Sephardi Modernities Seminar Series
Organized by Angy Cohen (Spanish National Research Council) and Yuval Evri (Brandeis University).
This annual lecture series presents different experiences of Sephardi modernization across place and time.
Diasporas: Sephardi Perspectives
Sephardi Modernities Seminar Series 2026
This seminar series explores the concept of diaspora as a lens for understanding the modern and contemporary Sephardi world. By engaging with the histories and experiences of Sephardi communities across imperial, colonial, and post-colonial landscapes, the series examines questions of multiple belongings, identity formation, and cultural transmission. It addresses the diversity of modern Sephardi Jewish experiences by considering diaspora as shaped by histories of migration and return, continuity and rupture, belonging and exclusion.
Through theoretical and historical reflections alongside ethnographic research, our guest speakers will discuss how modern and contemporary Sephardi subjects have grappled with their position between centers and peripheries, often redefining notions of home, tradition, and modernity.
The seminars will take place 12:30-2 pm (Eastern Time) on Zoom
Shekhina, by Neta Elkayam
January 26, 2026
Devin Naar
Thinking with Diaspora: A Multi-Rooted Approach to the Sephardic Jewish Experience
February 23, 2026
Aomar Boum
Fashioning Diaspora: Moroccan Jewish Histories in Los Angeles
March 5, 2026
André Levy
From Morocco, Elsewhere: Jewish-Muslim Entanglements Through the Lens of Cultural Intimacy
April 16, 2026
Orit Yekutieli
Between Israel and Morocco: Jewish Moroccan Cultural Displays in the Homeland and the Diaspora
May 12, 2026
Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah with Roy Shukrun
The Long Way Home: Key Themes in Sephardi and Mizrahi Diaspora Studies
Sponsored by
In collaboration with
Spanish National Research Center and the Institute of Mediterranean Languages and Cultures
Supported by
Belzberg Program in Israel Studies, University of Calgary