Almost 80 years after her tragic death in concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, Anne Frank still figures prominently in the public domain. Over the years, her diary and her life story have been the subject of an expansive output of adaptations and engagements, giving her an iconic status. While there is an unabated interest in Anne Frank, new generations connect to her on their own terms and within their own, rapidly changing, media landscape. It poses a challenge to us to open…

Larissa Remennick will compare three generations of Russian-speaking Israelis in terms of socio-economic mobility, Hebrew use and acculturation, and political and civic participation. She will discuss whether Russian-speaking Israelis continue to form a separate ethno-cultural “tribe” in the Israeli social mosaic, and if so, why they have not become an organic part of the Ashkenazi middle classes, 30+ years after their Aliyah. Rebecca Golbert will moderate. Speaker: Larissa Remennick, Koret Visiting Professor in Israel Studies at UC Berkeley (Fall 2023);…

What happens if we place eunuchs and androgynes at the center of canonical Jewish sources? What can we learn about gender, Jewish law, and the project of transgender history from late ancient texts about these figures? The rabbis constructed intricate taxonomies of sex/gender; rather than anomalies to be justified or explained away, eunuchs and androgynes profoundly shaped ideas about law and gender. These premodern sources challenge the notion that Judaism is solely invested in binary gender, and requires us to…

This day-long symposium will probe what remains an under-examined topic in the history of World War II and the Holocaust: the multivarious paths through which ordinary men and women resisted the Nazis. While scholarship on the choices, backgrounds, and motivations of perpetrators and collaborators has become quite robust, it is only in recent years that resistance has received growing scholarly scrutiny. At this interdisciplinary, comparative symposium, historians and sociologists focusing on a variety of locales from Eastern Europe, to France…

PLEASE NOTE: Registration for in-person attendance will be closed once room capacity has been reached. You may register to attend via Zoom livestream instead by clicking here. A link to the online program will be sent to Zoom registrants the day of the event. Eric K. Ward, a nationally-recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy, is the recipient of the 2021 Civil Courage Prize—the first American in the award’s 21-year history. In his 30+…

Eric K. Ward, a nationally-recognized expert on the relationship between authoritarian movements, hate violence, and preserving inclusive democracy, is the recipient of the 2021 Civil Courage Prize – the first American in the award’s 21-year history. In his 30+ year civil rights career, Eric has worked with community groups, government and business leaders, human rights advocates, and philanthropy as an organizer, director, program officer, consultant, and board member. Eric’s widely quoted writings and speeches are credited with key narrative shifts.…

PLEASE NOTE: Registration for in-person attendance will be closed once room capacity has been reached. You may register to attend via Zoom livestream instead by clicking here. A link to the online program will be sent to Zoom registrants the day of the event. With the 80th anniversary of this momentous event upon us in April, Dr. Zachary Mazur will reflect on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in stark contrast against the stereotype of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust. This presentation will…