Frankely Judaic: Explorations in Jewish Studies

Jan 22 2025 63 ep. 15 mins 486

Frankely Judaic: Explorations in Jewish Studies Podcast artwork

A Jewish Studies podcast series featuring the research of Frankel Institute fellows at the University of Michigan.

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Marce Butierrez: "Intersecting Histories: Jewish and LGBTQ+ Persecution in Argentina"

Jan 22 2025 16 mins

In this captivating episode, host Jeremy Shere from Connversa speaks with Marce Gutierrez, a research fellow at the National University of Salta in Argentina. Marce shares her unique perspective as a trans woman and an anthropologist, studying the interconnected histories of Jewish and LGBTQ+ persecution in Argentina. She delves into the story of Rabbi Marshall Meyer, a key figure

Rafe Neis, "When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven"

Nov 20 2024 24 mins

In this episode, we explore the work of Raphael Rachel Neis, a professor of ancient history at the University of Michigan, whose book, When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven, delves into ancient rabbinic understandings of reproduction and identity, focusing on how the rabbis of the Talmud viewed the emergence of new life. The book aims to reveal a more complex, varied, and open ancien

Anna Hajkova, "Quartet: A Story of Survival"

Oct 27 2024 17 mins

In this episode, historian Dr. Anna Hejkova from the University of Warwick explores rarely discussed queer histories and enforced relationships during the Holocaust. The narrative delves into the lives of concentration camp guard Anneliese Kohlmann; Helene Sommer, a female prisoner who Kohlmann forced into a relationship; Margot Heumann, a teenage prisoner who witnessed the relatio

Debora Kantor, "Examining Jewish Identity in Argentine Cinema: Nonfiction Films on Israel"

Sep 12 2024 19 mins

In this episode, Debora Kantor, a lecturer at the National University of San Martin, Buenos Aires, discusses her research on the representation of Jews and Jewishness in Argentine modern and contemporary cinema. She delves into her specific project on Argentine nonfiction films about Israel, examining how these films reflect both collective and personal understandings of Jewish i

Jeffrey Abt, "The Jewish Museum: A Story of Art, Identity, and Controversy"

Aug 21 2024 16 mins

In this episode, we explore the fascinating history of the Jewish Museum in New York City. From its humble beginnings in 1904 as a small collection of ceremonial objects to its current status as a renowned institution grappling with questions of identity and purpose, the museum's story is one of constant evolution and debate. We discuss the museum's origins and early years, includ

Julia Cohen & Devi Mays, "Global Threads: An Alternative History of Fin-de-Siecle Parisian Fashion"

Jun 03 2024 17 mins

The history of European fashion typically focuses on singular, Christian European geniuses who conjured bold designs and created cutting-edge garments. But in Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa played important roles in shaping European tastes in fashion. In this episode, Devi Mays, an associate professor of Judaic Studies a

Zoya Brumberg-Kraus, "Ethnic Identity in California’s Architectural Vernacular"

Mar 10 2024 17 mins

From Gold Mountain to Tinseltown: Ethnic Identity in California’s Architectural Vernacular It’s well known that millions of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe immigrated across the Atlantic to the United States, settling mostly in New York and other large cities. But some Jewish immigrants crossed the Pacific and settled on the West Coast of the United States, in cities suc

Adam Lowenstein, The Jewish Horror Film: Taboo and Redemption

Jan 08 2024 32 mins

Jews are no strangers to horror. They’ve encountered and dealt with horrifying events throughout their history - exile, destruction of two temples, expulsion, blood libels, ghettoization, genocide, terrorism. The list goes on and on. And so, it’s perhaps not surprising that Jewish critics and filmmakers have done some really interesting work in the horror film genre, creating w

Louis Kaplan, Jewish Photographic Humor in Dark Times: Visual First Responders to the Third Reich

Dec 06 2023 20 mins

The rise of the Nazis and their antisemitic agenda during the early 1930s was the beginning of the darkest era of modern Jewish history. For obvious reasons, we tend to not make jokes about it. And yet, at the time, some Jewish writers and artists, including photographers, did exactly that. In this episode, Louis Kaplan, a professor of visual studies and art history at the Univers

Deborah Dash Moore - Camera as a Passport

Oct 16 2023 21 mins

2023-24 Frankel Institute "Jewish Visual Cultures" Today's Guest: Deborah Dash Moore Project Title: “Camera as Passport” During the 1930s, ‘40, and ‘50s, throughout the great depression and into the post-WWII era, photographers who were members of the NY Photo League, many of whom were Jews, documented working-class street life in New York City. And without quite realizing