JEWS AS REFUGEES
The 2018 Wolinsky Lectures on Jewish Life and Education

By The Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies
York University

Reserve your free tickets today through Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/2018_Wolinsky_Lectures

Kosher Reception at Intermission
Free parking passes for the Student Services Parking Garage on Keele Campus, York University
Lecture hall only steps from TTC Line 1, York University Subway Stop

Topics and Lecturers

"The Case of the Missing Yemenite Children in Israel"
Dr. Yael Braudo-Bahat, visiting professor in Israel Studies at York University, obtained her Ph.D. from the Tel Aviv University Law School, where she also served as the Associate Editor of the law journal Theoretical Inquiries in Law and as a teaching fellow. Professor Braudo-Bahat's research focuses on the history of Israeli law, Israeli feminism, jurisprudence, and legal theory. In her dissertation, she unveiled the involvement of Israeli women’s organizations in the enactment of the Israeli Spouses Law (Property Relations) in 1973, and along with the historical analysis, she theorized the connection between the various possible regimes of marital property and the autonomy of the spouses within the family. In her current research, Dr. Braudo-Bahat addresses a 1950's legal project in which the Harvard Law School assisted the Israeli Ministry of Justice in formulating legislation in the young Israeli state. In addition, she further develops her research on the role of law in promoting spouses’ autonomy. During the 2017-2018 academic year at York University, Dr. Braudo-Bahat will teach two undergraduate courses on Israeli history and society, as well as a graduate seminar on A Century of Israeli Feminism.

"An Open Door: Holocaust Rescue in the Philippines"
Sharon Delmendo is a Professor of English at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. She did much of the research for her first book, The Star-Entangled Banner: One Hundred Years of America in the Philippines (Rutgers University Press 2004, University of the Philippines Press 2005) in 1995-96 as the Fulbright Professor of American Studies at De La Salle University in Manila. Her grandfather, Dominador Delmendo, was XO of the Masbate Guerrillas during WWII. Dr. Delmendo has two books on the Manilaner history forthcoming from De La Salle University Press, Manila, Philippines. “When the Time of Need Came”: Manuel Quezon and Holocaust Haven in the Philippines is a scholarly analysis of Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon’s efforts on behalf of Jewish refugees. In Time of Need, an Open Door: Holocaust Haven in the Philippines is a more broadly based history of the Manilaners for general audiences. When these two books are published, she will go back and complete the book project she put aside to work on the Manilaners: Pacific Theater, a study of Hollywood-produced WWII films set in the Philippines, made while the war was ongoing.

"Unlikely Heroes: Jewish Refugees in Soviet Film"
Olga Gershenson is Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is also on the Film Studies faculty. Professor Gershenson is a multi-disciplinary scholar with interests at the intersection of culture, history, and film. She is the author of Gesher: Russian Theater in Israel; A Study of Cultural Colonization (2005) and The Phantom Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and Jewish Catastrophe (2013). She edited a collection Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender (2009) and a special issue of East European Jewish Affairs about new Jewish museums in post-communist Europe. Professor Gershenson’s current research deals with emerging genres in Israeli cinema. Along with her academic work, she curates film series, consults for festivals, and has a lively lecture schedule at universities, conferences, and museums around the world.