Bud Shorstein Center for Jewish Studies

Visiting Professor Aviad Moreno was recently interviewed by La Voix sépharade about his book Entwined Homelands, Empowered Diasporas. The interview discusses Spanish-speaking Jewish communities from northern Morocco—especially Tangier and Tétouan—and how their global dispersal reshaped Moroccan Jewish diasporic identities across multiple continents. The conversation touches on hakétia, Zionism, Spain, marginalization in Israel, and the renewed […]

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Professor Rachel Gordan’s chapter on “Cold War American Judaism” was recently published in the new Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History. The chapter addresses the way Cold War American politics and culture shaped American Jews and Judaism during the second half of the twentieth century.

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A new volume has been published in Professor Raanan Rein’s book series, Jewish Latin America: Issues and Method (Brill). Evelyn María Dean-Olmsted’s Coming of Age as Syrian Jewish Mexicans is a linguistic ethnography of Shami and Halebi Jewish communities in contemporary Mexico City. Focusing on language in everyday life, the book examines how young adults negotiate often stigmatized diasporic […]

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Professor Raanan Rein’s co-edited volume, Nazi and Nazi Sympathizers in Latin America (2024) was favorably reviewed in the Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The review emphasizes: “Notably, Raanan Rein’s chapter provides a well-balanced historiographical assessment of the Peronist government’s role in the arrival of former Nazis, significantly contributing to the debunking of simplistic and […]

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Since joining the Bud Center in mid-August, Post Doctoral Affiliate Aviad Moreno has published and co-edited several new works. Together with Noah Gerber, he co-authored the article “The Trajectories of Separation: Transatlantic Networks, Disciplinary Boundaries, and the Isolated Histories of Mizrahim,” published in AJS Review. It traces how academic traditions in Europe, Israel, and the […]

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Affiliate Professor Jonathan R. Cohen published, “The Ethical Duty to Listen and Consider,” in Discussions in Dispute Resolution (Volume II):  The Coming of Age (2000-2009), edited by A. Hinshaw, A. Schneider, and S. Cole, published by Oxford University Press, 2025, pp. 52-56. This chapter is a commentary on an earlier article he wrote, “When People are the […]

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On December 3, Professor Dragan Kujundžić presented “Against the Stream: The Danube, the Video, and the Non-biodegradables of Europe,” at the Center for Urban History in Lviv, Ukraine.

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On December 5, Professor Norman JW Goda presented, “Accusations of Genocide: Assessing Israel’s Right to Self Defense” at the Chai Mitzvah Scholars’ Circle. Goda examined how accusations of genocide against Israel have a long history dating back to 1948 and have often been used to justify terror operations and delegitimize the Jewish State. He argued […]

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On December 4, Professor Natalia Aleksiun participated in the concluding round table of the international conference “Good Citizens, Terrible Times: Notions of Individuality, Community, and Responsibility in the Holocaust—History, Memory, Learning.” The conference convened for two intensive days at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing in Germany, bringing together scholars to explore new perspectives on Holocaust history […]

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On November 24, Professor Robert Kawashima spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion in Boston. He presented a paper about “The Invention of Literature in the Bible: From Epic Poetry to Prose Fiction”. Kawashima was one of four scholars invited to speak at a panel reassessing […]

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Professor Natalia Aleksiun was reappointed to the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The committee is an important resource for helping to advance the work of the Museum.

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Professor Rachel Gordan was invited to serve on the Executive Committee of the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). The Council directs and supports the organization’s academic programs and research activities. Founded in 1892, the AJHS is the oldest ethnic and cultural archive in the United States. Its mission is to promote […]

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Professor Yaniv Feller was recently awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for returning fellows at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. The Foundation supports outstanding researchers from around the world. Feller will spend the upcoming summer in Munich with the University’s history department, where he will focus on his new book project Jew in a Box: […]

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Shorstein Center Office Manager, Sonya Leonore Stahl, is an accomplished composer. Her orchestral work, Symphonukkah, was performed by the Volusia Community Arts Symphony Orchestra at the Holiday Pops and Concertos event on November 22.

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On November 20–21, 2025, Professor Natalia Aleksiun participated in the 57th Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) in Washington, D.C. She presented her paper, “Jewish Children’s Emotional Communities amid a Genocide,” as part of a panel on Jewish childhood in ego documents. Her talk explored the challenges of […]

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On November 17, Shorstein Center Hebrew Instructor, Iris Cohen, presented at Hitkadmut, the annual Hebrew educators’ conference. Her presentation was titled “What is the Difference Between Using and Integrating Technology in the Language Classroom? A Perspective Through the TPACK Model.”

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On November 10, 2025, Prof. Natalia Aleksiun delivered a talk titled “Accounting for Gratitude: Jewish Survivors and Their Rescuers in the First Postwar Decade” as part of the Postwar Research Center / IMS research seminar series at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Her lecture was followed by a lively […]

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On November 7, the Shorstein Center welcomed Professor Avraham Sela for a faculty seminar. The discussion centered around his chapter titled “Israel’s Hostage Quandary: Ethics and Politics,” which will be included in Sela’s forthcoming book. He is the A. Ephraim and Shirley Diamond Chair in the Department of International Relations and a senior research fellow […]

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In the second Faculty Seminar of the fall semester, Professor Artur Or-Honig presented his paper, “Processes Leading to a Tragedy: An Exploration of the Social and Economic Processes Inside Israel that Led to the October 7th Devastating Surprise Attack.” His presentation prompted a lively and thoughtful discussion among faculty and participants.

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On November 6, Professor Natalia Aleksiun participated in a panel discussion at the Wiener Holocaust Library in London. The event was held as the inaugural Eva Reichmann Lecture, organized by the Leo Baeck Institute, London to honor the legacy of Dr. Eva Reichmann, a pioneering historian whose groundbreaking work continues to shape our understanding of […]

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Professor Gayle Zachmann presented at the 51st Annual Nineteenth-Century French Studies Colloquium. Her presentation, “Zadoc Kahn’s Literary Bet: Literature, History, and Legacy” addressed the published sermons and legacy of the Chief Rabbi of France, Zadoc Kahn (1839-1905).

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On November 3, Professor Natalia Aleksiun joined UF’s AEPhi chapter to conclude the sorority’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month programming. In her talk, she explored the history medical professionals’ interest in hereditary breast cancer, with a focus on Jewish physicians’ engagement with heredity among Jews. She also highlighted the pioneering roles Jewish women have played in […]

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On November 2, Professor Or Honig presented a paper at the Association for Middle East and Africa in Washington, D.C. titled, “Out of Her League: How Israel Avoided a Direct Military Clash with Rival Great Powers.” The Association for Middle East and Africa was established as an alternative to the highly politicized Middle East Studies Association (MESA) to […]

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Professors Yaniv Feller & Rachel Gordan recently presented at the international conference “Transatlantic Jewish Publishing: The Legacy of Schocken books” from October 8 to 10, which took place at the German Literary Archive in Marbach am Neckar, Germany. Professor Feller presented his paper “Paperback Judaism” while Professor Gordan presented her paper “The 1940s-1950s Opening of […]

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On October 29, Professor Rachel Gordan gave a zoom talk about the acclaimed movie Gentleman’s Agreement to the “Religion in American Public Life” course at the University of Rochester, taught by Professor Dan Gorman.

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