Academic Lectures
Grad Fellows: Reviving Languages & Teaching the Middle East
HUB 145, UW Campus 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, United StatesGraduate Fellows Rob Keener and Sara Molaie share their research on human rights issues and diplomacy in Israel and other countries in the Middle east.
The Ottoman Last Decade: The Perspectives of “The Other Ottomans”
Thomson 317 on the UW Campus 2023 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesDiscover the fate of non-Turkish populations—especially Ladino-speaking Jews—during the final years of the Ottoman Empire in this lecture by Prof. Eyal Ginio.
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (and What It Means to Americans)” Book Launch
HUB 145, UW Campus 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor Naomi Sokoloff will discuss her new collection of essays on Hebrew in America and around the world, co-edited with Professor Nancy Berg.
Faculty Panel: Responding to Pittsburgh
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesFaculty will help to contextualize the October 27 synagogue shooting, offering scholarly perspectives.
“Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual” Book Launch
HUB 334, UW Campus 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor Daniel Bessner will discuss his new biography of influential 20th-century defense analyst Hans Speier.
Workshop: Spinoza on Freedom and the Highest Good
Scholars will explore the roles of freedom, reason, and imagination in Spinoza's classic treatise, "Ethics."
Towards a Sustainable Population Policy in Israel: New Axioms for a Crowded Planet
Thomson 317 on the UW Campus 2023 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesAlon Tal will discuss how policies and planning can keep population growth sustainable in Israel.
Water and the Environment in the Middle East: Israel’s Sustainability Challenges in the Desalination Era
Kane Hall 110 4069 Spokane Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor Alon Tal will discuss the lessons that Israel's experience with desalination can offer an increasingly water-scarce world.
Zionism and Emotion: Love, Fear, and Guilt
Kane Hall 110 4069 Spokane Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor Derek Penslar will consider Zionism, and all forms of modern nationalism, as expressions of emotions -- emotions that motivate both positive strengths and negative feelings of guilt.
Jews and Human Rights: Forgotten Past, Uncertain Future
HUB 145, UW Campus 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor James Loeffler will discuss the nearly forgotten ties between Zionism, Jewish activism, and the emergence of the international human rights movement.
CANCELED: Dancing with the Angel of Death: Demonic Femininity in the Ancient Synagogue
Thomson 317 on the UW Campus 2023 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesDr. Laura Lieber of Duke University will discuss demonic femininity in ancient Jewish poetry.
CANCELED: How Frontier Jews Made American Judaism
HUB 145, UW Campus 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, United StatesProfessor Shari Rabin explores how Jewish migrants in the era of westward expansion shaped the religious idioms, institutions, and ideologies of American Judaism.
Can Patients Refuse Lifesaving Treatment? A Comparative Review of Secular, Jewish & Israeli Perspectives
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesDr. Hadar Khazzam-Horovitz will review secular and Jewish-rabbinic approaches to the question of whether patients can refuse lifesaving treatment, and what role physicians should play in that decision.
3/4 TALK | New Language, New Story: How Translation Changed the Bible for Sephardic Jews Across History
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesDr. David Wacks will discuss the history of Sephardic engagement with the Tanakh, from the medieval Arabic translations to the Ladino and Judeo-Spanish translations, commentaries, and legends through which generations of Sepharadim reinterpreted the Tanakh for the worlds in which they lived.
3/13 CONCERT | Singing the Sephardic Diaspora: Mediterranean Elements in Judeo-Spanish Choral Arrangements
Kane Hall 220 4069 Spokane Ln, Seattle, WA, USLadino songs reflect a wealth of musical influences, from Turkish scales to Balkan rhythms. In this lecture-recital, recent Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) graduate Sarah Riskind will discuss Mediterranean features of Sephardic music and how they can be highlighted in arrangements for chorus.