Finding the courage to begin: Reflecting on challenges and growth in Israel
Opportunity Grant winner Marissa Gaston explains how living in Beer Sheva, Israel, has helped her to grow as a thinker and as a person.
Aki estamos (we are here): Revitalizing Ladino in Paris and beyond
Molly FitzMorris on this year's Sephardic "summer university" in Paris, and why today's Ladino speakers can say "aki estamos" ("we are here").
My journey in Yiddishkeit: Learning Yiddish as an Arabic (& Judeo-Arabic) speaker
Opportunity Grant winner Moshé Elias explains why he chose to study Yiddish, and what he discovered when he did.
Using Yiddish to fight the “othering” of Jews in Poland
Opportunity Grant winner Kendra Berry explains how studying language builds empathy — especially in places where nationalistic narratives dominate.
Six weeks in Israel taught me why it’s so important to learn another language
Opportunity Grant winner Alex Peterson explains why living in another country changed his mind about the value of foreign language learning.
Jewish Studies Year in Writing, 2017-18
Articles by Stroum Center students and faculty on Sephardic culture, Israel, Hebrew language and literature, and more from the 2017-18 academic year.
How to revive an ancient language, according to 19th-century Hebrew and Persian revivalists
Graduate Fellow Sara Molaie explains how two language activists approached the unlikely task of bringing ancient Hebrew and pre-Islamic Persian back into use.
Exploring Ladino’s past, present, and future at the ucLADINO Symposium
The Ladino language is a fusion of old and new. Graduate Fellow Molly FitzMorris reports back on a UCLA conference that explored just this idea.