Judaism Unbound Episode 383: Jews of Summer Camp — a History - Sandra Fox
Sandra Fox, the Goldstein-Goren visiting assistant professor of American Jewish History at New York University, is the author of The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about the history of Jewish summer camp, the ways in which it has influenced American Jewish life, and what it can teach us about amplifying the voices of young people as we study history.
[1] Purchase The Jews of Summer via this link, and learn more about Sandra Fox via SandraFox.net!
[2] For a recent piece written by Fox, reflecting on her experience writing The Jews of Summer, check out “Jewish Summer Camp and the Myth of the ‘Serious.’”
[3] Sandra Fox is a friend of ours in the Jewish podcast ecosystem! Check out her podcast, called Vaybertaytsh, by clicking here.
[4] Dan references an essay by Seymour Fox, which references the Conservative movement’s Ramah camps, and the ways in which prominent scholars of American education played a role in shaping them. Check out "Vision at the Heart: Lessons from Camp Ramph on the Power of Ideas in Shaping Educational Institutions" via thia link.
[5] For an article all about Sandra Fox’s camp-themed book launch, see "Not your average book party: A month of Jewish summer camp in one night," in The Forward. For the blog Fox references, initially published anonymously and entitled “PS I Lost My Blue Hat,” click here!
[6] Fox references public discourse the past few years, about the damaging consequences of hyper-sexual culture at Jewish summer camps and Jewish youth groups. For a past Judaism Unbound episode exploring this, see Episode 331: Safety and Unsafety at Summer Camp - Rena Yehuda Newman, Julia Hegele.
