Mediterranean Seminar Summer Skills workshop: Intro to Sephardic culture remote July 6-9, 2026

[David Wacks]

Dear colleagues,

Please circulate this announcement. Faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars are all welcome to apply. Thank you very much!

Best wishes,

David

“Sephardic Culture: An Introduction”

Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar

6—9 July 2026 • Remote

For full info and to apply: https://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-sephardic-culture-2026

 

The Summer Skills Seminar,  “Sephardic Culture: An Introduction”  will convene via Zoom from Monday, 6 July to Thursday, 9 July 2026 each day for 2 hours (8-10 PST), break for 1 hour (10-11 PST), and reconvene for 2 hours (11-1 PST).

 

Regular Registration until April 26

APPLY HERE

 

Course overview

This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with an overview of main currents in Sephardic Studies including historial and cultural trends, texts, sources for the period 900-1700 CE, and attending to the potential of this field to enhance your own research and teaching. It is designed with academics in mind, particularly graduate students, postdocs, and professors working in disciplines such as history, literature, religious studies, but all intersted parties are welcome to apply. Participants will receive a completion certificate which may be listed on your CV and other documents such as grant/fellowship applications.

 

The seminar is held via zoom over four days, with two two-hour sessions each day. Particpants are expected to prepare readings in advance of the sessions, which will be a blend of lecture, pair and group discussion, group close readings, and in-class activities.

 The Jewish Communities of the Iberian Peninsula left behind a rich legacy in historical documentation and writings in the area of rabbinics, polemic, poetry, historiography, travel narrative, mysticism, philosophy, and more. Their expulsion from Spanish territories at the end of the fifteenth century lead to a diasporic network of communities in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and beyond (The Americas, Africa, Asia).

 

This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with an overview of main currents in Sephardic Studies including historical and cultural trends, texts, sources for the period 900-1700 CE, and attending to the potential of this field to enhance your own research and teaching. It is designed with academics in mind, particularly graduate students, postdocs, and professors working in disciplines such as history, literature, religious studies, but all interested parties are welcome to apply. Participants will receive a completion certificate which may be listed on your CV and other documents such as grant/fellowship applications.

 

The seminar is held via zoom over four days, with two two-hour sessions each day. Participants are expected to prepare readings in advance of the sessions, which will be a blend of lecture, pair and group discussion, group close readings, and in-class activities.

The goal is to provides attendees with a basic preparation for including Sephardic sources in teaching and research and provide them with a bona fide (in the form of a certificate of completion for those who attend the full seminar), which may be advantageous in securing grants or other funding for research and travel. Preparation in Sephardic studies can be a way for scholars working in Hispanic, Mediterranean, or Jewish studies (or other fields) to distinguish their research and/or teaching profiles, and put them in discussion with new interlocutors.

 

 

Past Participants said:

• “It was a great experience. As I said in one of the sessions, to look back at the Sephardic culture "formation" — it was an important experience to reflect upon the specific community I'm working with.”
• “Great syllabus, helpful close readings, and illuminating discussions.”
• ”Great class, fascinating material, knowledgeable professor.”
• “The instructor was well-versed in the subject, enthusiastic and generous with his time and resources.”
• “I was interested to explore a broader perception of Sephardic studies and be aware of the validity of my argument and approach. I wanted to listen and learn from different people, it was a great experience in this regard.”
• “I think this seminar has provided me with so much more knowledge and material to bring to my classroom and to my own studies.”
• “Dr. Wacks was awesome. He was so very knowledgeable and SO generous with his time, with answering our questions (during the course and by email) and especially with his willingness to share his resources *and* to become a resource for us as e continue our journey.”
• “David was professional, knowledgeable, but humble enough to express his own unknowns and even be open to accept different interpretations. He was amicable and even entertaining