Case (Coffee House) was a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year." A book he co-wrote, Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike (Rutgers) was chosen by the New Jersey State Library as one of the "Ten Best Books Ever Written on New Jersey or by a New Jerseyan." His latest books are Stones, a novel (Hansen Publishing Group), The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in Steel (Rutgers). Rockland has won five major teaching/lecturing awards, including the National Teaching Award in American Studies. He has lectured in some twenty-one countries around the world. A regular contributor to New Jersey Monthly magazine, he has also worked in television and film production, mostly for P.B.S. He is regularly interviewed on N.P.R.