Ori Kritz

Ori Kritz (Hebrew: אורי קריץ) is an Associate Professor and head of the Hebrew Language and Literature program at the University of Oklahoma, a part of the Judaic Studies department. She is a multilingual writer and speaker, specializing in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Jewish literature and in Jewish and Israeli humor.^[1]

Biography

Kritz was born and raised in Israel. She studied at Tel Aviv University, earning a B.A. in Philosophy and Hebrew Literature in 1981 and an M.A. in Hebrew literature in 1986, with Professor Uzi Shavit as her thesis advisor. Her thesis is entitled Up Against Gloomy Skies: On Mordechai Tembkin's Poetry. At Tel Aviv University, she specialized in both modern and medieval Hebrew literature. She later earned an M.Phil. in 1991 and a Ph.D in 1993 from Columbia University; both degrees in Yiddish Literature. Her dissertation, entitled The Poetics of Anarchy: David Edelshtat's Revolutionary Poetry, covers thematic, prosodic, rhetorical and ideological aspects of American Yiddish ideological poetry. She was advised by Professor Benjamin Harshav^[2] (Yale University).

Kritz has since taught at Emory University, Gordon College (Haifa), and the University of Oklahoma. Kritz is also featured in the 2005 film, The Hebrew Project.^[3]

Publications

Books

• The Poetics of Anarchy: David Edelshtat's Revolutionary Poetry, New York: Peter Lang, 1997
• Sipurei hakibutz (The Kibbutz Stories). With R. Kritz. Tel-Aviv:Purah, 1997
• Bedarkei hashirah (In The Paths of Poetry). With R. Kritz. Tel Aviv:Purah, 2001

Articles and book chapters

• "Sifrut hakibutz" (The Kibbutz Literature). Lexicon of the Kibbutz. Tel-Aviv:Yad Tabenkin, 1998.
• "Bikoret atzmit-hevratit besipurav shel L. Shapiro." (Self and Social Criticism in the Stories of Lamed Shapiro). Iyun umechkar 6, 1999: 199-225
• "Prayers of an Unbeliever: On Temkin's Secular Prayers." Trumah December 2000: 99-111
• "Die Geschichte einer Wechselbeziehung: Zionismus, hebraeische Literatur und Kunst." (Story of a Dialectic Relationship: Zionism, Hebrew Literature and Art). With R. Kritz. Ein Leben für die jüdische Kunst. Gedenkband Für Hannelore Künzl. 2003: 195-214
• The Biography and Personality of Rachel (Bluvshtein). (Part 3 of Shirei Rachel, shirat Rachel, Rachel), Tel Aviv:Purah, 2003

In addition to the publications listed above, Kritz has made numerous contributions to the Encyclopedia of American Jewish History^[4][5] and The Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World^[6][7]