Debate that many savor coming to Mandel Hall

Latke Hamentash 2000––the 54th incarnation of the Newberger Hillel Center’s on-going debate over two classics of Jewish cuisine––promises to satisfy appetites for interdisciplinary, cutting-edge argumentation from scholars in a variety of academic fields.

University faculty members Saul Levmore, Ingrid Rowland and Thomas Trabasso have agreed to stand before the annual assembly and present evidence as to which are better, latkes (potato pancakes) or hamentashen (triangular-shaped pastries).

The symposium will convene at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21, in Mandel Hall. In 1999, more than 900 people attended to cheer on their favorite morsel during one of the most popular and long-running public events on campus.

Levmore, the William B. Graham Professor in the Law School, researches corporations, comparative law and public choice and the law. Rowland, Associate Professor in Art History, teaches and studies ancient art and the history of the classical tradition during the Italian Renaissance. Trabasso, the Irving B. Harris Professor in Psychology and Education, has written extensively on topics related to cognitive development and was instrumental in establishing child development as a formal topic of study at the University. As in recent years, Ted Cohen, Professor in Philosophy, will moderate the discussion.

Following the Jewish practice of kidding teachers and mimicking rabbinical tradition during Purim, the annual Latke Hamentash symposia have become legendary for their lighthearted wit and the audacity of their participants’ tactics. In testament to the event’s wit and originality, the debates have been copied at other institutions around the country and featured in The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

The 54th Annual Latke Hamentash Debate, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by an opportunity to sample the contested comestibles in Hutchinson Commons at a cost of $3 per person.

More information is available by contacting the Newberger Hillel Center at (773) 752-1127.