Ramapo College Co-Sponsor's Jewish Life in Germany Discussion Nov. 16

Yascha Mounk, an instructor of political science and writing at Harvard University and a Jeff and Cal Leonard Fellow at the New America Foundation, will discuss his recent book, Stranger in My Own Country: A Jewish Family in Modern Germany, on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 10:30 a.m. at Temple Israel, located at 475 Grove Street in Ridgewood.

The Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey is a co-sponsor of the event.

Stranger in My Own Country examines the contours of Jewish life in a country struggling with the legacy of the Third Reich. The book portrays those who continue to live in its shadow. Mounk surveys his countrymen’s responses to “the Jewish question.” Through his family and childhood, the author shows that anti-Semitism and far-right extremism have long coexisted in postwar Germany.

Mounk received his bachelor’s in history and a master’s in philosophy in political thought from Trinity College, Cambridge. After working as a theater director, Mounk studied political theory at Columbia University and in Paris. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University. His dissertation examines the role of moral responsibility in contemporary North American and Western European politics.

Born in Germany to Polish parents, he now lives in Montelaterone, Italy. Mounk is the founding editor of The Utopian, a cutting-edge magazine on philosophy, politics and culture. He has published articles in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, The Nation, Foreign Policy, Slate, the London Review of Books‘ blog, Die Zeit, Unità, n+1 and the Paris Review (Daily). He has also appeared on CNN International, ZDF and Radio France.

For more information, visit the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at http://www.ramapo.edu/holocaust/ or call 201.684.7409.

Information on the talk can also be found at Temple Israel at http://www.synagogue.org or by calling 201-444-9320.