Events

In Recording History, Christopher Silver provides the first history of the music sceneand recording industry across twentieth century Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.In doing so, he offers striking insights into Jewish-Muslim relations throughthe rhythms that animated them. For more than six decades, thousands ofphonograph records flowed across North African borders. The sounds embedded intheir grooves were shaped in large part by Jewish musicians, who gave voice toa changing world around them. Their popular songs broadcast on radio, performedin concert, and circulated on disc carried with them the power to delightaudiences, stir national sentiments, and frustrate French colonial authorities.In asking what North Africa once sounded like, Silver will introduce the Binghamtoncommunity to a world of many voices, whose music defined their era and stillresonates into our present.

Christopher Silver is the SegalFamily Assistant Professor in Jewish History and Culture in the Department ofJewish Studies at McGill University. He earned his PhD in History from UCLA.Recipient of grants from the Posen Foundation, the American Academy of JewishResearch, the American Institute for Maghrib Studies, and the Association forRecorded Sound Collections, Silver is the author of numerous articles on NorthAfrican history and music, including in the International Journal ofMiddle East Studies, Jewish Social Studies, and Hespéris-Tamuda.He is also the founder and curator of the website Gharamophone.com, a digitalarchive of North African records from the first half of the twentieth century.His first book Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music AcrossTwentieth Century North Africa was published in June 2022 withStanford University Press.

Judaic Studies Alumni Council Event
Monday 24 April 2023
6pm - 8pm
SUNY Global Center
116 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022

We will be running a bus to NYC for students and anyone who wants a ride.  RSVP

The Judaic Studies Alumni Council invites you to a lecture by Binghamton University Associate Professor Shay Rabineau, to be followed by a networking reception with current students and BU alumni. Dietary laws will be observed.

“Trekking the Dead Sea in the Era of the Nation-State”

In 1934, a group of Jewish youth from British Mandate Palestine became the first people in recorded history to circle the Dead Sea on foot. Amid the turmoil preceding and following the establishment of the State of Israel, the feat was never repeated. In the ensuing decades, the Dead Sea became a militarized border zone. Overuse of Jordan River water caused the sea's level to drop. Sinkholes opened along the shorelines, devastating infrastructure and endangering lives. Mineral-processing factories turned the sea's southern basin into a massive industrial zone. In 2022, Shay Rabineau and photographer Julian Bender set out to be the first to walk around the Dead Sea in the era of the nation-state, and in doing so, to explore the Dead Sea's past, present, and future. In this talk, Dr. Rabineau will share the research involved in planning such a challenging trek, and some of the insights he gained as a researcher of Israel and Judaic Studies.

Shay Rabineau is Associate Professor of Israel Studies and Associate Director of the Center for Israel Studies at Binghamton University. He teaches courses on modern Israel, Israeli environmental history, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Middle East cartographic history. Prior to teaching at Binghamton, he received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University and taught as a post-doctoral lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first book, Walking the Land: A History of Israeli Hiking Trails, was published in 2023 by Indiana University Press. His current project is a book on the history of the Dead Sea, building on his 2022 effort to become the first person since 1934 to circle the Dead Sea on foot. 

Jonathan Karp talks about his Newly-Published Volume: "What Makes a 'Classic Essay' in Early Modern Jewish History?"

Judaic Studies ​Department ​Commencement Reception
Friday | May 12th, 2023 | 2 - 4 p.m. | LT 1310

Refreshments will be served

We will hand out a present to each of our graduating students, certificates, and graduation cords.