Moriel Rothman-Zecher delves into his latest work, Before All the World March 23, 2023 at 6 PM — Buttrick 101, 7PM Moriel Rothman-Zecher is the author of the novels Before All the World, which was named an NPR Book of 2022, and Sadness Is a…

The Center for Second Language Studies and the Jewish Studies Department are excited to invite you to this event series! This initiative from the Jewish Studies Department and the Center for Second Language Studies is in partnership with Nashville Community…

Ron Asael is an alternative hip hop artist based in Tel Aviv. Earlier this year he released his debut album ’Lama Mi Met?!?!!’ (literally translated as “Who is Dead?!?!!’”). In this talk, Ron will address some of the challenges of performing…

Join us for a talk on Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism with Dr. Labendz, February 6th at Noon—in Buttrick123 For millennia, Judaism’s dietary laws have insisted that human beings should make intentional, ethical choices every time they lift food to their…

The Department of Jewish Studies brings Laura Leibman (Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College in Portland, OR) to campus on January 18, 12 PM Dr. Leibman will speak on her work Wednesday, January 18th at 12 PM– in Buttrick123…

The Department of Jewish Studies and the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies are partnering to bring Dr. Amelia Glaser (Professor and Endowed Chair in Judaic Studies, UC San Diego) to campus on November 8. Dr. Glaser will…

The Jewish Studies Department is excited to partner with the History Department and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies to bring Devi Mays (Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Michigan) to campus on Friday 10/21 at…

The Jewish Studies Department is excited to partner with the Gender and Sexuality Studies Department and the Center for Teaching to bring Dr. Megan Goodwin to our campus! Dr. Goodwin will be presenting “Unstick your Syllabi” on September 19th at…

The Jewish Studies Department is partnering with the History Department and the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies to bring Kenneth B. Moss (Harriet and Ulrich E. Meyer Professor of Jewish History, University of Chicago) to our campus….

Book Release Event: WOMEN WRITING JEWISH MODERNITY, 1919-1939 Allison Schachter in conversation with Chana Kronfeld (University of California, Berkeley), Zohar Weiman-Kelman (Ben-Gurion University), and Emily Greble (Vanderbilt University) Hosted by the Max Kade Center for European Studies May 10, 2022…

Plunder: Family Property and Nazi Treasure A public talk by memoirist Menachem Kaiser “Plunder recounts Kaiser’s journey to Poland, as he tries to reclaim his grandfather’s apartment building stolen by the Nazis, and ends up entangled with treasure hunters in…

Books and Babies: Reproductive Literacy among Haredi Women Michal Raucher hosted by the Jewish Studies Department “In Conceiving Agency: Reproductive Authority among Haredi Women (Indiana University Press, 2020), Michal Raucher explores the ways ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in Israel make decisions…

Jessica Kirzane hosted by Allison Schachter  Join us for a discussion of the translation of Miriam Karpilove’s novel “Diary of a Lonely Girl” February 1, 2022 

Between World Literature and Global Modernism: Literary Rewritings on the Global Stage An event with Lital Levy (Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University) Sponsored by the Jewish Studies Department January 24, 2022

The Center for Second Language Studies and the Jewish Studies Department are excited to invite you to this event series! Celebrate the end of the semester with poetry workshops and a slam! This initiative from the Jewish Studies Department and…

On February 17, 2021, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine will lead a virtual talk titled Jesus and Judaism: Why the Connection Matters. This talk, hosted by the Haberman Institute for Jewish Studies, is free and open to all. Description: Jesus of Nazareth…

Please join the Center for Second Language Studies on Friday, November 6, 2:30-3:30pm CST for a lecture followed by a discussion with Dr. Mazalit Haim The lecture will address the challenges and joys of teaching Hebrew in American colleges, which revolve…

Parnassus Books presents a conversation with Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi-Brettler, authors of The Bible with and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently. The event is virtual, and will take place on the Parnassus Books…

We had a great turn out at our poetry workshop with Prof. Mazalit Haim and poet Linda Ravenswood. It was well attended by students, faculty and community members who have written some great poems concerning our unique present moment.

The Netflixization of Israeli and Middle Eastern Cultures: Israel, the Arab World and the Globalization of Television Have you ever wanted to know more about the Netflix obsession with Israeli secret service, Mossad, as portrayed in current Netflix acclaimed shows like…

As a part of Vanderbilt’s MLK Day commemoration on January 20, Professor Meyer will be hosting a teach-in session from 3:30-4:45pm in Sarratt 325/327. We hope to see you there! Find more info here. Presenter: Adam Meyer, associate professor of…

This fall, the Program in Jewish Studies sponsored two all-day Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) workshops, organized by Vanderbilt Professor Julia Phillips Cohen, and led by two world renowned scholars in Judeo-Spanish linguistics and literature. The first workshop, held on October 20th, was…

On Wednesday, 11.6.19, Prof. Mazalit Haim gave a talk on the history of modern Hebrew language, which was followed by a documentary by the Israeli-French artist Nurith Aviv. She also lectured on various cinematic representations of native Israelis, which was…

Hebrew students: please join Professor Mazalit Haim for a series of monthly talks including Israeli movies and other interactive activities. Kosher vegetarian meals will be provided for current Hebrew students – community members are welcome to attend but meals are…

Please join us in support of the Department of Theatre, Blair School of Music, and the Department of English for A Short History of Anger– a hybrid work of poetry and theater written by Joy Manesiotis, and directed by Chris…

Jewish Studies is proud to sponsor the film Sefarad as part of the 2019 Nashville Jewish Film Festival. The screening will take place on Thursday, October 17th at 7pm at the Belcourt. More information about the NJFF can be found here….

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Jonathan Sarna from Brandeis University to speak on “That Obnoxious Order: Ulysses S. Grant and the Jews.” The lecture will take place on Thursday, November 7 at noon in the Central…

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Jeffrey Shandler from Rutgers University to speak on “Seeing As Believing: Watching Videotaped Interviews with Holocaust Survivors.” The lecture will take place on Tuesday, October 29 at noon in the Joe…

The Program in Jewish Studies is proud to welcome Chana Kronfeld from the University of California, Berkeley to speak on “The Land as Woman: The Afterlife of a Poetic Metaphor in Women’s Modern Hebrew Poetry.” The lecture will take place…

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Miriam Frenkel from Hebrew University to speak on “India in Medieval Jewish History and Imagination.” The lecture will take place at noon on Monday, February 25 at the Central Library Poetry Room…

The Program in Jewish Studies is proud to present Art is My Weapon, a performance/lecture from David Shneer of the University of Colorado and singer Jewlia Eisenberg. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 13 at 8pm in the…

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Michelle Campos from the University of Florida speaking on “Rethinking Jewish-Arab Relations in Palestine and Israel: Lessons from the Archives and the Streets.” The event will take place on Thursday, January…

Amy-Jill Levine was interviewed on Nashville Public Radio’s (WPLN) live podcast Movers and Thinkers on November 29, 2018 for an episode titled “What’s Jesus Got to Do With It.” Watch the livestream of the recording here.

Jewish Studies hosted a roundtable titled “Antisemitism in Contemporary American Politics” on November 8, 2018. Moderator was Prof. Allison Schachter, the director of Jewish Studies, and panelists were Prof. Pamela Nadell from American University, Prof. Barry Trachtenberg from Wake Forest…

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Barry Trachtenberg from Wake Forest University to give a talk titled “The United States and the Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remembrance.” The event will be at noon on Thursday, November 8…

Jewish Studies is proud to co-sponsor this lecture from Jean Silk on “Community Resettlement of Refugees.” The lecture will take place on Friday, October 5 at 12pm in Buttrick Hall 102. Bio: Jean Silk is Coordinator of JCARR, the Jewish Community…

The Program in Jewish Studies is pleased to welcome Steven Zipperstein from Stanford University speaking on “Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History,” also the title of his new book. The event will take place on Thursday, October 11 at…

Jewish Studies is proud to co-sponsor Till van Rahden speaking on “When, How, and Why Did Jews Become a “Minority”?” This talk will take place on Friday, September 14 at 3pm in Buttrick Hall 212.

Jewish Studies is proud to co-sponsor this lecture from renowned translator Susan Bernofsky titled “Overseas Conversations: On Translating Jenny Erpenbeck.” The lecture will take place on Monday, September 17 at 6pm in Buttrick 102.   Talk Description: Translator Susan Bernofsky presents…

The Program in Jewish Studies lecture series kicks off the year with Michael A. Meyer from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion speaking on “Jewish Scholarship and Religious Commitment: The Example of Rabbi Leo Baeck.”          …

Vanderbilt Jewish Studies will bring three scholars to Vanderbilt for a roundtable discussion titled “Antisemitism in Contemporary American Politics.” The event, moderated by Jewish Studies director Prof. Allison Schachter, will take place the evening of Thursday, November 8 at 7pm…

Phil Lieberman gave a lecture titled “Augmenting Genizah Studies with Archaeological Research” on May 16, 2017 at the University of Haifa. The talk was sponsored by From Fustat to Haifa: An International Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation Celebrating 120…

In this upcoming event from the Nashville Gordon Jewish Community Center, Vanderbilt Jewish Studies professor Phil Lieberman will interview David Dalin on the lives, legal careers, and legacies of the eight Jews, from Brandies to Kagan, who have served or who currently…

The Program in Jewish Studies is a proud sponsor of the 2017 Nashville Jewish Film Festival. For schedule and ticket information, please visit the NJFF website. Jewish Studies professors will be guest speakers at the following events: Allison Schachter – Director,…

Solomon Maimon’s Multinationalism in Translation Join us for a lunch talk with Paul Reitter from Ohio State University. Monday, October 16th, 2017 12pm, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, Seminar Room Co-sponsored by the Department of German, Russian &…

Join us on Monday, September 11th, 2017 at 12:00pm for a talk by Jonathan Decter (Brandeis University). The talk, Jewish Political Legitimacy in the Islamic Middle Ages: From Spain to Iraq, will take place at the Robert Penn Warren Center…

Join us on Thursday September 14th, 2017 at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center for a talk by Leah Lax, co-sponsored by Jewish Studies. Click here to learn more about Leah Lax. Click here for VU events calendar.

Shaul Kelner gives his presentation, titled “The Timeless and the Timely: Sacralizing Political Activism in the Campaign for Soviet Jewry” on February 25, 2016 at the University of Michigan. The talk was sponsored by the Frankel Institute for Judaic Studies…

Join us at the Robert Penn Warren Center on Thursday, April 6th at noon for a talk by Sara Blair, Patricia S. Yaeger Professor of English, American Culture & Judiac Studies (University of Michigan). Throughout its evolving history, the Lower…

For the next installment of the Program in Jewish Studies Lecture Series 2016-17, award-winning author Gary Shteyngart joins Professor Sasha Senderovich for a conversation and reading from Little Failure: A Memoir, a candid, witty, deeply poignant account of Shteyngart’s experiences…

Vanderbilt University is delighted to welcome Robert Alter, Ph.D., Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley. Professor Alter is the author of twenty-two published books, which include award-winning translations of Genesis and the Five Books…

October 10, 2016 — Vanderbilt University proudly presents a conversation between award-winning translator Katrina Dodson and Professor Earl Fitz on Clarice Lispector’s The Complete Stories (New Directions, 2015). From one of the greatest modern writers, these 85 stories are gathered from…

In a critical period for both journalism and the popularization of the fine arts in Britain, a disproportionate share of press photographers, as well as editors, art-editors, and picture-agency heads were of Jewish origins from 1918 to 1951.  Britain’s foundational…

The 17th International Conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies will be held at Vanderbilt from 15-18 August. The conference will feature world-renowned scholars speaking on all issues of Judaeo-Arabic language, literature, philosophy, society, and culture. The conference will begin…

Leo Spitzer to speak on his immigration to the US from Bolivia February 22 Commons Center, Room 235 7:00 pm Leo Spitzer is Vernon Professor of History Emeritus at Dartmouth College and Visiting Professor of Oral History at Columbia University)….

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the groundbreaking 1965 Roman Catholic declaration on the relation between the Church and Judaism, both Jews and Catholics have released major theological statements on Jewish-Christian relations. Dr. Gregerman will critically analyze these…

Monday, March 21, 2016 7:00 pm- 8:30 pm Alumni Hall-  201 In his talk, “The Foreign Mother Tongue,” Sayed Kashua will speak about his experience growing up and pursuing a journalistic and literary career as a Palestinian in Israel, operating…

Please join us for a discussion of this year’s “Nashville Reads” book THE COLOR OF WATER A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother By James McBride Facilitated by Andrea Blackman and Tasneem Tewogbola of the Nashville Public Library Monday,…

Cary Nelson will present “One Land, Two States, Three Narratives: A Proposal” on December 3rd from 7:00 – 8:30 pm, 114 Furman Hall. Nelson is the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Emeritus Professor of English. Known as a commentator on higher…

Sephardi Lives in Living Color Two editors, seven years, fifteen languages, and hundreds of documents. These are the elements of Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History. The impressive new volume out from Stanford University Press was co-edited by Prof. Julia Phillips Cohen of…

Sara Lipton, Professor of History, State University of New York, Stony Brook will speak at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, November 10th from 4:00-5:30, 123 Buttrick Hall. “What’s in a Nose? On the Origins, Evolution, and Implications of the Anti-Semitic Caricature” With…

Vanderbilt’s Judaica Collection : 70 Years in the Making -A nearly yearlong exhibition opened in May commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Mary and Harry Zimmerman Judaica Collection in the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library. The collection, numbering more than 20,000 titles,…

Listen to Prof. Lenn Goodman discuss his book Lenn E. Goodman: Judaism, Humanity, and Nature, edited by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and Aaron W. Hughes. Prof. Goodman was interviewed by Christopher Benda for the podcast series, Authorial Intentions, on March 31, 2015. Click here…

Vanderbilt’s Program in Jewish Studies will join with the Office of the Dean of Students, Vanderbilt Student Government, the Office of the University Chaplain and Religious Life, the Office of Greek Life and Vanderbilt’s Hillel, Chabad, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council,…

On Monday, April 20th in Buttrick Hall, there will be an event celebrating the publication of the book Lenn E. Goodman: Judaism, Humanity, and Nature (Brill, 2014). The program begins at 4:30 pm with a light reception in the Buttrick Atrium.  Beginning…

DRINK. PREY. LUST. SEXUAL VIOLENCE & THE BOOK OF ESTHER A TEACH-IN Tuesday, February 24 12:15-4:15 in Sarratt 189 (lunch served) 7:00 in Divinity 122   AFTERNOON PROGRAM 12:15 “NUDITY, DRUNKENNESS AND THE DEATH OF QUEEN VASHTI” Nicholas Schaser,  Ph.D….

Indiana University’s Mark Roseman will speak at Vanderbilt on Wednesday, January 28 from 4:10- 6:00, 123 Buttrick Hall The rescue of history: Holocaust rescue beyond altruism and hagiography – a case study Mark Roseman is Pat M Glazer Chair in Jewish…

The Vanderbilt Orchestra will perform Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw at Ingram Hall on Saturday January 24th at 8:00 p.m. The piece will be performed with the men of the Vanderbilt Symphonic Choir and with narration by Vanderbilt musicologist Jim Lovensheimer….

Professor Julia Phillips Cohen will discuss the history of Sephardi Jewry and her new book, Sephardi Lives, this Sunday, November 23rd. Bagels and Coffee will be provided! Copies of Professor Cohen’s book will be also available for purchase and signing…

Brandeis University’s Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Dr. ChaeRan Freeze, comes to Vanderbilt on November 13th. “Illness and Everyday Life in Imperial Russia” Thursday, November 13th, 12:00PM, Buttrick 123 Lunch Provided     BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Dr. Freeze…

Prof. Amy-Jill Levine joins guest host John Harwood and author James Carroll on NPR’s On Point, for a discussion of why Jesus’s Jewish roots matter. The interview was broadcast on November 12, 2014. Click below to listen, and here for…

Prof. Jack Sasson speak on will speak on Abraham and Abimelech at Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville, TN on the evening of November 7, 2014. RSVP for the dinner lecture at (615) 292-6614.

Prof. Shaul Kelner will deliver the 2014 Lillian and Marvin Goldblatt Lecture in Jewish Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario on the evening of October 23, 2014.

Listen to Prof. Lenn Goodman discuss his book Coming to Mind: The Soul and Its Body, co-authored with D. Gregory Caramenico. Prof. Goodman was interviewed by Christopher Benda for the podcast series, Authorial Intentions, on September 19, 2014. Click here to…

Yeshiva University’s E. Billi Ivry University Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Law and Chair of the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies, Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel, comes to Vanderbilt on September 18th. “There and Back Again: Jews Returning from…

Listen to Prof. Ari Joskowicz discuss his book, The Modernity of Others: Jewish Anti-Catholicism in Germany and France. Prof. Joskowicz was interviewed by Todd Weir for the podcast series, New Books in Intellectual History, on July 15, 2014. Click here to listen…

Listen to Prof. Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman discuss his book The Business of Identity: Jews, Muslims, and Economic Life in Medieval Egypt Prof. Lieberman was interviewed by Christopher Benda for the podcast series, Authorial Intentions, on April 4, 2014. Click here to listen…

2013-14 Jewish Studies Lecture Series presents Brandeis University’s Marc Brettler on March 27, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in 100 Alumni Hall. His talk is entitled, “Writing a Critical Jewish Commentary on the Psalms.”

2013-14 Jewish Studies Lecture Series presents Haifa University’s Yossi Chajes on February 27, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. in 100 Alumni Hall. His talk is entitled, “It’s Good to See the King: Visual Kabbalah and the Diagramming of the Divine.”

Vanderbilt’s Center for Latin American Studies and Program in Jewish Studies host Rabbi Joshua Kolluck, of Nashville’s West End Synagogue, on January 23rd at 12:30 p.m. in Buttrick Hall 123. Kosher Lunch will be provided by Grins.

The 45th annual Association for Jewish Studies conference will take place in Boston, MA on December 15-17, 2013 and Vanderbilt’s Program in Jewish Studies will be well represented. Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman: Moderator for Pre-modernity in the Digital Age Julia Cohen: Discussant for Attracting…

The Program in Jewish Studies is a proud sponsor of the 2013 Nashville Jewish Film Festival. For schedule and ticket information, please visit the NJFF website.

Hasia Diner (NYU) speaks at Vanderbilt on October 31st: “Roads Taken: The Great Jewish Migration in the Long Nineteenth Century and the Peddlers Who Made it Possible,” 12:30 P.M., 100 Alumni Hall. Her lecture is free and open to the public.

This Halloween no one can escape Yiddish zombies from beyond the tomb!! Join the Program in Jewish Studies for “The Dybbuk” on October 30 @ 8 p.m. in the Commons Multipurpose room.

Katherine E. Fleming (NYU) speaks at Vanderbilt on October 24th: “Big Histories, Small States or Herzl at the Akropolis: The Uses of the Past in Greek and Israeli Nation-Building,” 4:00 P.M., 100 Alumni Hall. Her lecture is free and open to the public.

Listen to Prof. Jack Sasson discuss his book Judges 1-12: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Prof. Sasson was interviewed by Christopher Benda for the podcast series, Authorial Intentions, on October 21, 2013. Click here to listen to the interview.

Historian Jenna Weissman Joselit (GWU) speaks at Vanderbilt on October 4th: “The Great Ten Commandments Controversy of 1850,” 4:00 P.M., 100 Alumni Hall. Her lecture is free and open to the public.