Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)

Talk: "Sefardita: A Journey from Anthropology to Fiction" by Ruth Behar (CAS MillerComm)

Event Type

Lecture

Sponsor

Hosted by: Program in Jewish Culture and Society. In conjunction with: Center for Global Studies, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Champaign Urbana Jewish Federation, Department of Anthropology, Department of Gender & Women's Studies, Department of History, Department of Latina/Latino Studies, Department of Linguistics, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, European Union Center, Global Diasporas Program, Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, & Memory Studies, Program in Comparative & World Literature, Slavic Reference Service, Spurlock Museum, University Library

Location

Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL

Date

Apr 25, 2024   4:00 - 5:30 pm  

Speaker

Ruth Behar, Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan.

Views

134

In this presentation, Ruth Behar will discuss her recent turn from anthropology to writing coming-of-age novels. These works of historical fiction feature Jewish Cuban and Sephardic young girls seeking to understand their identities and heritage and their quest for freedom and a home where all are welcome. Behar will discuss the borders and blurring between ethnography and fiction, and how her recent book, Across So Many Seas, represents Sephardic and Jubana heritage in a time of Jewish trauma and vulnerability.