Current Programs

2023 - 2024 Program Calendar

We are excited and proud to have you join us for our upcoming 2023-2024 events. With engaging programs and conferences ahead, we are proud to share our calendar with you, available for download below.

Download 2023-24 Program Calendar

Event registrations for 2024 will be available starting December 1st, 2023.

January 2024

Why Josephus? The Ancient Jewish Historian and the Shaping of Jewish and Christian Identity

January 10, 17 & 24

All lectures are at 7 pm MST, 9 pm EST on Zoom.

• Jan. 10 Who Was Josephus? The First-Century Jewish Historian between Judea and Rome, Francoise Mirguet, ASU
• Jan. 17 How Josephus Read the Jewish Past: The First-Century Historian Rewrites the Bible, Daniel Stein Kokin, ASU
• Jan. 24 Whose Josephus? The First-Century Historian’s Afterlives Among Christians and Jews, Daniel Stein Kokin, ASU

Artist Talk: Beth Swartz (Artist) in Dialogue with Prof. Susan Aberth, Bard College (NY)

January 31

6:00 pm - 7:30 MST in person at the Phoenix Art Museum. Cost: $7 payable to the Phoenix Art Museum. Co-sponsored by ASU Jewish Studies

February 2024

Jewish Literature beyond the Cold War: Legacies and Futures Lecture Series

February 6, 13 & 20

All lectures are at 7 pm MST, 9 pm EST on Zoom

How has the legacy of the Cold War shaped contemporary Jewish literature between the United States, Germany, and Israel?
Join us as we will explore how experiences and memories from the Cold War era continue to impact the dynamic present and future of Jewish writing across multiple languages.
• Feb. 6 From Behind a Star: Philip Roth, Rita Klímová, and the American Arrival of a Forgotten Jewish Classic, Brian K.
Goodman, ASU
• Feb. 13 David Grossman’s More Than I Love My Life and Carceral Legacies, Joe Lockard, ASU
• Feb. 20 Writing Home: Identity and Belonging in New German - Jewish Literature, Natalie, Lozinski - Veach, AS

Judaism, Science, and Medicine Group (JSMG) Annual Conference - Biotechnology, Judaism, and The Future of Humanity: Can Technology Make Us More Human?

February 25-26

Join us for sessions on: scientific considerations of biotechnology on: the future of humanity, secular and Jewish law, ethics of medical innovations, and philosophy. The Dr. Michael Anbar Keynote Address on Judaism, Science, and Medicine will be delivered by Dr. Laurie Zoloth, University of Chicago (IL). Conference is open to the public both in person and on Zoom

March 2024

Albert and Liese Eckstein Scholar-in-Residence Program I

March 11

11 am - 1 pm MST in West Hall 135 on ASU Tempe campus. In person only. A vegetarian lunch will be served.

Judaism, Science and the Search for the Hiding God, Arnold Eisen, Jewish Theological Seminary (NY)
Professor Eisen, the Chancellor emeritus of JTS and professor of Jewish Thought, is a leading scholar of modern Judaism. In his campus lecture, Professor Eisen will reflect on the importance of science for the future of Judaism. The lecture will explore why and how knowledge of science is crucial for Jewish religious life and what Jews must know and do in order to ensure the future of Judaism. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict (CSRC)

Albert and Liese Eckstein Scholar-in-Residence Program II

March 11, 2024

7 pm MST, 9 pm EST on Zoom and in person at Temple Chai, 4645 E Marilyn Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85032.

American Jewry Today and Tomorrow: Challenges, Opportunities, Crises, Arnold Eisen, Jewish Theological Seminary (NY)
American Jewry has faced multiple challenges in recent years. The questions facing our community are how: to turn these challenges
into opportunities and can the crises of the present moment yield innovation and renewal? The Albert and Liese Eckstein Scholar-in- Residence program is made possible by an endowment established by the Eckstein Family, to honor the late Dr. Albert and Mrs. Liese Eckstein.

Modern Jewish Philosophers on Being Jewish

March 6, 13, 20 & 27

All lectures are at 7 pm MST, 9 pm EST on Zoom.

Join our Director, Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, as she explores modern Jewish philosophy through this lecture series on how Jewish philosophers have grappled with modernity, and how they reinterpreted Jewish beliefs. Special attention will be paid to Martin Buber, Mordecai Kaplan, Joseph B. Soloveitechik, and Emmanuel Levinas.


• Mar. 6 The Challenges of Modernity and the Nature of Jewish Philosophy
• Mar. 13 Judaism as Ethics
• Mar. 20 Judaism as Law
• Mar. 27 Judaism as Culture

April 2024

ADL Conference on Antisemitism Today

April 7, 2024

10 am - 3 pm MST in person at SkySong in Scottsdale. Co-sponsored by ASU Jewish Studies.
For more information or to register, contact: skader@adl.org

Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation Genocide Awareness Week 2024: Nationalism, State Violence, and Genocide

This year’s theme investigates the role of the state in facilitating and shaping the perpetration of genocidal violence. Whether it’s the Nazi State carrying out the Holocaust, or the Ottoman Empire perpetrating the Armenian Genocide, states have been the primary instrument for conceiving, organizing, and deploying genocide against targeted populations. Programs will be offered over four days at various times both in person and on Zoom. See the link below for more info. This event is sponsored by SHPRS, co-sponsored by ASU Jewish Studies, and funded through an generous grant from the Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation. For more information visit here

May 2024

Western Jewish Studies Association Conference (WJSA)

May 5 - May 6, 2023

ASU Jewish Studies is proud to be hosting the WJSA Conference this year. Panels will be devoted to Jews in the American West, pedogocial aspects of Jewish Studies, contemporary Jewish issues and much more. Co-sponsored by ASU Jewish Studies and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
For more information or to register, contact: lbaron@sdsu.edu