How your support makes a difference
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies offers events, courses, and online resources that expand horizons and encourage dialogue.
We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you!
Jewish Studies at a glance
In 2019-2020
- 2,727 people attended Jewish Studies events
- 6 events held in-person, 7 public events held online, 7 events just for students
- $42,000 granted to students to support Jewish Studies research, coursework & language study
- 76,950 people from 186 countries learned about Jewish Studies topics through our website
- 7 collaborations with community organizations outside the UW
- Including the Seattle Public Library, Seattle Jewish Film Festival, Jewish Federation & the Seattle Sephardic Network
- 15 new online articles published by graduate and undergraduate students
- 1,359 students took Jewish Studies courses
Promoting respectful dialogue around complex issues during a time of polarization, helping people find common ground
• Large public lectures and small-group seminars on anti-Semitism, journalism in Jerusalem, & media coverage of the Middle East
- View photos: “Lessons on the Media from a Middle East Correspondent” seminar with Marwa Maziad, Ph.D.
- View photos: “Disagreeing About Anti-Semitism” and “Americans Jews and Israel in the Trump Era” seminar and lecture with 2019 Benaroya lecturer in Israel Studies Dov Waxman (Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Israel Studies, UCLA)
- Watch the video: “Behind The Scenes with NPR’s Correspondent in Jerusalem” with journalist Daniel Estrin
Engaging students from diverse academic backgrounds and varied academic fields, paving the way for a more inclusive study of Jewish experiences
•Publishing and publicizing student research on Kurdish & African Jews, Jewish assimilation in Turkey, and recovering Sephardic identity in America
Writing from our students
- “The Jews of Kurdistan: How Kurdish Jews became Israeli” by Pinar Ulumaskan
- “How the Jewish community in Côte d’Ivoire is helping to build peace after war” by Francis Abugbilla
- “Sephardic by birth, Massarano by choice: Reclaiming my Sephardic heritage” by Abby Massarano
- “Sephardic Jews in Turkey were told to assimilate. Today’s generation is reclaiming its identity through the Ladino language” by Nesi Altaras
- “For some descendants of Sephardic Jews who were forced to convert, learning the Ladino language is an act of restitution” by Victor Alejandro Castillo
Supporting students during the pandemic, ensuring that they have what they need to complete their studies
- Rapidly distributing thousands of dollars in emergency grants starting in March
- Helping students to obtain equipment and offering tech support needed for online course participation
- Creating online community for students through regular virtual events and individualized mentorship
Jewish Studies student Kendra Berry explains how emergency support from the Stroum Center in March allowed her to continue her studies in spring 2020
Thank you for making it possible!