GW Alumnus Funds New Course on Contemporary Jewish American Literature

Trustee David Bruce Smith Creates a ‘Uniquely GW Experience’

A new course on contemporary Jewish American works of literature has debuted at GW this spring thanks to a significant gift from alumnus David Bruce Smith, B.A. ’79, a member of the University’s Board of Trustees. The gift is funding “Literature Live,” a unique class within the Department of English that allows students to study and interact with prominent Jewish American authors. Renowned writer and GW professor Faye Moskowitz teaches the course.

“David Bruce Smith’s generosity is enabling the English Department to deepen its strengths in Jewish American literature, a vibrant field that we would like to see grow at GW,” says Jeffrey J. Cohen, chair of the GW Department of English. “The students in Faye Moskowitz’s course have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As department chair, I am happy to see this course become a reality. We are doing something at GW unparalleled at any other university in the United States.”

Award-winning authors and novels to be studied throughout “Literature Live” include Away by Amy Bloom, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, Moskowitz’s A Leak in the Heart, The Family Diamond by Edward Schwarszchild, The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer, Maus by Art Spiegelman, The Far Euphrates by Aryeh lev Stollman, and Petropolis by Anya Ulinich. While on campus, several authors will give readings open to the entire GW community. Ulinich will read on March 5; Chabon, who will be introduced by GW’s Wang Visiting Professor in Contemporary English Edward P. Jones, will present on March 23; and Spiegelman will read on April 2.

“It is my hope that this gift will help grow Jewish literature teachings at The George Washington University,” says Smith. “‘Literature Live’ will be a uniquely GW experience for students.”

Smith and his family are longtime benefactors to GW. He has established two scholarship funds for undergraduate students at the University and provided support for other GW initiatives such as the Cancer Institute and the President’s Fund for Excel­lence. Last year, the Robert H. Smith and Charles E. Smith Family Foundations and Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod committed $10 million to GW for the renovation of the Charles E. Smith Center. At the time of the announcement, the gift was the largest single philanthropic commitment in GW’s history. David Bruce Smith sits on the board of the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation. (Robert H. Smith and Charles E. Smith are David Bruce Smith’s father and grandfather, respectively, and he is the nephew of Robert and Arlene Kogod.)

Moskowitz says, “Thanks to the generosity of David Bruce Smith, some fortunate GW students—and their equally lucky professor—will encounter the work of established, as well as emerging, Jewish American writers and then have an opportunity for face-to-face dialogue with those writers.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu