“‘Living on a Sort of Island’: Jewish Refugee Farmers in the American South” follows the wartime experiences of Jewish refugees who fled from Nazi Europe and attempted to become American farmers. The essay explores their acculturations within Jewish farming projects in the rural South, including the Georgia Farm School, Hyde Farmlands in Virginia, and the Van Eeden Settlement in North Carolina. I demonstrate how despite their romantic fantasies about farm life, farming proved to be an unsustainable career option for Jewish refugees. Most scholars have explained the relative dearth of American Jewish farmers as stemming from disinterest and inexperience with agricultural lifestyles. 

Using the examples and perspectives of Jewish refugees, I argue that this theory is invalid because the farmers received substantial formal training and were committed to making their livelihoods away from metropolitan areas. Their inability to become American farmers is better explained through their social isolation and difficulties adjusting to a vastly alienating Southern culture. These lived experiences of Jewish refugee farmers reveal the shortcomings in America’s treatment of refugees, particularly concerning their social lives and psychological health. The essay further complicates overly triumphant narratives of the Jewish refugee experience that tend to overlook their hardships once safely on American soil.

Andrew Sperling is a third-year doctoral candidate at American University in Washington, D.C., where he studies American Jewish history. He is writing a dissertation about American Jewish communities responding to antisemitic extremism between the 1920s and the 1960s. His Luckens lecture, "'Living on a Sort of Island': Jewish Refugee Farmers in the American South," follows previous work related to Jewish refugees, which has been published in the peer-reviewed Southern Jewish History journal.

Today’s Israelite Samaritans are ‘living history’, as we respect and observe our way of life and heritage. Through our sometimes difficult past, we have learned to coexist harmoniously with our neighbours, and we are a bridge for peace (gesher leshalom) between all peoples . We are the root of the Abrahamic religions in the region, including Samaritanism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Druze and Bahai faiths. Though rooted deeply in the past, we are a vibrant modern community with contemporary enterprises and interests. In March 1919 there were only 141 individuals, in Nablus and Jaffa. By September 2014, the Israelite Samaritan Community numbered 770 souls, divided into four households, all in the Holy Land. This talk will explore the past, present, and future of the Israelite Samaritan people.

Benny recently published "The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version" with Eerdmans Publishing.

http://www.israelite-samaritans.com/benyamim-tsedaka/

Professor Joel Gordon will explore the depiction of ‘normative’ religious practices and personal expressions of religious identity in recent Egyptian movies with a particular focus is on Egyptian youth.  Whereas in the past signs of piety had been restricted to either ‘traditional’ Egyptians – often in comic fashion – or political extremists, a few recent films have dared to depict ‘normal’ veiled women and bearded men and even a social environment in which questions of piety, morality and proper behavior dominate the discussions, concerns and conflicts between young Egyptians.  These films may point to a growing willingness by film artists to honestly explore social trends that have been taboo, especially as Egypt enters a new political era.

Prof. Joel Gordon: Professor of History and Director of Middle East Studies, University of Arkansas; Specialist in modern Egyptian history and Arab popular culture; Author of Nasser' Blessed Movement, Revolutionary Melodrama, and Nasser: Hero of the Arab Nation

In addition to the medieval harp and percussion, Vanessa Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.  

MORE INFORMATION:  "Sepharad at the tip of Africa" with Vanessa Paloma

The Jewish community from Morocco has benefited from the history of migrations across the strait of Gibraltar that has brought a cultural, musical and linguistic influx to both sides of the strait. The influences represented in their music and poetry span Africa, the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula and will be represented tonight in Vanessa Paloma's performance of Judeo-Spanish Romances, Judeo-Arabic piyyutim and Hebrew prayers. Accompanying herself with a medieval harp and percussion, Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.

In addition to the medieval harp and percussion, Vanessa Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.