This year, pianist Renan Koen will lead Seattle’s Sephardic Holocaust memorial from Istanbul’s historic Italian synagogue
Pianist Renan Koen on her family history, her career, and what drew her to music composed during the Holocaust.
Sephardic Jews in Turkey were told to assimilate. Today’s generation is reclaiming its identity through the Ladino language
For student Nesi Altaras, studying Ladino isn't only about learning the language of his family: it means reversing an assimilationist agenda against Turkish Jews that began in the 20th century — and continues today.
Learning from the history of Ottoman Jews & 19th-century cholera outbreaks during COVID-19
Grad fellow Canan Bolel explains the unfortunate parallels between responses to 19th-century cholera outbreaks in Ottoman Izmir (present-day Turkey) — especially for Jewish communities— and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Celebrating 2019-2020 graduates of Jewish Studies
Presenting the 2020 Stroum Center for Jewish Studies graduates!
For some descendants of Sephardic Jews who were forced to convert, learning the Ladino language is an act of restitution
Student Victor Alejandro Castillo shares the importance of Ladino for those of "converso" (converted Jewish) descent.
Senior Grace Dy wins the Stroum Center’s first-ever Outstanding Student Award
Biology and comparative religion major Grace Dy received the Stroum Center's first-ever Outstanding Student in Jewish Studies Award in spring 2020.
What I learned from majoring in Jewish Studies and studying abroad in Israel and London
Senior Lily Rosencrantz reflects on what she learned in her time with Jewish Studies, both at the University of Washington and abroad.
Grace Levy wins the 2020 Excellence in Scholarship Holocaust Paper Prize
Grace Levy wins the 2020 Excellence in Scholarship prize for her paper, which explores intergenerational narratives of Holocaust survival by looking at Jane Yolen's novel "Briar Rose" and Art Spiegelman's graphic novel "Maus."