As a premiere hub for Jewish Studies, the Stroum Center features an internationally recognized Sephardic Studies Program, a growing Israel Studies Program, and a vibrant undergraduate and graduate community.
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From the assistant director’s desk: Updates on the Sephardic Studies Digital Collection
The 2020-21 academic year provided unprecedented opportunities for advancing the Sephardic Studies Digital Collection. We share an update from our Assistant Director and the UW librarians who have made this progress possible.
Using machine learning to explore photos, illustrations, ads and more in historic Ladino newspapers
Graduate fellow Ben Lee explains how machine learning can help historians to learn from the photographs, illustrations and advertisements found in Ladino-language newspapers.
VIDEO | Graduate Fellows Research Colloquia
The 2020-2021 cohort of graduate fellows in Jewish studies presents their research on Sephardic Jews in modern times, midwives in the Ottoman Empire, Sephardic music, ancient Jewish art, and Kurdish Jews in medieval Iraq.
VIDEO | 2021 Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies: Reading Jewish Texts in an Age of Climate Change
In the 2021 Stroum Lectures, Julia Watts Belser uses classic rabbinic Jewish texts to grapple with questions about climate change and environmental justice, inviting us to tangle with grief and re-imagine possibilities for survival.
Reproduction in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire: The story of the “bloodstained” Jewish midwives
Concern over a shrinking population led Ottoman authorities to undermine reproductive autonomy in the 19th century, writes grad fellow Büşra Demirkol, starting with outlawing abortion and exiling two "bloody" Jewish midwives.
Uncovering the history of Seattle’s first settlers from the Ottoman Empire
Using census data from the early 20th century, grad fellow Oya Rose Aktaş sketches a portrait Seattle's very first residents from the Ottoman Empire, from 1890-1910.
Israel Studies Program
Promoting and encouraging the critical study of the histories, societies, cultures, and politics of the State of Israel
Sephardic Studies Program
World-renowned for the study of Sephardic culture and history, the Sephardic Studies Program features a growing online library and museum, undergraduate and graduate courses, public programs like Ladino Day, and academic conferences.
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Graduate Fellowship
Convening students from departments across campus to learn about Jewish studies and public scholarship.
Stroum Lectures Archive
For over 30 years, the annual Stroum Lectures at the University of Washington have showcased leading scholars in the field.