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Aviva Ben-Ur University of Massachusetts Amherst American Jewish history, Ladino and Sephardic Studies, Ladino bibliography, Hispanic/Jewish relations, Jewish community in Suriname and the Caribbean, Jewish cemeteries of Suriname and the Caribbean |
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Address: | Dept. of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies Herter Hall, Box 33935 Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-3935 United States |
Primary Phone: | 413-577-0649 |
Fax Number: | 413-545-5876 |
Web Page: | https://www.umass.edu/judaic/faculty/avivaben-ur.html |
List Affiliations: | Advisory Board Member for H-Judaic Reviewer for H-Atlantic Reviewer for H-Judaic |
Reviews: | Fieldwork's Prickly Paths “Fakelore” or Historically Overlooked Sub-Ethnic Group? |
Interests: | American History / Studies Ethnic History / Studies Latin American and Caribbean History / Studies Women, Gender, and Sexuality |
Bio: Degrees Earned Brandeis University Ph.D., Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, 1998 Columbia University M.Phil., Jewish History, 1994 Columbia University M.A., Jewish History, 1992 Articles and Monographs Books *Remnant Stones: The Jewish Cemeteries and Synagogue of Suriname* (Hebrew Union College Press, 2005) *A Ladino Legacy: The Judeo-Spanish Collection of Louis N. Levy* (Alexander Books, 2001) Articles *“'Distingués des autres Juifs:' les Séfarades des Caraïbes” in Shmuel Trigano, ed., *Histoire séfarade et civilisation,* 2 vols. (Paris, Le Seuil, 2005). (Translated from the English, “Distinguished from Other Jews: Sephardim in the Caribbean.”) *“Becoming Jews: Slavery, Conversion, and Upward Mobility in Colonial Suriname and Curaçao,” in Alexandra Cuffel and Brian Britt, eds., *Crossing Boundaries in Gender, Faith, and Culture in the pre-modern world* (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming). *“Rebecca Machado Phillips,” in Judith Baskin, ed., *Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia* (Shalvi Publishing, forthcoming). *“Embracing the Hispanic: Jews, Puerto Ricans, and Spaniards in Immigrant New York (1880-1950),” in Lanin Gyurko and Mary G. Berg, eds., *Studies in Honor of Denah Lida* (Scripta Humanistica, 2005), 403-413. *“Sephardim in America,” in Stephen H. Norwood and Eunice G. Pollack, eds., *Encyclopedia of American Jewish History* (ABC-CLIO, forthcoming in 2006 or 2007). *“Still Life: Sephardi, Ashkenazi and West African Art and Form in Suriname's Jewish Cemeteries,” *American Jewish History* 92: 1 (Spring 2005). *“Jews in Latin America,” in C. Ember, M. Ember, and I. Skoggard, eds., *Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World,* vol.2 (Springer Science & Business Media, 2004), 950-965. *”Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish!: ‘Passing’ and the Elasticity of Ethnic Identity among Levantine Sephardic Immigrants in Early Twentieth Century America,” in *Kolor: Journal on Moving Communities* 2 (2002): 9-18. *”Ladino in Print: Towards a Comprehensive Bibliography.” In Jewish History 16:3 (2002): 309-326. *”In Search of the American Ladino Press: A Bibliographical Survey, 1910-1948.” In *Studies in Bibliography and Booklore* 21 (Winter 2001): 10-52; reprinted in *Neue Romania* 28 (2003) Judenspanisch VII. *”The Exceptional and the Mundane: A Biographical Portrait of Rebecca Machado Phillips, 1746-1831.” In *Women and American Judaism: Historical Perspectives,* Jonathan D. Sarna and Pamela Nadell, eds., (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, Summer 2001), 46-80. *"We Speak and Write This Language Against Our Will": Jews, Hispanics, and the Dilemma of Ladino-Speaking Sephardim in Early 20th Century New York." In *American Jewish Archives* 50: 1&2 (1998): 131-142. *”The Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Press in the United States, 1910-1948.” In Werner Sollors, ed., *Multilingual America: Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and The Languages of American Literature* (New York University Press, 1998), 64-77. *“Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Press”; “Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Theater”; Biographical Entries on Judith Peixotto and Rebecca Machado Phillips. In Deborah Dash Moore and Paula Hyman, eds., *Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia* (Routledge, 1997), 781-788; 1041-1042 and 1056-1057. MAGAZINE ARTICLES: *”Ladino: A Precious Legacy”. *Pakn Treger* (National Yiddish Book Center) No. 32 and No. 33 (Spring and Summer 2000), 34-39. *”La Prensa en Ladino en Estados-Unidos, 1910-1948,” *Aki Yerushalayim* 60 (May 1999): 25-28 (in Ladino). *”The Sephardic-Chasidic Connection: A Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Collection Discovered in the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad,” *Hasidic Historical Review* 2:1 (June/July 1997): 5-11. *”History of the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad," *Concord* (U.K.) 24: 3 (April 1996): 10-11. BOOK REVIEWS: *Emily Bingham, Mordecai: An Early American Family, in *Journal of Southern History* 70: 4 (November 2004): 896-898. *Judith Laikin Elkin, The Jews of Latin America, in *Journal of Jewish Studies* 51:1 (Fall 2000): 351-354. *David Sheinin and Lois Baer Barr, eds., The Jewish Diaspora in Latin America: New Studies on History and Literature, in *Journal of Jewish Studies* 50:2 (Fall 1999): 349-352. *Adina Cimet, Ashkenazi Jews in Mexico, in *Journal of Jewish Studies* 50:1 (Spring 1999): 174-176. *Paul Wexler, The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews, in *Journal of Jewish Studies* 49:2 (Fall 1998): 379-381. *Jane S. Gerber, ed., Sephardic Studies in the University, in *Journal of Jewish Studies* 49:2 (Fall 1998): 382. Courses Taught “Jewish Travelers and Travel Liars: Exploration and Imagination, Ancient to Modern Times” (Spring 2006) “Sephardic Cultures and Literatures of the Spanish Diaspora,” University of Massachusetts (Spring 2005, Fall 2003, Spring 2001) “Introduction to the Jewish People, II,” University of Massachusetts (Spring, 2005; Spring-Fall, 2004; Spring-Fall, 2003; Fall-Spring, 2000-2002) “New Views on the Jews: Ethnic and Racial Identity and Interaction in American Jewish History,” University of Massachusetts (Spring 2003) and Department of History, University of Washington (Fall 1999) “Jewish Communities of New York: From Ethnic Enclaves to Melting Pots,” Department of History, National University of Ireland Galway (Fall 2002) “Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Medieval World,” University of Massachusetts (Spring 2002) “The Jewish Experience in America,” University of Massachusets (Fall 2004 and 2000) “In Search of Sephardic History,” High School for Jewish Studies and Sephardic Religious School, Seattle (Spring 2000) “The Sephardic Jews of the United States: Influence Beyond Number,” Temple Beth Am Mini- University, Seattle (February 2000) “American Jewish Community,” Department of Sociology, Queens College (Spring 1999) “Sephardic Literature and Culture,” World Studies Program, Queens College (Spring 1999) “Immigration and Ethnicity in the United States,” Department of Sociology, Queens College (Fall 1998) “American Jewish History,” Touro College (Spring 1995) Conference Papers *“How the Jews Became Black Folks: The Case of Suriname,” First Lavy Colloquium in “Atlantic Jewry in an Age of Mercantilism,” Johns Hopkins University (March 2005) *“The Jews Who Weren't There: Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in American Jewish History,” Walter P. Zenner Memorial Lecture, State University of New York Albany (December 2004) *“Speaking This Language Against Our Will:” Ladino, Latinos, and Sephardic Jews in the U.S.,” Brandeis University (February 2004) *”A Walk Through Spanish Harlem/Little Jerusalem: Encounters between Catholic Puerto Ricans and Ladino-Speaking Jews in the Early Twentieth Century,” Recovering Hispanic Religious Thought in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Conference, University of Houston (May 2003) *”The Jewish Agricultural Community of Suriname: Retrospective Utopia,” at the symposium, “Slavery: Linking Literary and Historical Perspectives,” Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change, National University of Ireland, Galway (November 2002) *”Jews in the Jungle: The Afro-Sephardic Community of Suriname, South America,” Florida International University (April 2002) *”In ‘Another Environment’: The Afro-Sephardic Community of Suriname, South America,” Wellesley College (February 2002) *”Ladino in Print: Towards a Comprehensive Bibliography,” Ladino in Print Symposium, University of Washington (May 2001) *”The Hispanic/Sephardic Connection: Jews, Latinos and the Legacy of Spain in Early Twentieth Century America,” SUNY Albany Judaic Studies Faculty Lecture (April 2001) *Ladino: A Precious Legacy,” National Yiddish Book Center (March 2001) *”The Sephardic Jews of New York in the Early Twentieth Century,” Sephardic History and Civilization Seminar at the Institute for Sephardic Studies, CUNY (January 2001) *”In ‘Another Environment’: The Afro-Sephardic Community of Suriname, South America,” Association for Jewish Studies (December 2000) *”Rebecca Machado Phillips: a Colonial and Early American Woman Rediscovered,” Congregation Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia (September 2000) *”Jews in the Jungle: The Afro-Sephardic Community of Suriname, South America,” Modern Languages Association (December 1999) *”Spain Was Nothing But Pain: Jews, Hispanics and the Ethnic/Racial Identity of Sephardim in Twentieth Century America,” Association for Jewish Studies (December 1999) *Co-Chair and/or Co-Organizor of the Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies Caucus, Association for Jewish Studies (December 1998-December 2002) *”The Sephardic Jews of Seattle: Influence Beyond Numbers,” University of Washington Jewish Studies Colloquium (November 1999) *”Sephardim or Oriental Jews?” The Ethnic/Racial Debate Between the ‘Grandees’ and the ‘Turkish Jews’ in Early 20th Century New York City,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Conference (November 1999) *”Sephardic Jews and Hispanics in the City of New York: A New Dimension of the Spanish Diaspora,” Western Jewish Studies Association (March 1999) *”The Ladino Language: Its Impact on the Jewish People,” University of Washington Hillel (March 1999) *”Close Encounters of the Ethnic Kind: Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in Early Twentieth-Century New York City,” Association for Jewish Studies (December 1998) *”A Rocky Reunion: Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in the City of New York,” New York Jewish Historical Society Lecture (December 1998) *”The Hispanic/Sephardic Connection: Ladino-Speaking Jews in the City of New York,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Conference, Montreal (November 1998) *”New Discoveries From Suriname’s Forgotten Jewish and African Jungle Cemeteries,” a slide/lecture presentation at Brandeis University with Rachel Frankel, A.I.A. (October 1998) *”American Zionism and the Ashkenazic/Sephardic Connection,” Leon Levy Lecture, Queens College (October 1998) *”Recent Discoveries From the Sephardic Cemetery of Jodensavanne,” Foundation for Jodensavanne, Paramaribo, South America (August 1998) *“Women as Transmitters of Secret Judaism in Marrano Communities,” The Jewish Cultural Experience at Circle Lodge, The Workmen’s Circle (July 1998) *”The Exceptional and the Mundane: Rebecca Machado Phillips, 1746-1831,” Consultation on the Religious Lives of American Jewish Women,” The Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, Temple University (March 1998) *“The Making of Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia,” Jewish Historical Society of New York (March 1998) *“Sephardim and the Land of Israel: Jewish Nationalism and Hebrew Education Among the Ladino-Speaking Jews of New York,” Association for Jewish Studies (December 1997) Professional Experience Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2000- ) Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Massachusetts Amherst (2001- ) *** Editor/Moderator, Association for Jewish Studies Sephardi/Mizrahi Studies Caucus Discussion List (1997- ) Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies, University of Washington (1999-2000) Handler Adjunct Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, Queens College (1999) Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sociology, Queens College (1998-1999) Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies, Queens College (1998) Editorial Board Member, H-Judaic (1998-2003) Editor/Moderator, H-Judaic Academic List for Jewish Studies (1998-1999) Hebrew and Portuguese Translator, Project on Suriname’s Jewish Cemeteries, directed by Rachel Frankel, A.I.A. (Summer 1998 and 1999) Hebrew/Portuguese/Spanish/Ladino Translator and Historical Consultant, The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Doña Gracia Nasi, a Jewish Woman Leader During the Renaissance, by Andrée Aelion Brooks, Paragon Books, 2002 (Summer 1998-2001) Freelance Translator and Transliterator of Hebrew and Ladino manuscripts and documents (1998-1999) Conference Coordinator, First International Conference on the Jews in Modern Egypt, Columbia University (1997) Instructor, mini-course on Sephardic history, Young Israel of Avenue J (March-April 1997) Teaching Assistant, Jewish history at Brandeis University (1995-1996) Adjunct Assistant Professor, American Jewish history, Touro College (1995) Researcher, “Komunidad” Lower East Side Tenement Museum Project (1994-1995) |