Academic Lectures
11/16 LECTURE | What Can Jewish Mothers Teach Us About Jewish Origins and Ethnicities?
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesAuthor Cynthia Baker will discuss how, from ancient biblical narratives to cutting-edge genomic research, putting mothers at the center of our questions, definitions, and research into Jewish history can provide unexpected insights and startlingly unfamiliar perspectives.
12/3 EVENT | Ladino Day 2023: ‘Kantika’, a Sephardic Novel by Author Elizabeth Graver
Zoom 0The UW Sephardic Studies Program's Ladino Day 2023 features author Elizabeth Graver, who will discuss her novel "Kantika" — a multigenerational saga inspired by her Sephardic grandmother — with Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies Devin E. Naar.
1/24 WEBINAR | A New Day in Babylon and Jerusalem: Zionism, Power, Politics, and Identity
RSVP for Zoom linkHistorian Sara Hirschhorn will discuss the modern histories of Zionism and the Left, and the unraveling of American Jewish unanimity around Israel between 1967 and 1975.
1/31 LECTURE | The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Finding a Path Forward – Lecture with Alon Tal
Kane Hall 110 4069 Spokane Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesAlon Tal, scholar, environmentalist and former Knesset member, will present on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
POSTPONED | Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesWriter, critic, and cultural historian Jeremy Eichler discusses the topic of his book, Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance.
2/14 LUNCH & LEARN | Exile, Diaspora, and the Jews in the Roman and Byzantine Era with Mika Ahuvia
Thomson Hall 317 Thomson Hall 317, SeattleA presentation by historian Mika Ahuvia on her forthcoming paper about the range of ways in which Jews adapted to exile in the Roman and Byzantine eras.
2/22 LECTURE | Jerusalem in Rome and Galilee: Encountering the Holy City in Jewish and Christian Mosaics
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesPresentation by Karen Britt and Ra'anan Boustan on depictions in Jewish and Christian religious spaces of Jerusalem in antiquity.
2/28 LUNCH & LEARN | The Invention of the Postcard: The Circulation of Jewish Visual Culture in Ottoman and Greek Salonica with Shalom Sabar
Thomson Hall 317 Thomson Hall 317, SeattleA presentation by art historian Shalom Sabar on what Jewish postcards from Ottoman and Greek Salonica teach us about the experiences of the people who sent them and about how they understood their identities.
3/27 EVENT | A Spark of King David: The Musical Poetry of Rabbi Israel Najara Then and Now
Kane Hall 220 4069 Spokane Ln, Seattle, WA, USEdwin Seroussi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will discuss the pizmonim (musical religious poems) of 16th-century rabbi Israel Najara.
3/28 LECTURE | Sonic Ruins of Modernity: Ladino Folksongs Today
Kane Hall 220 4069 Spokane Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesEdwin Seroussi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will discuss Judeo-Spanish folk songs in modern times.
4/11 LECTURE | Contemporary Ethiopian Artists in Israel and the Question of Hyphenated Identity
Thomson Hall 101 2023 King Lane, Seattle, WA, United StatesArtist and researcher Efrat Yerday will present on how Ethiopian Jewish artists in Israel navigate challenges around their work and their identities.
5/7 STROUM LECTURE | The Complexities of Jewish Friendships: Jews and Non-Jews in Imperial Germany
RSVP for Zoom linkHistorian Marion Kaplan will explore grassroots social interactions between Jewish and non-Jewish Germans in Imperial "Enlightenment" Germany.
5/9 STROUM LECTURE | Hitler’s Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal
In this lecture, historian Marion Kaplan will discuss the experiences of Jewish refugees as they fled Hitler’s regime and lived in limbo in Portugal, seeking safer havens abroad.
6/25 LECTURE | Not a Good Time for Hebrew? Novelist Maya Arad & “The Hebrew Teacher”
RSVP for locationHebrew-language author Maya Arad will discuss her latest collection of novellas, "The Hebrew Teacher," with Naomi Sokoloff.
10/15 PANEL | The Scholarly Legacy of Hayim Katsman
UW Campus 1410 NE Campus Parkway, Seattle, WAA panel of scholars will discuss the scholarly legacy of Hayim Katsman, UW Ph.D. '21, who researched Religious Zionism and was killed by Hamas last year on October 7.