2018-2019

The Soul of Judaism: Jews of African Descent in America

Professor Bruce D. Haynes
University of California, Davis
Dr. Haynes will speak about the first comprehensive study of African-American Jewry.
April 9, 2019 at 4:00pm, UCR Palm Desert Campus

From Desert to Oasis: What Israel Teaches the World About Water Renewal

Professor Edo Bar-Zeev
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Dr. Bar-Zeev will speak about recent developments in water renewal.
February 17, 2019 at 4:00pm, UCR Palm Desert Campus

Part of the Jewry and Innovation Initiative

Friend or Foe? Exploring the Artificial Intelligence Revolution

Professor Ya'akov "Kobi" Gal
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Dr. Gal will speak about breakthroughs in using AI for education.
January 15, 2019 at 4:00pm, UCR Palm Desert Campus
Part of the Jewry and Innovation Initiative

A Very Jewish Christmas: The Holiday Music of American Jews

Professor Peter Curtis
Riverside City College, Department of Music and practicing jazz guitarist
Professor Curtis will speak about the history of Jewish American songwriting, and perform examples.
December 6th, 2018 at 4:00pm, UCR Palm Desert Campus 

Making Peace With the Universe: Four Cases of Spiritual Therapy

Professor Michael Scott Alexander
Maimonides Chair in Jewish Studies, UCR
Professor Alexander will speak about his latest research and book project.
Thursday November 29, 2018 11:10-12;30, INTN 2043 

2017 - 2018

Screening and Discussion of Adio Kerida: A Documentary about Cuban Jewry

Professor Michael Alexander
Maimonides Chair of Jewish Studies, UCR
Co-Sponsored with the Center for Ideas and Society as part of the Advancing Intercultural Studies Seminar
May 12, 2018, 3:00pm-5;30, Culver Center

Iran and Israel: From Intimate Alliance to Fierce Animosity

Professor Lior Sternfeld
Ben Gurion University of the Negev 
Co-sponsored with Middle East and Islamic Studies and others
Tuesday, April 17, 3:30-5:00, INTS 1113.

The Jewish Media Conspiracy: From the Old Yiddish Forverts to the World of Podcasts 

Professor Mark Oppenheimer
Author of Thirteen and a Day: The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Across America and Weisenheimer: A Childhood Subject to Debate
Yale University, Department of English
February 11, 2018 at 4:00pm, Temple Isaiah of Palm Springs

Gangster Nation

A new novel by Professor Tod Goldberg
Author of Gangster Nation and Gangsterland
Director of Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing, UCR Palm Desert
November 7, 2017 at 7:00pm, Temple Isaiah of Palm Springs

 2016-2017

Quantum: A New 21st Century Technology That Will Change the Way We Do Things

Professor Ron Folman
Departments of Physics and Nanotechnology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Director of the Atom Chip Lab
September 18, 2016 at 4:00pm, Temple Isaiah of Palm Springs
Part of the Jewry and Innovation Initiative

Fils Du Sheol: Fiction and Genocide

A lecture and conversation with Anouar Benmalek
Nobel Prize Nominee, author of Fils Du Sheol
October 12, 2016, INTS 1111 UCR Campus

Genetic Jewry: 21st Century Scientific and Historical Developments

Professor Michael Alexander
Maimonides Chair of Jewish Studies, UCR
November 3, 2016 at 7:00pm, Temple Beth El of Riverside

Homeland for the Jewish Soul: History of the Jewish Deli in America

Professor Ted Merwin
Author of Pastrami on Rye
Professor of Judaic Studies and director of the Milton B Asbell Center for Jewish Life, Dickinson College
November 6, 2016 at 4:00pm, Temple Isaiah of Palm Springs

Movement, Memory, and the Stateless: Dance Film Klasse and the Performance of Two Exiles

Professor Hannah Schwadron
Professor of Dance, Florida State University
November 9, 2016 at 4:10pm, ATHD 102 UCR Campus

Stories about Mizrahi Jews in Israel: Children, Soldiers, and Bohemian Lovers

Ayelet Tsabari
Author of The Best Place On Earth: Stories
Faculty, University of Toronto
November 20, 2016 at 4:00pm, UCR Palm Desert Campus

Off the Record: Israel/Palestine and Queer Jewish Politics, Values, and Activism

S. J. Crasnow
Author of “From the Gay Synagogue to the Queer Shtetl: Assimilation, Resistance, and Utopian Imagining in the Lived Religion of LGBTQ Jews”
Phd Candidate, UCR
January 12, 2017 at 11:10am, UCR Riverside INTN 2043

Are We Safe? Examining the State of Safety and Security in the American Jewish Community 

With the Jewish Federation of the Desert
January 25, 2017 at 4:00pm at the UCR Palm Desert Campus Auditorium .

Conversation on the Immigration Ban

A wide range of campus scholars discuss recent events.
Co-sponsored with Middle East and Islamic Studies and others
February 13, 2017, 2:10pm-6:00pm, UCR Riverside INTS 1113

Jewish-Muslim Relations in France: Historical and Cinematic Perspectives

Professor Alyssa Sepinwall
Author of Haitian History, New Perspectives
Professor of History, California State University, San Marcos
February 26, 2017 at 3:00pm, Temple Isaiah of Palm Springs

The Indonesian Way: Islam and Democracy

Dr. Giora Eliraz
Author of  Islam in Indonesia: Modernism, Radicalism and the Middle East Dimension
Faculty of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Co-sponsored with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
May 3rd, 2017, 12:15 p.m. – 13:30 p.m.
INTS 1113 UCR Riverside Campus

Journey into Hell ...

Dramatic reading of Kabbalist and poet Moses Zucato's "Tofteh 'Arukh" ("Hell Prepared") by Professor Erith Jaffe-Berg and Students of UCR followed by a talk: "Hebrew Poetry of the Macabre in the Italian Ghetto"
Professor Michela Andreatta, University of Rochester
May 10, 2017, 2:00pm-4:30 
INTS 1128 UCR Riverside Campus