Register today for the 2024 Jews in the Americas Conference!

Dear friends of Jewish Studies,

We are pleased to announce the final program for the 2024 Jews in the Americas Conference. This hybrid and interdisciplinary conference, brings together scholars from a variety of fields including history, religion, sociology, politics, anthropology, literature, and the arts, to explore the rich and diverse experiences of Jews in the Americas. The 14 online panels of original research include topics such as Yiddish in South America, Israel-related connections, Jewish art, culture, and identity, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews, Speculative fiction, Jewish women, Antisemitism, and Jewish education and pedagogy. Interpretation in English will be provided for presentations in Spanish and Portuguese.

To learn more about the conference and to download the program, visit the event webpage here.

To register for this free event, please visit this link:
https://kansas.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lA0BaEF_RDOLVA6yT7x2aA#/registration

April 18th, 11:30-12:45 PM, our first keynote speaker, Dr. Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA) will present “We have always been American: Jewish origin stories.” April 19th, 11:30-12:45 PM, our second keynote speaker, Dr. Lyslei Nascimento (Universidade Federal de Minas, Gerais, Brazil) will present “Jewish writers: a Jewish face of the Brazilian literature”. Both keynotes will be live-streamed for our online audience from the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center.

As part of the conference, we have partnered with the Spencer Museum of Art and KU Hillel to bring together Jewish art, music, and history. On the evening of April 18th from 5:30-7:30 PM, the Spencer Museum of Art and exhibit curator, Celka Straughn, will provide a guided tour of Jewish art and artifacts, and musical guests, The Bigs, will perform the music of Jewish American songwriters. To attend, RSVP here no later than April 10th. If you are unable to attend the Jews in the Americas reception, you will still be able to view the collection of Jewish art and artifacts on display at the Spencer from now until April 20th.

From April 15th-19th, visit KU Hillel and view the pop-up exhibit, Homemaking: Building the Jewish Community of Kansas curated by KU Museum Studies graduate student, Dominique Stringer. This exhibit explores the community-building efforts of Jewish Kansans from the early 1900s to the present day. Focusing on the often unseen and underappreciated work of Jewish women, these documents and objects showcase the continual processes of support needed to create welcoming communities in the isolated setting of the Midwest. This poignant exhibit tells the story of how immigrants were received, how communities were built, and the mutual support networks providing shelter, food, and industry to new Americans.

This conference was made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors and partners at the University of Kansas and the local and regional community of Northeast Kansas:
 

As a small academic program, every donation directly impacts our students' education and empowers us to offer rich programming such as this. Please consider donating to Jewish Studies today and join us either in person or online for this historic conference.

Thank you,
The students, staff, and faculty of KU Jewish Studies