Jewish Studies Week Winter 2026 at University of Alberta starts March 10

(AJNews) – Jewish Studies Week at the University of Alberta is from March 10 – 13, 2026. Here is an update on the scheduled events:

Tuesday, March 10

1-2:30 p.m. MDT
Senate Chamber, Arts & Convocation Hall

Nosh ‘n’ Nigun: Lunch & Singing Workshop with Dr. Rachel Colwell

Join us for lunch followed by an informal introductory lesson in singing Jewish wordless songs, a communal tradition originating in Eastern European Hasidism. All are welcome and no prior musical experience needed.

Rachel Colwell is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Alberta. Her work focuses on Tunisian Andalusi art music (mā’lūf), listening practices, and issues of access and inclusion. She teaches an undergraduate course on Jewish Music and has led singing workshops for Jewish groups and community members alike.

Wednesday, March 11

12-2:00 p.m. MT
Senate Chamber, Arts & Convocation Hall

Lunch & Film Screening: All About the Levkoviches (Lefkovicsék gyászolnak) (2024)

Join us for a lunch and film screening with introductions by Balázs Varga, Hungarian Visiting Professor, Department of English and Film Studies.

The generous but stubborn boxing coach, Tamás gets along well with everyone but his own son. They have not spoken since the boy, Iván moved to Israel and became religious in an orthodox community. When Tamás’ beloved wife, Zsuzsa dies unexpectedly, Tamás agrees with his son that he can come and sit the Shiva in his house as long as he brings his grandson, Ariel with him. As past conflicts resurface, they embark on an unexpected journey of self-reflection and reconciliation. Father and son are not just obliged to face their old grievances during the one-week religious mourning but to help Ariel deal with his own grief and his obsession that grandma’s spirit is still in the house.

Thursday, March 12th

2-3:30 p.m. MDT
Senate Chamber, Arts & Convocation Hall

2026 Annual Tova Yedlin Lecture

The Sound of Reading

Oren Cohen Roman, associate professor of Yiddish at Lund University in Sweden

About the Lecture

In the past, Jews often read aloud—and even sang—their books, inviting anyone interested to listen. The melody was usually chosen freely by the reader, but some Hebrew and Yiddish books clearly indicate the melody to which they should be sung. Interestingly, these tunes were borrowed from diverse sources, ranging from Jewish prayers to Christian German folk songs.

This talk explores why this style of reading was popular among Jews and Christians alike, what it looked and sounded like, and why it gradually changed into the silent, private kind of reading we are familiar with today. To illustrate the effect of melody on a text, some examples will be played from recordings or performed live.

Oren Cohen Roman is associate professor of Yiddish at Lund University in Sweden. He is a cultural historian of Ashkenazi Jews and scholar of Yiddish literature from its medieval beginnings until the present day. His research interests include Jewish and Christian relations, literature on biblical themes, music, and gender.

Friday, March 13

1-2:00 p.m. MDT
Senate Chamber, Arts & Convocation Hall

Central European Talks 2026

Body Politics of the Polish Enlightenment: the Case of Jews

Anna Zabraniak, PhD candidate at the Taube Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wrocław, Poland

About the Lecture

Historically, certain bodies were denied autonomy and visibility in public life because they were perceived as threats to the established social order. Among those excluded from the political centre were women’s bodies (confined to the private sphere on account of their biological functions), disabled bodies, and those marked as the sociological “Other” (POC, Roma, Jews, etc.). The possible inclusion of such bodies within the rigid social centre provoked anxiety among privileged groups, who feared the destabilisation of hierarchies and, consequently, uncertainty in the distribution of power.

During the Enlightenment, debates about exclusion and belonging acquired a new scientific dimension, shaped by utilitarianism, physiocratism, and advances in medical science. It became common to argue that a state’s strength depended on the health and labour capacity of its population, as well as on rational demographic growth. Within this framework, usefulness became a crucial criterion for belonging. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, reformers seeking to rescue the declining state during the debates of the Great Sejm turned their attention to the question of the civil potential of Jews. In their visions, Jewish merchants were to be transformed into farmers and artisans – productive members of society who sustained themselves through physical labour. At the same time, harsh assessments were made about their supposed physical unsuitability for occupations deemed as “useful”.

In my presentation, I examine Polish medical, political, and literary writings to explore the role that evaluations of Jewish men’s and women’s bodies played in debates about state reform and their civil emancipation. Drawing on the concept of embodied citizenship and Sonja Boon’s notion of “corporeal virtue,” I address the complex relationship between political belonging and modern ideas of usefulness. In doing so, I demonstrate how the selectively inclusive philosophies of the European Enlightenment allowed long-standing prejudices to resurface in political discourse, recast in the language of reason and rationality.

Anna Zabraniak is a PhD candidate at the Taube Department of Jewish Studies in the Faculty of Neo-Philology at the University of Wrocław, where she is working on a dissertation with a working title “Translation and the Enlightenment: Shaping Polish-Jewish Intellectual History”. Before embarking on this fascinating journey in the humanities, she completed a master’s degree in Psychology at the same university, where she examined the deeply human tendency for (excessive) fantasizing. Read more

Friday, March 13th

2-3:30 p.m. MDT
Arts (Student) Lounge, Arts & Convocation Hall

Central European Cafe

Join us for an afternoon of inspiring conversation, a welcoming atmosphere, and delicious European refreshments. Featuring appearances by some of the week’s special guest speakers.