Curious about Jewish Studies? Anytime from 11 AM — 1 PM on Wednesday, April 19, stop by the Microsoft Cafe on campus to learn more about the Stroum Center from our own leaders: Director Mika Ahuvia,  and Interim Associate Director Brendan Goldman, who also serves as Program Manager. Plus, free food and drinks will be provided! This casual setting is a great way to:

• Explore the Stroum Center programs you may be curious about

• Get your questions answered on-the-spot

• Meet other undergraduate students with common interests or backgrounds

• Fuel up (coffee, please!) while talking with an engaging duo

• Get to know Mika and Brendan on a more personal level

So if you think you might come by, feel free to register here! Mika and Brendan look forward to meeting with students, both current and new.

About the leaders

Mika Ahuvia researches the formative history of Jewish and Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world. Specializing in Late Antique Jewish history, she works with rabbinic sources, liturgical poetry, magical texts, early mystical literature, and archaeological evidence.

Her  book, “On My Right Michael, On My Left Gabriel: Angels in Ancient Jewish Culture,” investigates conceptions of angels in foundational Jewish texts and ritual sources, and uncovers how angels made their way into the practices and worldview of ancient Jews. As the Herbert L. and Lucia S. Pruzan Chair in Jewish Studies, Ahuvia teaches courses in Jewish Studies, comparative religion, and global studies in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. She is also the Director of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies.

Brendan Goldman came to the Stroum Center from Princeton University, where he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Program in Judaic Studies, in addition to coordinating the Comparative Diplomatics Workshop and teaching at Northern State Prison in Newark, New Jersey. He received his Ph.D. in history from The Johns Hopkins University in 2018, and now serves as the Stroum Center’s Interim Associate Director and Program Manager.

His first book, “Camps of the Uncircumcised: The Cairo Geniza and Jewish Life in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem,” is under contract with University of Pennsylvania Press and will be published in 2021. His second book project, tentatively titled “A Disciplinary Society: Medieval Prisons through Jewish Eyes, 1000-1300,” examines how documents found in the Cairo Geniza, a synagogue storehouse preserving more than 40,000 medieval writings, can illuminate the ways in which state violence shaped the lives of everyday people during the Middle Ages.

The University of Washington is committed to providing access and accommodation in its services, programs, and activities. To make a request connected to a disability or health condition contact Grace Dy at (206) 543-0138 or jewishst@uw.edu at least 10 days before the event.