Professor Efrain Kristal to share long-time fascination with Jorge Luis Borges
UCLA literature professor Efrain Kristal still remembers how fascinated, yet unsettled, he felt at 17 after reading his first book of short stories by the late Argentine master Jorge Louis Borges, whose philosophical fiction mixes fact and fantasy and sometimes crosses the line into literary hoax. READ MORE (UCLA Newsroom)
UCLA conference to examine legacy of activist rabbi who was MLK ally
Leading scholars, clergy and activists will convene at UCLA on May 3 and 4 to examine the ongoing influence of the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a civil rights leader, anti-war activist and scholar who was a friend and ally of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. READ MORE (UCLA Newsroom)
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block: BDS ‘isn’t going to be sustained on this campus’
Evidence of the concern within UCLA’s Jewish community stemming from recent events on campus could be seen on March 16 by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block’s visitors that day. READ MORE (Jewish Journal)
The Jewish Question at UCLA: another perspective
As the faculty director of UCLA’s Center for Jewish Studies for the past four years, I have had the opportunity to teach and interact with thousands of UCLA students – both Jewish and non-Jewish – and have helped develop a wide-range of diverse curricular, research, and public initiatives. I have also spoken to many students, […]
UCLA grad student is committed to saving Ladino language from extinction
In his five years at UCLA, Bryan Kirschen has developed an international reputation as a tireless advocate for the endangered language that is often described as the Spanish equivalent of Yiddish. READ MORE (UCLA Newsroom) READ MORE (KPCC Interview)
Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History, 1700-1950 wins 2014 National Jewish Book Award for Sephardic Culture
Congratulations to Professors Julia Phillips Cohen and Sarah Abrevaya Stein for winning a 2014 National Jewish Book Award for their anthology, Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History, 1700–1950 (Stanford University Press, 2014). READ MORE (2014 National Jewish Book Award Winners) READ MORE (UCLA Newsroom)
Hugo Ballin: The Jewish muralist of Los Angeles
If you’ve ever attended services in the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple, chances are you’ve been awestruck by the elaborate mural that wraps around the Magnin Sanctuary. Beginning with Genesis and ending in 1929, when the mural was commissioned, it tells the epic story of the Jewish people over the course of thousands of years. READ […]
Sephardi Lives: From Ottoman Salonica to Rosario, Argentina
In their new anthology, Sephardi Lives: A Documentary History, 1700–1950 (Stanford University Press, 2014), Professors Julia Phillips Cohen and Sarah Abrevaya Stein present a vivid picture of the diverse ways in which the Jews residing in (and migrating from) what they call the “Judeo-Spanish heartland of Southeastern Europe, Anatolia, and the Levant” adjusted to the […]
