interview
One Author's Perspective
 Aryeh Cohen, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Rabbinic Literature at American Jewish University where he served as Chair of Jewish Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences from 1995-2000 and Chair of Rabbinic Studies in the Ziegler School from 2001-2005.
Q. Your book Justice in the City has recently been published. It seems very timely. What was the impetus for writing the book?
A. The book was the coming together of my academic life as a teacher of rabbinic literature with my life as a social justice activist.
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 AT THE LIBRARY
April at Ostrow:
From the Front Lines of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
to Happy Days
The month of April brings two very different kinds of book signings to the Ostrow Library; one, a conversation on Israeli security, the other, pure entertainment. On April 15, foreign correspondents Jennifer Griffin and Greg Myre will discuss their new book, This Burning Land: Lessons from the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Griffin, a Fox News correspondent, and Myre, a New York Times reporter, write about the dramatic changes that have taken place in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decade. Based on their eye-witness accounts of some of the most pivotal events, they delve into the thinking that motivates some Palestinians to become suicide bombers and other Palestinians to work as informants for Israel's security forces. Their book addresses a fundamental paradox. Israel is stronger than it has ever been; it has a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and a powerful military, yet it cannot find a way to end the feud with the Palestinians.
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BOOK REVIEW
Cities and the Creative Class by Richard Florida
Reviewed by Henrik P. Minassians, PhD, instructor in AJU's Political Science Department since 2006. He teaches Law and Society, Introduction to Public Policy, and Analysis and American political Thought.
Modern mass communication and globalization have exposed us to many cities around the world,  along with attempts at modernization by developing countries. Richard Florida's theory, as expressed in his former book, The Rise of the Creative Class, suggests that a creative class, consisting of professionals in innovative and artistic occupations, is the main catalyst for continued development of modern cities. In addition, many politicians and students of political science, public policy, and urban planning subscribe to this theory: that the development of cities is intertwined with the existence of the creative class, which in turn contributes to the economy by establishing new, knowledge-based ideas.
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