Jack Nusan Porter
Encyclopedia
Dr. Jack Nusan Porter is a writer, sociologist, human rights and social activist, treasurer and former vice-president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars
. He is a former lecturer of social science at Boston University
and a former Research Associate in Ukrainian Studies at Harvard University
. His most recent books include Genocide and Human Rights, The Genocidal Mind, and Is Sociology Dead?
, Ukraine
to Jewish-Polish partisan parents Faljga Merin and Srulik Puchtik. The family emigrated to the United States on June 20, 1946 and their name was Anglicized to Porter.
Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, Porter was active in Habonim-Dror, a Labor Zionist Youth movement growing up. He left for Israel soon after high school and worked on Kibbutz Gesher Haziv and in Jerusalem. Porter eventually returned to Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Majoring in sociology, he was accepted in 1967 to Northwestern University
. In the late 1960s, Porter was an active leader in the moderate wing of Students for a Democratic Society
. However, in response to the growing anti-Zionism emanating from the black and white leftist movements, Porter and other students at Northwestern founded in 1970 the activist Jewish Student Movement, a forerunner to all Jewish “renewal” groups and predecessor to Michael Lerner
’s Tikkun movement.
Also in the late 1960s Porter founded The Spencer Institute For Business and Society; a new age think tank. Also incorporated into the Spencer Institute For Business and Society was the Ahimsa Project.
In his forties Porter was ordained a rabbi by an Orthodox Vaad in New York City, attending the trans-denominational Academy for Jewish Religion
in Manhattan in the late 1990s; after which he served congregations in Marlboro and Chelsea, Massachusetts and most notably in Key West, Florida, where he led a controversial Jewish outreach program to native Key Westers known as “Conchs”, northeastern U.S. “Snowbirds”, Miami’s Jewish, Cuban, and intermarried “Jewban” populations, transvestites, gay and lesbian parishioners.
International Association of Genocide Scholars
The International Association of Genocide Scholars is a global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, and advance policy studies on prevention of genocide. The Association, founded in 1994 by...
. He is a former lecturer of social science at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and a former Research Associate in Ukrainian Studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. His most recent books include Genocide and Human Rights, The Genocidal Mind, and Is Sociology Dead?
Biography
Nusia Jakub Puchtik was born December 2, 1944, in RivneRivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
to Jewish-Polish partisan parents Faljga Merin and Srulik Puchtik. The family emigrated to the United States on June 20, 1946 and their name was Anglicized to Porter.
Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, Porter was active in Habonim-Dror, a Labor Zionist Youth movement growing up. He left for Israel soon after high school and worked on Kibbutz Gesher Haziv and in Jerusalem. Porter eventually returned to Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Majoring in sociology, he was accepted in 1967 to Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. In the late 1960s, Porter was an active leader in the moderate wing of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
. However, in response to the growing anti-Zionism emanating from the black and white leftist movements, Porter and other students at Northwestern founded in 1970 the activist Jewish Student Movement, a forerunner to all Jewish “renewal” groups and predecessor to Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner (rabbi)
Michael Lerner is a political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.-Family and Education:...
’s Tikkun movement.
Also in the late 1960s Porter founded The Spencer Institute For Business and Society; a new age think tank. Also incorporated into the Spencer Institute For Business and Society was the Ahimsa Project.
In his forties Porter was ordained a rabbi by an Orthodox Vaad in New York City, attending the trans-denominational Academy for Jewish Religion
Academy for Jewish Religion
You might mean:* Academy for Jewish Religion * Academy for Jewish Religion...
in Manhattan in the late 1990s; after which he served congregations in Marlboro and Chelsea, Massachusetts and most notably in Key West, Florida, where he led a controversial Jewish outreach program to native Key Westers known as “Conchs”, northeastern U.S. “Snowbirds”, Miami’s Jewish, Cuban, and intermarried “Jewban” populations, transvestites, gay and lesbian parishioners.
Published works
- Jewish Radicalism with Peter Dreier (Grove Press, 1973)
- The Sociology of American Jews (University Press of America, 1980)
- Notes of a Happy Sociologist (Zalonka Publications, 1980)
- The Jew as Outsider (University Press of America, 1981)
- Jewish Partisans (University Press of America, 1982)
- Conflict and Conflict Resolution (Garland Pub., 1982)
- Genocide and Human Rights (University Press of America, 1982)
- Handbook of Cults, Sects and Self-Realization Groups (Zalonka Publications, 1982)
- Confronting history and Holocaust (University Press of America, 1983)
- Sexual politics in the Third Reich (Spencer Press, 1995)
- Women in Chains (J. Aronson, 1995)
- L'Matara : For the purpose with Esther Ritchie (Spencer Press, 1997)
- A life of Mitzvah : Rabbi Joseph Mayer Jacobson and his family (Spencer Press, 1997)
- Urban Sociology : the case of Lowell. Massachusetts and environs (Spencer Press, 2001)
- The Genocidal Mind (University Press of America, 2006)
- Is Sociology Dead? (University Press of America, 2008)
Awards
- 2004: Distinguished Scholarly Career Award, American Sociological AssociationAmerican Sociological AssociationThe American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
Section on the History of Sociology