Si Kere El Dio
Winner, general category. A conscripted husband miraculously reunites with his pregnant wife after fighting in the Balkan Wars in the Ottoman army — the great-grandfather and great-grandmother of author Nuia Menda Malki.
Mother, a Memoir
Runner up, general category. Gloria DeVida Kirchheimer offers a hilarious tribute to her feisty, theatrical mom, who came from Alexandria, Egypt, to New York in the 1930s.
Las Validjas
Winner, student category. Liza Cemel tells the story of her family's history, first across cities in Turkey, then across countries, bringing their validjas of memories and relationships with them.
Yogurt in Sephardi Life
Runner up, student category. Nesi Altaras recounts summers spent on the island of Buyukada, close to Istanbul, and the "traditional but extremely practical" feeling of being Sephardic in Turkey.
A descendant of a crypto sect of converts to Islam is challenging notions of Jewish identity
Reclaiming Jewishness can be difficult for people whose families converted long ago — especially for descendants of the "Dönme" in Turkey, writes graduate fellow Sasha Marie Ward.
The religion of law and the law of religion: A 16th-century Ottoman murder mystery shows the rich history contained in Jewish and Muslim legal “questions and answers”
Religious legal scholars' explanations of their reasoning, called "questions and answers" in Hebrew, are a valuable source for historians, writes graduate fellow Elyakim Suissa.
Sustainers’ Circle Spotlight: Harvey J. Sadis & Harriett M. Cody
This past year, in the wake of the Sephardic Studies Program’s 10th anniversary, Harvey J. Sadis and Harriett M. Cody, a retired King County Superior Court judge, created the Jean and Joseph Sadis Sustainers Fund in Sephardic Studies as part of the newly launched Sustainers’ Circle, which represents the next stage of philanthropic support for SSP (Sephardic Studies Program).
Food for thought: Learning culture, cooking, and verb conjugations through Sephardic recipes
Student Stephanie Dossett recalls her experience learning from Professor Canan Bolel in the Ladino Language and Culture course, which inspired her to cook and bake Sephardic foods.