Upcoming Speaking Tour to North America

My last speaking tour to North America was in late February and early March and I enjoyed myself tremendously!  My upcoming speaking tour will be during the fall of 2013 and I am offering the following film discussion programs (each program lasts 1 1/2 to 2 hours and includes the screening and analysis of film clips).  Please contact me directly if you would like to invite me to come to your community. 

• Lens on Israel:  Contemporary Issues in Israeli Society. Take a look at the issues and developments of contemporary Israel during the last 10-15 years, as we move from the self-sacrificing ideology of the communal endeavor to the new post-modern emphasis on the individual.  The program includes living with loss, changing ties to the land, relations with Arabs, issues of gender, and the gap between religious and secular. 
• Changing Attitudes Towards War and Peace. Issues such as purity of arms, changing attitudes towards military service, and how Israeli filmmakers have portrayed war – ranging from the realistic to the surreal.
• Understanding the Other – Palestinian and Jewish Perspectives.  A look at the controversial issues and trends in contemporary filmmaking -- using both Palestinian and Jewish voices.  Includes the complex issues of victimization and conflicting memories.
• -Gender Issues in Israeli Cinema. The emerging image of the woman in Israeli cinema, dealing with the earlier mythic/heroic images, the humiliation of the Sephardi male, and offering a look at the new vulnerability and fading chauvanism of the Israeli male.
• Issues of Memory – The Holocaust and Israeli Society. The changing perceptions of the Holocaust and the Holocaust survivor as seen in screen portrayals, including a look at the Holocaust fatigue and black humor of the third generation in Israel.
• Adolescents in Israel:  Are They Really Different?  The pressures of youth and the difficulties of growing up in a society under siege, as seen against the background of adolescent unease worldwide.
• The Women of Israel. In recent years, we have been seeing more complex narrative films about women and women's issues, portraying unique stories and issues that are central to the lives of contemporary Israeli women – both Jewish and Palestinian.
• Assimilation, Modernity and Jewish Identity on the Screen. Engage in a careful analysis of a number of American film classics as we consider, among other subjects, brit milah, intermarriage, Jewish food and the negative stereotype of the Jewish mother. What are some of the unique tensions revealed when there is a clash between the need to remain connected to one's roots and traditions and the overwhelming desire to assimilate?