Bennett Center for Judaic Studies Lecture

The Evolution of Jewish Supremacy: An interview with Dr. Yaron Ayalon about his new project on Jewish Supremacy and recent work on Ottoman Jews conducted by Dr. Gavriel Rosenfeld

Dr. Gavriel Rosenfeld, President of the Center for Jewish History in New York City and Professor of History at Fairfield University and Dr. Yaron Ayalon, Professor of Religious Studies, Carl and Dorothy Bennett Chair in Judaic Studies, and the Director of the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies, will discuss Dr. Ayalon’s recent and ongoing research.

Dr. Ayalon received his bachelor of arts in Middle East history and education from Tel Aviv University, and his doctorate in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University in 2009. His expertise includes Sephardic Jews, the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, and Isreal, using an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates history, psychology, sociology, climate science, and disaster studies.

He is the author of two books: Ottoman Jewry: Leadership, Charity, and Literacy (Brill, 2024), and Natural Disasters in the Ottoman Empire: Plague, Famine, and Other Misfortunes (Cambridge, 2015). Dr. Ayalon has written more than 20 articles and has served as an editor for the Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Additionally, from 2020-24 he co-chaired the Sephardi/Mizrahi division of the Association for Jewish Studies.

Dr. Rosenfeld, professor of history, serves as president of the Center for Jewish History in New York City. An expert on Nazi Germany, Holocaust memory, and the politics of history, he is known for bringing scholarly insight to contemporary conversations—from remembrance of the Holocaust in the United States to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The author or editor of eight books, including The Fourth Reich: The Specter of Nazism Since World War II and Building After Auschwitz: Jewish Architecture and the Memory of the Holocaust, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Dr. Rosenfeld continues to shape how audiences understand history’s ongoing resonance. He holds a BA from Brown University and a PhD from UCLA.

Date & Time: Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00pm

Location: BCC Dogwood Room