At a time when universities sit at the center of America's deepest debates about democracy, free speech, antisemitism, and the future of our civic life, what is the role of the college campus in shaping society?
Join us for a special live episode of Identity/Crisis and a dessert reception in partnership with the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. A unique opportunity to see a live, recorded conversation with host Yehuda Kurtzer and Alan Garber, Harvard President, at The Vilna Shul.
Doors open at 6:30 PM. The program begins at 7:00 PM, followed by a dessert reception at 8:15 PM.
Spots are limited—snag your tickets to this exclusive live event today!
This episode of the Identity/Crisis Podcast will be recorded live and available on all major podcast platforms shortly after the event.
Yehuda Kurtzer
Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute and a leading thinker and author on the major challenges facing the Jewish people. He is the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past, the co-editor of The New Jewish Canon, and the host of the Identity/Crisis podcast.
Under his leadership, the Shalom Hartman Institute has grown significantly as a leading think tank and educational center for the North American Jewish community, and Yehuda has become a trusted voice on how to navigate the complicated moral, spiritual, and political questions of the day with depth and sophistication.
Prior to his time at Hartman, Yehuda received his doctorate from Harvard University in ancient Judaism and rabbinics and served as the inaugural Chair of Jewish Communal Innovation at Brandeis University. He lives in New York with his wife Stephanie Ives and their three children.
Alan Garber
Alan Garber was named president of Harvard University on August 2, 2024 after serving as interim president since January 2, 2024. Garber was Harvard's provost and chief academic officer from 2011-2024. He is also the Mallinckrodt Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, a Professor of Economics in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Public Policy in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Managerment in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. An economist and physician, he studies methods for improving health care productivity and health care financing.
As Provost, Dr. Garber was responsible for oversight of academic activities throughout the university, with direct responsibility for inter-school initiatives, faculty development, research policy, international affairs, and advances in learning. The Harvard Art Museums, the Harvard Library, Harvard University Health Services, HarvardX, the American Repertory Theater, and the Arnold Arboretum are among the organizations reporting to the Provost.
Before becoming Harvard's Provost, Dr. Garber was the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor and a Professor of Medicine, as well as a Professor of Economics, Health Research and Policy, and Economics in the Graduate School of Business (by courtesy) at Stanford University. At Stanford, he founded and directed the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, and served as a Staff Physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
Dr. Garber is an Elected Member of the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He is also an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians. A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Garber received a PhD in Economics from Harvard and an MD with research honors from Stanford.