ViewPoints is a Spertus Institute series in which you are invited to join topic experts to discuss issues that make a difference in today’s world.

This program will take place online via Zoom. Login information and instructions will be provided to ticket holders by email 24 hours in advance.

Thursday, August 19 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm CT

$18 | $10 for Spertus members | $8 for students and Spertus alumni

Purchase your tickets below. 

Constructing Communities in New Contexts—Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish History and Influence

The global Jewish community is racially and ethnically diverse, though this richness is often underrepresented and even marginalized.

For this ViewPoints, join a discussion with two experts in the field of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish communities—Dr. Mijal Bitton and Dr. Aomar Boum.

The conversation will delve into the history of these communities, exploring how community members traversed geographic boundaries, retained their sense of collective identity, and impacted both the global Jewish communities and non-Jewish societies in which they lived.

This conversation will be moderated by Spertus President and CEO Dr. Dean P. Bell. For a deeper look, you will be able to join the speakers in a choice of breakout sessions.

Dr. Mijal Bitton is Scholar in Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. A writer and educator on issues of Jewish American identity, Sephardic Jews, pluralism, and diversity, she is co-founder and Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) of the Downtown Minyan in New York City. She is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship.

Dr. Aomar Boum is Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, where he serves as Maurice Amado Chair in Sephardic Studies and Director of the Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Program. He is trained in anthropology, history, and Middle Eastern and North African studies. His work focuses on Jewish-Muslim relations and he is the author of Memories of Absence: How Muslims Remember Jews in Morocco.

This is the 2021 Norman Asher Memorial Program.

During the online ticket purchase process, if all fields don't immediately appear,
use the scroll bar to the immediate right of the ticketing information.

For ticket assistance or program inquiries,
contact public_programs@spertus.edu or 312.322.1739.