October 2018
Miriam Bodian: The “Sephardim”: An Imagined Diaspora?
Academic lecture with Miriam Bodian, University of Texas. The “Sephardim”: An Imagined Diaspora? There is a widespread belief that from the medieval period onward, the great majority of Jews belonged to one of two ethnic sub-groups - the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim - that developed in parallel fashion and are thus somehow comparable. But the structures of these two diasporas are profoundly different. While it is possible to describe an “Ashkenazi culture” (at least up to the nineteenth century) with…
Find out more »Sidnie White Crawford: Scribes and Scrolls
A community lecture with Sidnie White Crawford, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The Morris, Ida and Alan Heilig Lectureship in Jewish Studies Scribes and Scrolls at Qumran: A New Synthesis The lecture will explore both the textual and the archaeological evidence from Qumran to argue that during the first century BCE- first century CE Qumran was inhabited by a Jewish community affiliated with the Essene movement in Judea. The Essenes founded Qumran as a library site, where the collecting,…
Find out more »April 2019
Whither Sephardic Music? with Edwin Seroussi: Academic Lecture
An academic lecture with Edwin Seroussi. Whither Sephardic Music? As Sephardic studies develop with great impetus as a new field within American Jewish Studies the question of how musicology participates in them remains open. Surveying the present state of Sephardic music research, this lecture will explore some future prospects in this area of musical inquiry not only in its Jewish contexts but beyond them, in Hispanic and world music perspectives. This event is free and open to the public,…
Find out more »October 2019
The Jews as a Class: Between Race and Religion in the Civil War South
Our Margolis lecture for 2019-2020 is with Shari Rabin, Oberlin College. ‘The Jews as a Class’: Between Race and Religion in the Civil War South One of the most infamous instances of American antisemitism is General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1862 General Order Number 11, which banned “Jews, as a class” from the Department of Tennessee. This presentation will revisit this language of southern Jews “as a class” in historical context, showing how Jews and non-Jews alike struggled to categorize…
Find out more »March 2020
Forging Ties, Forging Passports: Migration and the Modern Sephardi Diaspora
Forging Ties, Forging Passports: Migration and the Modern Sephardi Diaspora with Devi Mays, University of Michigan. This lecture is made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor through an endowed lectureship in Sephardic Judaism. 5:30p start time in Hill Hall, Moeser Auditorium. Directions/Parking. In this talk, Devi Mays presents a history of migration and nation-building from the vantage point of those who lived between states. Devi Mays traces the histories of Ottoman Sephardi Jews who emigrated to the Americas—and…
Find out more »September 2022
REMOTE: Jews, and the Transformation of American Folklore
If you missed this event, you can view it on our YouTube channel. This is now a remote/Zoom event. Remote-only event. Registration is required on Eventbrite site in order to get the Zoom link. https://evanslecture.eventbrite.com Eli N. Evans Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies with Dr. Naomi Graber, University of Georgia. The Center's inaugural Alumni Lecture. Co-sponsored by the department of music and the department of American studies. Opening remarks by Patricia Rosenmeyer, Elizabeth Engelhardt and…
Find out more »March 2023
Daniel Zamir Jazz Duo / 20th Anniversary Celebration
Please help us celebrate our 20th anniversary at our March 2nd reception and jazz performance! Schedule: 6:00-6:45pm: Community Reception, Hill Hall, Rotunda 7:00-8:15pm: Performance, Hill Hall, Moeser Aud Morris, Ida and Alan Heilig Event in Jewish Studies In person event, free and open to the public. FREE Parking: Swain Lot. Map of Hill Hall and Swain parking, located between Franklin St. and Cameron Ave. Daniel Zamir Duo with Gadi Lehavi Internationally renowned saxophonist and composer Daniel Zamir, together with…
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