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.
Halutzim, 2012, by Neta Elkayam (monotype on paper)
The seminars will take place 12:30-2 PM (Eastern), 10:30-12 PM (Mountain) via Zoom, on 2/11, 3/6, 4/3, 4/24, and 5/8.
Partners, Outsiders and Others: Sephardi Jews and the Global Left
Sephardi Modernities Seminar Series 2025
This lecture series explores the complex relationship between Sephardi Jews and the global left, focusing on their role in shaping political movements, intellectual thought, and social activism across diverse geographies and historical contexts.
Spanning from the late 19th century through the 20th century, the series traces the involvement of Sephardi Jews in socialist, communist, and anti-colonial movements, as well as their place in postcolonial thought. Guest speakers will examine how their diasporic identities, experiences of marginalization, and encounters with European colonialism influenced their political engagements.
Through a multidisciplinary lens, the series will delve into key regions, including the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Europe, and Latin America, where Sephardi communities played a significant role in advancing progressive causes. Particular attention will be given to how these communities navigated the intersection of class, ethnicity, and nationality, and how Sephardi Jews’ experiences as minorities in both Jewish and non-Jewish contexts informed their political commitments.
Topics covered will include Sephardi Jews’ contributions to labor movements, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggles, and the promotion of equality and justice in both Jewish and broader societal contexts. The series will also engage with the tensions that arose within Sephardi communities regarding Zionism and the broader Jewish left, highlighting the internal debates and diverse political trajectories.
By exploring the often-overlooked history of Sephardi Jews within global leftist movements, this lecture series aims to offer new insights into the multifaceted role of Jewish identity in shaping modern political history and the enduring legacy of Sephardi political activism in global progressive movements.
Programme
February 11th, 2025
The Colonized Outsiders: Reflections on Fanon, Memmi and North African Jews
Gabriel Abensour (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Leftist Arabised Jews, Arab Nationalism and the Question of Individual and Collective Rights
Moshe Behar (University of Manchester)
Photo of Djerba Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia by Tico on Wikipedia
March 6th, 2025
The Other Iraqi Feminism: Three Silenced Leftist Heroines, 1941-1979
Orit Bashkin (University of Chicago)
Transnationalism and Nationalism: Jewish Communists and the Development of the Egyptian Left, 1920-1965
Rami Ginat (Bar-Ilan University)
Photo of Ben Ezra Synagogue, Cairo, Egypt by Faris Knight on Wikimedia (CC-SA-3.0)
April 3rd, 2025
Weaving Transnational Threads: Mizrahi Feminist Thought and Organizing at This Global Political Moment
Yali Hashash (Isha L'Isha Haifa Feminist Research Center) and Shirly Bahar (Columbia University)
In the face of global and regional reactionary institutions attempting to set apart traditions of Mizrahi organizing from co-opted, distorted versions of "Mizrahi culture," Hashash and Bahar explore generative practices of understanding and using Mizrahi feminist and queer thought and cultural legacies for current left global fights for justice and freedom for all.
Illustration by Neta Elkayam
April 24th, 2025
Navigating Bourgeois Status, Socialism, and Nationalism: Comparing Armenian and Jewish 'Repatriations' From Egypt
Aviad Moreno (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) and Ani Avetisyan (University of Cambridge)
Façade the synagogue of Moses ben-Maimon in Cairo before its renovation in 2010, photo by Roland Unger (CC-BY-3.0)
May 8th, 2025
Sephardic Public Figures in the Argentine and Brazilian Left: Revisiting an Entangled History
Silvina Schammah Gesser (Salti Institute, BIU, and Truman Institute, HUJI) and Michel Gherman (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Photo: Cover of Der Avangard, August 1908 issue published by Yidishe sotsyal-demokratishe arbeyter organisatsyon in argentina (avangard), a Jewish socialist organization in Argentina
Sponsored by
Spanish National Research Center and the Institute of Mediterranean Languages and Cultures
Supported by
Belzberg Program in Israel Studies, University of Calgary
In collaboration with
