STUDENT EVENT: Discuss Gary Shteyngart's "Little Failure"
2018-04-30 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | RSVP for location
In advance of the 2018 Stroum Lectures with the bestselling author and satirist Gary Shteyngart, read excerpts from Shetyngart’s memoir Little Failure and engage in a discussion over dinner with Prof. Sasha Senderovich.
Little Failure is a humorous, touching, and deeply honest exploration of Shteyngart’s history – and his family’s – that delves deeply into the 20th century experience of Jews in the Soviet Union and follows them as immigrants to the United States.

RSVP below for location; dinner provided. Copies of Little Failure available.

Register for the May 7 & 9 2018 Stroum Lectures here.

Get ready for the conversation
Check out Jewish in Seattle ‘s related coverage:

Q&A with Gary Shteyngart (in drawings)
“Immigrant Literature Should Make You a Little Uncomfortable” by Sasha Senderovich

Gary Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972 and immigrated to the United States seven years later. He is the author of three bestselling novels: The Russian Debutante’s Handbook (2002), Absurdistan (2006), and Super Sad True Love Story (2010). His newest novel, Lake Success, will be published in 2018.

Sasha Senderovich is an Assistant Professor of Slavic and Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. He teaches courses in Jewish literature and culture as well as Russian literature and film.

STUDENT EVENT: Dawg Daze with Jewish Studies
2018-09-26 10:00 - 15:00 | Red Square
Come find the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies on Red Square during the Student Activities Fair during Dawg Daze.
Grab a free Stroum Center tote bag, enter to win a free gift card to the University Book Store, and stay a while to chat!
Email us with any questions or if you can’t find us!

STUDENT EVENT: Medical Experimentation: Past, Present & Future Discussion
2018-10-24 18:00 - 19:30 | RSVP for location
Why do we need informed consent? What is ethically based experimentation? Who are the vulnerable people protected under the law?
In this discussion/lecture, join faculty member Dr. Hadar Khazzam-Horovitz to review the dark side of medical experimentation on human subjects. These cases show how participants’ rights were grossly violated in the name of scientific progress.
The discussion examine the various mechanisms in place to protect human subjects in the current scheme, then, through case studies, wthe new technology of gene editing (Chrispr – cas9) and the ethical issues it raises, both from Jewish and secular perspectives.
Open to undergraduate and graduate students only.
Vegetarian dinner provided.
RSVP for location.
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: Israeli Nation-State Bill Discussion
2018-10-30 14:00 - 15:30 | RSVP for location
Meet with Stroum Center director Professor Noam Pianko to discuss perspectives on Israel’s recent nation-state bill, which states that Israel is the “historical homeland of the Jewish people.”
No prior knowledge is required! Professor Pianko will start by explaining the bill, its political significance, and the conversation around it. If you would like to learn more before attending the event, check out the (short) full text of the bill, an explanation of opposition to the bill, and a defense of the bill.
Coffee and pastries provided.
This event open to undergraduates and graduate students only.
Please RSVP for location.
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: Reading Group for "The Best Place on Earth"
2019-02-06 18:00 - 19:30 | RSVP for location
In advance of author Ayelet Tsabari‘s upcoming visit to the UW, undergrads are invited to discuss Tsabari’s 2013 novel, “The Best Place on Earth,” with Professor Sasha Senderovich.
A complimentary copy of the book will be provided in advance to students who RSVP.
Vegetarian dinner provided.
Please RSVP for location and to reserve a copy of the book.

About the speaker

Ayelet Tsabari, who now lives and teaches Creative Writing in Toronto, was born in Israel to a large family of Yemeni descent. Her first book, “The Best Place on Earth,” won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and was longlisted to the Frank O’Connor International Short StoryAward.

Note that Tsabari will also be speaking at the UW on February 28, 2019. Tickets are free and all are welcome.

To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: The Rabbis on Love
2019-02-14 14:00 - 15:30
Painting: “The Bride and Groom at the Eiffel Tower” by Marc Chagall, 1939.
This Valentine’s Day, join Mika Ahuvia, assistant professor of Jewish studies and comparative religion at the Jackson School of International Studies, for insights on love and relationships, courtesy the influential rabbis of the classic era, when Rabbis Hillel and Shammai lived and worked.
Learn about and discuss rabbis’ perspectives on love, desire, and relationships, and benefit from the collective wisdom of deep thinkers from centuries past. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students!
Coffee and pastries provided. RSVP to Lauren Kurland for location (a coffee shop on the Ave).
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: Learning from the Holocaust in the Age of Trump
2019-02-26 10:30 - 12:00
How can history help us to make sense of the Trump era, when the president and other politicians regularly stoke fears about immigrants, minorities, and people from other countries for their own political benefit?
Join Richard Block, associate professor of Germanics and Jewish Studies, for a discussion of Nazi Germany and how its history of weaponized fear against “the other” can inform our present-day understanding of hate against immigrants and minorities in the United States and elsewhere, especially after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018.
No prior knowledge required! Attendees will learn from Professor Block, engage with a short reading, and participate in an informal discussion of the issues. Coffee and pastries will be provided.
All undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.
Please RSVP to kurlandl@uw.edu for location (a cafe on the Ave).
Richard Block will be teaching a related class in the spring, “German/Jewish Writers: The Immigrant Experience” (GERMAN / JEW ST 295).
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT/FACULTY EVENT: Writing Displacement: A Seminar on Memoir with Author Ayelet Tsabari
2019-02-28 11:30 - 13:00 | RSVP for venue
At this lunchtime seminar for UW graduate students, faculty, and advanced undergraduates, the writer Ayelet Tsabari will speak about her new memoir, “The Art of Leaving,” and lead a discussion of a short excerpt from the book that will be made available to the participants ahead of time. Tsabari will also discuss the process of writing and publishing a memoir.
“The Art of Leaving” traces Tsabari’s journey from her childhood home on the outskirts of Tel Aviv to Vancouver and Toronto — and from her native Hebrew to her adopted English — alongside the story of her grandparents’ migration from Yemen to the land of Israel in the 1930s. An astute observer of lives of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Arab lands) in Israel and beyond in her award-winning short story collection “The Best Place on Earth” (2016), in “The Art of Leaving” Tsabari delivers a powerful coming-of-age story that reflects on identity and belonging and explores themes of family and home — both inherited and chosen.
Please RSVP to jewishst@uw.edu by February 27 for location and a PDF copy of the reading; a vegetarian lunch will be provided.
Are you an undergraduate student? Ayelet Tsabari will discuss the book and her writing process with undergrads over coffee on Friday, March 1, from 10:00am – 11:30am. Learn more and RSVP for this undergrad discussion group here.
This event is organized by the Simpson Center for the Humanities and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies. Ayelet Tsabari’s visit to UW is further supported by the Israel Studies Program, the Sephardic Studies and Canadian Studies Programs, the Middle East Center, the departments of English; Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media; Near Eastern Languages & Civilization; and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies.
About the speaker
Ayelet Tsabari lives and teaches Creative Writing in Toronto and was born in Israel to a large family of Yemeni descent. Her first book, “The Best Place on Earth,” won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and was longlisted to the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Learn more on her website.
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: Conversation with author Ayelet Tsabari
2019-03-01 10:00 - 11:30 | RSVP for location
Undergrads are invited to meet with Ayelet Tsabari, author of the award-winning collection of short stories “The Best Place on Earth” and the new memoir “The Art of Leaving.”
Coffee and pastries provided. Participants will receive a complimentary copy of “The Art of Leaving.”
RSVP to Student Engagement Director Lauren Kurland for location.

“The Art of Leaving: A Memoir” (2019), Tsabari’s new book, traces the writer’s journey from her childhood home on the outskirts of Tel Aviv to Vancouver and Toronto — and from her native Hebrew to her adopted English — alongside the story of her grandparents’ migration from Yemen to the land of Israel in the 1930s. An astute observer of lives of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Arab lands) in Israel and beyond, in “The Art of Leaving” Tsabari delivers a powerful coming-of-age story that reflects on identity and belonging and explores themes of family and home — both inherited and chosen.
Tsabari will also be speaking at the UW on February 28, 2019. Tickets are free and all undergraduate students are welcome.
About the speaker

Ayelet Tsabari was born in Israel to a large family of Yemeni descent. Her first book, “The Best Place on Earth,” won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and was longlisted to the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. She currently lives and teaches creative writing in Toronto.

To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.

STUDENT EVENT: Meza de Ladino ~ Ladino Table
2019-04-03 11:30 - 13:00, 2019-05-01 11:30 - 13:00 | SMITH 320
Join Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington to explore Ladino, a Mediterranean language that blends Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Italian & French all into one!
Delicious Sephardic and Mediterranean treats will be provided.
Open to undergraduates, graduates, and the UW community.
All language levels welcome.
Please RSVP here for the location.

STUDENT EVENT: Queer Jews in Nazi-Era Berlin
2019-05-08 14:00 - 15:15 | RSVP for location
For our quarterly Jewish Studies Coffee Hour, Prof Laurie Marhoefer (History) will present on research methods and challenges she has encountered while researching queer Jews in Nazi-era Berlin.
Coffee and pastries provided.
Open to undergraduates and graduate students only.
Space is limited to 18 students.
Please RSVP for location.

STUDENT EVENT: Meza de Ladino ~ Ladino Table
2019-05-15 11:30 - 13:00 | SMITH 320
Join Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington to explore Ladino, a Mediterranean language that blends Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Italian & French all into one!
Delicious Sephardic and Mediterranean treats will be provided.
Open to undergraduates, graduates, and the UW community.
All language levels welcome.
RSVP here.

STUDENT EVENT: Meza de Ladino ~ Ladino Table
2019-06-06 11:30 - 13:00 | SMITH 320
Join Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington to explore Ladino, a Mediterranean language that blends Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Italian & French all into one!
Delicious Sephardic and Mediterranean treats will be provided. This week we’ll be joined by special guest Lela Abravanel, a native Ladino speaker and Holocaust survivor from the city of Salonika. You can learn a little more about her history and learn some beautiful Refranes from her gust spotlight at our 2014 International Ladino Day HERE.
Open to undergraduates, graduates, and the UW community.
All language levels welcome.
RSVP here.

STUDENT EVENT | A Colloquium with Katja Petrowskaja on Language, Memory, and the Holocaust
2019-10-08 12:00 - 13:30
Graduate students, undergrads, and faculty are invited to join acclaimed Ukrainian-German author, literary scholar, and journalist Katja Petrowskaja for a lunchtime colloquium on the process of writing and translating a multilingual, transnational family history whose archives have been erased by the Holocaust. Petrowskaja garnered wide international acclaim with her book Vielleicht Esther (Maybe Esther) which was published in 2014 with Suhrkamp Verlag and has been translated into more than twenty languages. “An unfinished family history” in which Petrowskaja “writes about her journeys … reflecting on a fragmented and traumatized century, and placing her focus on figures whose faces are no longer visible” (Suhrkamp). For an excerpt from its fifth chapter, titled “Maybe Esther,” she was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2013.
Moderated by Jason Groves (Germanics)

Lunch will be provided and a limited number of copies of Maybe Esther will be available to confirmed participants beforehand.Please RSVP to Prof. Sasha Senderovich at senderov@uw.edu for location.

***

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Germanics, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, and the Goethe Pop Up Seattle. It is affiliated with the Simpson Center-sponsored 2019-2020 colloquium on Transnational Approaches to Europe and the Translation Studies Hub.

STUDENT EVENT | Lessons on Communicating with the Media from a Middle East Commentator
2019-11-06 11:45 - 13:30 | RSVP for venue
Dr. Marwa Maziad, regular BBC political commentator on global affairs, will speak about her experiences as a journalist and political analyst for a variety of networks and will offer tips for speaking effectively with the media.
Lunch provided.
Open to undergraduate and graduate students.
Please RSVP to Student Engagement Director Lauren Kurland at kurlandl@uw.edu for the location.

2/12 STUDENT EVENT | Crossroads: Exploring Anti-Immigrant and Anti-Semitic Sentiment
2020-02-12 17:00 - 19:00 | The HUB
Learn and talk about the relationship between anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant sentiment from historical and contemporary perspectives, with a particular focus on Jewish and Latinx immigration.
UW professors Devin Naar, Kathie Friedman and Angelina Godoy will speak on a panel to their area of expertise, followed by Q&A.
Doors open for registration, check-in, and food (vegetarian) at 5PM.
You must register to attend this free event! https://tinyurl.com/CrossroadsUW
You can also learn more on our Facebook event page.
This event is intended for current undergraduate and graduate students. A limited number of seats are available for members of the general public, as well.
Organized by the Antisemitism Working Group RSO, a student organization at the University of Washington.

2/27 STUDENT EVENT | Visit to the Holocaust Center for Humanity
2020-02-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Holocaust Center for Humanity, 2045 2nd Avenue, Seattle, WA, United States
Undergrad and grad students are invited to join SCJS student engagement director Lauren Kurland for a guided tour of the Holocaust Center for Humanity in downtown Seattle.
Meet at 2:30 pm on the UW campus, or at the Center (2045 2nd Ave) at 3:00 pm.
We will watch a film, explore the permanent exhibit, and meet with Legacy Speaker Ron Friedman.
The tour will end by 5:00 pm.
Limit for the tour is 50 students.
Note that weapons of any kind are not allowed inside the building, including pocket knives and pepper spray. Please leave large bags and backpacks at home; otherwise, bags may be safely stored in our atrium, and/or are subject to search before bringing into the main building.
Attendees are invited for dinner at a local restaurant and reflection on the experience afterward. Note: Limit for dinner is 15 students.
No cost. Thanks to the SAMIS Foundation for underwriting the cost of the museum admission.
RSVP required. When you RSVP, please indicate: 1) where you will meet us (UW light rail or at the museum) 2) if you will be joining for dinner afterward

STUDENT EVENT: Jewish Studies Virtual Coffee Hour
2020-04-30 14:30 - 15:15, 2020-05-04 11:30 - 12:15, 2020-05-12 14:00 - 14:45 | RSVP for Zoom link
Undergrads are invited to grab a cup of coffee or tea and join student engagement director Lauren Kurland and other students involved with the Stroum Center to hang out, get to know each other a little better, and hopefully laugh a little! Attendance limited to 5 students so we can all “see” each other and interact. Note, this coffee “hour” is only 45 minutes. Multiple coffee hours will be offered this spring to accommodate schedules.

2/2 STUDENT EVENT | Ancient Perspectives on Same-Sex Relationships
2021-02-02 14:00 - 15:00
NOTE: DATE CHANGE!
How has the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as related in the Qur’an and Hebrew Bible shaped the ways Jews, Muslims and Christians thought and continue to think about same sex relationships?
Join Stroum Center Cole Fellow Brendan Goldman to explore this question through close readings of the story in the Qur’an and Hebrew Bible. We will examine how premodern and current interpretations of this story have shaped conceptions of homosexuality and the boundaries of acceptable sexual behaviors.
Goldman will teach Queer Premodernity (JEW ST 489/HSTCMP 490) in Spring 2021, so this is a great opportunity to experience his teaching style and subject matter.
Open to undergrads and graduate students only.
RSVP for Zoom link.

12/8 STUDENT EVENT | Narrating Migration Stories: Podcasting Sephardic Jewish Journeys
2021-12-08 17:00 - 18:00
Scholar and co-creator of the well-known Ottoman History Podcast Chris Gratien and retired journalist Sam Negri discuss their approach to telling the stories of marginalized migrants to the United States, focusing on the story of Negri’s father, Sephardic Jew Leo Negri, who came to the United States undocumented in the early 1900s along with thousands of other Sephardim (Jews expelled from modern-day Spain in 1492 who sought refuge throughout the Ottoman Empire).
Watch the conversation now:

About this talk
In the early twentieth century, tens of thousands of Sephardic Jews migrated to the United States from the borders of the collapsing Ottoman Empire. In addition to navigating inter-Jewish communal relationships with fellow Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic Jews were also subject to racially biased immigration quotas that were becoming ever more restrictive during the 1920s.
Falsified papers were often the only way for many Sepharadim to gain entry to the United States — a route taken by Istanbul-born Leo Negri, whose fraudulent passport listed his country of origin as Cuba.
How can the podcast medium be leveraged to share the complex stories of Ottoman migrants to the United States? How can Negri’s story help us understand the stories of thousands of other Ottoman migrants like him, many of whom faced deportation threats and racism in their new American neighborhoods?
Join Chris Gratien, Assistant Professor of History, University of Virginia, co-creator of the Ottoman History Podcast, and Sam Negri, a retired journalist and Leo Negri’s son, for a conversation about this understudied moment in Jewish, Ottoman, and American history.
About the speakers
Chris Gratien is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He teaches courses on environmental history and the modern Middle East, with a research focus on the late Ottoman Empire. He is the co-creator of the Ottoman History Podcast and recently contributed a chapter to “Sephardic Trajectories: Archives, Objects, and the Ottoman Jewish Past in the United States” (Koç University Press, 2021) that was co-authored with Sam Negri.
Sam Negri is a retired journalist based in Arizona. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications. His father, Leo Negri, was an Istanbul-born Jew who immigrated to the United States in the early twentieth century.

2/8 EVENT | The Detention of Uyghur Muslims in China
2022-02-08 12:30 - 13:30
In this event, UW alum Darren Byler, Ph.D., will draw on his research, fieldwork, and first-hand experiences to explain the scope and impact of China’s detainment of Uyghur Muslims in forced labor camps, in conversation with UW Professor Emerita Sandra Silberstein.
About the speakers

Darren Byler is Assistant Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University. His recent book, “Terror Capitalism: Uyghur Dispossession and Masculinity in a Chinese City” (Duke University Press, 2021) is based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Uyghur homeland in Chinese Central Asia, and examines the impact of detention and surveillance on Uhgyur and Han male migrants. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Washington.
Sandra Silberstein is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Washington, where she researches rhetoric in times of national crisis and discourses around terrorism; linguistic constructions of gender, race, ethnicity; critical applied linguistics and second language studies.

This event is cosponsored by the Center for Human Rights, the China Studies Program, and the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington.

5/12 STUDENT EVENT| Post-Stroum Lecture Boba and Conversation
2022-05-12 20:15 - 21:00 | Private Location, 1400 NE Campus Parkway, Seattle, WA, 98102, United States

5/23 EVENT| An Evening with Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh
2022-05-23 19:00 - 20:30 | HUB 145, UW Campus, 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States

1/31 STUDENT EVENT | Feasting with Faculty ft. Assistant Prof. Senderovich
2023-01-31 17:00 - 19:00 | Taste of India, 5517 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, United States
Join Sasha Senderovich, an Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Slavic Languages and Literatures, for informal conversation over a free vegetarian dinner.
Open to undergraduate and graduate students only.
No cost. RSVP here!
This event is limited to 15 students.

4/19 | FREE FOOD! A "Grub n' gab" with Stroum Center leadership
2023-04-19 11:00 - 13:00 | Microsoft Cafe, 3785 Jefferson Rd NE, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Register Now >

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.

5/4 | Boba After Dark?(and after Stroum Lectures)
2023-05-04 20:45 - 22:30 | Boba Up, 4141 University Way NE # 103, Seattle, WA, 98105
Image by Freepik
Register Now >

Are you highly anticipating this year’s Stroum Lectures? Are you interested in meeting Anthony Russell in the flesh? Do you enjoy getting boba with friends? Are you an undergraduate or graduate student? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re in luck!
From 8:45 PM — 10:00 PM (or later) on Thursday, May 4, head over to Boba Up on “the Ave” for free boba and low-stakes face-time with the guests of honor. Right after his performance, you can:
• Meet Anthony and Dmitri — and learn their Boba orders!
• Ask questions about their careers, music, and lives
• Get to know them on a more personal level
• Mingle with other like-minded students from across the UW’s School of Music, German Department, Jewish Studies Center, History Department, and more.
If interested, please register here. Anthony and Dmitri look forward to mingling and kicking back with you all after the show!
About the Musicians

Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell is a performer, composer and arranger specializing in music in the Yiddish language. His work in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish musical forms led to a musical exploration of his own ethnic roots through the research, arrangement and performance of African American folk music, resulting in the EP Convergence (2018), a collaboration with klezmer consort Veretski Pass exploring the sounds and themes of one hundred years of African American and Ashkenazi Jewish music.
Inspired by an ethnographic trip to Belarus and Poland as a Wallis Annenberg Helix Fellow, Anthony formed a duo, Tsvey Brider (“Two Brothers”), with accordionist and pianist Dmitri Gaskin for the creation of new music set to modernist Yiddish poetry of the 20th century. Their new album, Kosmopolitn, is set for release this August on the Borscht Beat label.
A Hadar Rising Song Fellow (2021-22), Anthony is also an essayist on music and culture in a number of publications including Jewish Currents and Moment Magazine. Anthony lives in Atlanta, GA with his husband of seven years, Rabbi Michael Rothbaum.

Dmitri Gaskin is an accomplished accordion player, composer, and arranger specializing in Klezmer and Romanian folk music. He performs with several Klezmer bands throughout California, most notably with Saul Goodman’s Klezmer Band. Dmitri has also performed and taught at several music festivals, including KlezKalifornia.
Outside of klezmer music, Dmitri won the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award for a contemporary classical composition. He also formed Harmonikos, a performing collective of young composers and musicians.
Dmitri studied accordion with Josh Horowitz and Alan Bern. He lives in California with his wife and their three accordions.

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.

9/ 22 DAWG DAZE | Shared Spaces: The Making and Remaking of Black and Jewish Seattle
2023-09-22 12:00 - 15:00 | Outside Thomson Hall, King Ln NE, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies is proud to be collaborating with Black Heritage Society President Stephanie Johnson-Toliver and local Jewish historian Howard Droker to offer a walking tour of the Central District‘s historic Black and Jewish neighborhoods. On Friday, 9/22 at noon, this Dawg Daze event will take a group off campus to an area where immigrants and ethnic minorities lived, shaping the vibrant character of the district over the past century. While strolling through the neighborhood for approximately 2 miles, students will view some of the cultural hub’s most important houses of worship (like synagogues turned to churches and mosques) and shared gathering spaces. Come join us to discover Seattle through the eyes of two of its oldest ethnic communities.
RSVP

Co-sponsored by American Ethnic Studies.

We will meet outside of Thomson Hall at noon in front of the bust of David Thomson, where we will board a bus that will arrive in Seattle’s Central District around 12:30 pm.
Afterwards, we’ll finish the tour at Cafe Selam.

To learn more, check out some of our related journal articles and exhibits:

Uncovering the history of Seattle’s first settlers from the Ottoman Empire
Seattle Sephardic Legacies
Between Rhodes and Seattle: Three generations of Sephardic women in family letters
“Hidden manuscripts, come out!”: Seattle Sephardic Legacies highlights Ladino literature
