May 26-29, 2015 | Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland 

In 2012, ASU Jewish Studies and the Institute of Jewish Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland inaugurated a formal collaboration, in the interest of paving the way to a new understanding of the Jewish past, in the larger context of western history, religion, and culture. Together, they convened a research symposium examining the revival of Jewish Studies, and the proceedings were published in volume 11 (2013) of the journal, Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia.

“From Galicia to New York: Salo W. Baron and His Legacy” was the next step in this scholarly collaboration: a conference to honor and consider the scholarly work of Salo Wittmayer Baron, whose 120th birthday was celebrated on May 26, 2015. Since Professor Baron’s outstanding scholarship was a joint effort with his wife, Jeannette M. Baron, the conference will honor her memory and her contribution to scholarship, as well. 

Salo W. Baron was born in Tarnów, Poland and before his departure to the United States, he studied at Jagiellonian University and University of Vienna. His scholarship encompasses the entire gamut of Jewish history from antiquity, through the middle ages, to modern times. Spanning the entire geographic scope of Jewish collective existence, Baron’s scholarship was uniquely interdisciplinary, encompassing all forms of Jewish self-expression. His erudite, exacting, and insightful analysis has shaped the trajectory of Jewish history in the 20th century and left a lasting legacy.    

download program book (PDF)

Organizing committee

  • Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
    Irving & Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern Judaism
    Director, Center for Jewish Studies 
    College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Arizona State University
  • Edward Dąbrowa 
    Professor of History
    Director, Institute of Jewish Studies
    Jagiellonian University
  • Michał Galas
    Associate Professor
    Institute of Jewish Studies
    Jagiellonian University
  • Anna Cichopek-Gajraj
    Assistant Professor of History
    School of Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies
    College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Arizona State University 

Sponsors and support

This conference was made possible by

sponsors

  • The Knapp Family Foundation
  • Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation
  • ASU Jewish Studies
  • Institute of Jewish Studies at Jagiellonian University
  • Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture
  • Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University
  • Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University

special thanks to:

  • Galicia Jewish Museum
  • Regional Museum in Tarnów 
  • Hotel David | Ciemna 13, Kraków, Poland
  • Hotel Eden | Ciemna 15, Kraków, Poland