by George Elbaum

This was my 3^rd consecutive year speaking at the University of San Francisco (USF), a Jesuit Catholic university.  Founded in 1855, USF was the city’s first university, and it is the third oldest institution for higher learning in California.  Its student body numbers approximately 10,000, with 63% undergraduates and 37% postgraduates, and its faculty numbers approximately 1,000, of which 41% are full-time and 59% are part-time, or adjunct.  Religious and spiritual organizations on campus include the Muslim Student Union, the USF chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the USF Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

My talk at USF this year was for students in an undergraduate course entitled Modern Jewish Thought: The Jewish American Experience Through Graphic Novels, which is one of the selective subjects in USF’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies.   It was organized by its teacher Oren Kroll-Zeldin, Adjunct Professor in the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice and Director of Beyond Bridges: Israel-Palestine.  It was arranged by Nikki Bambauer of the Jewish Family and Childrens’ Services.