The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center, in collaboration with Rice University, has created an annual lecture series presented by faculty associated with the Jewish Studies Program. The lectures are held at the ERJCC or online.
2020 Beyond Heschel: Racial Justice & Jewish Responsibility in the 21st Century
2019 Migration and Identity in the Jewish Hispanic World
2018 Preserving our Past: Stories from the Houston Jewish History Archive
2017 The American Zionist Evolution: Reinterpreting Prevailing Ideas About Israel
2016 Jewish Houston: Architecture, Politics, Suburbia
2015 After War: Dynamics of Jewish Christian Relations
2014 Authentic Judaism? Questions of Culture, Language, and History
2013 The Jewish Art of War: A Historical Survey
2012 Reading Between the Lines in Modern Jewish Literature
2011 Revisiting the History of the Jews in Spain
2010 Envisioning Jerusalem in the Pre-Modern World
2009 Contextualizing Moses Maimonides
2020 Beyond Heschel: Racial Justice & Jewish Responsibility in the 21st Century
Blacks and Jews: Re-Visiting Alliances and Arguments in Light of Recent Uprisings for Racial Justice
Dr. Cleve Tinsley | Wednesday, Sept 9 I 7:00 PM I ONLINE
Black-Jewish Relations in the Lone Star State: Lessons and Perspectives from Texas Jewish History
Dr. Joshua Furman | Wednesday, Sept 16 | 7:00 PM | ONLINE
Starting at Home: Building an Intercultural Jewish Community While Becoming Anti-Racist
Ms. Yolanda Savage - Narva | Wednesday, September 23 | 7:00 PM | ONLINE
Race, Voting Rights & The 2020 Election
Rabbi David Segal and Sarah Labowitz | Wednesday, September 30 | 7:00 | ONLINE
2019 Migration and Identity in the Jewish Hispanic World
Better Under Edom Than Ishmael: Jewish Migrations from Islamic to Christian Spain in the Middle Ages
Dr. Maya Soifer Irish | Wednesday, September 11, 2019 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC
The 'Return' That Wasn't: Spain's 2015 Sephardic Citizenship Law
Dr. Charles McDonald | Wednesday, September 18, 2019 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC
Shaping Jewish Identity in Argentina from the Late 19th Century to the Present
Dr. Gisela Heffes | Wednesday, September 25, 2019 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC
2018 Preserving Our Past: Stories from the Houston Jewish History Archive
You Mean There Really Are Jews in Texas?
Rabbi Dr. Jimmy Kessler | Sunday, October 2, 2018 • 4:00 PM • ERJCC
Hidden Stars: The Beth Jacob Banner and Houston Jews in WWII
Dr. Joshua Furman | Tuesday, October 23, 2018 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC
Rice Institute and the Jews, 1896 to 1946
Dr. Melissa Kean | Sunday, October 28, 2018 • 4:00 PM • ERJCC
2017 The American Zionist Evolution:
Reinterpreting Prevailing Ideas About Israel
President Truman and the Birth of Israel
Dr. Allen Matusow | Sunday, October 15, 2017 • 4:00 PM • ERJCC
The Rise of Diaspora: The Negation of the Negation of Exile
Dr. Melissa Weininger | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC
Exodus and Beyond: Israeli Culture in American Jewish Life Before 1967
Dr. Joshua Furman | Sunday, October 22, 2017 • 4:00 PM • ERJCC
2016 Jewish Houston: Architecture, Politics, Suburbia
Constructing Jewish Houston
Dr. Stephen Fox | Sunday, September 18, 2016 • 4:00 PM
Jews in American Politics
Dr. Robert Stein | Wednesday, September 21, 2016 • 7:30 PM
Suburban Pioneers: The Jewish Family Moves to Meyerland
Dr. Joshua Furman | Sunday, September 25, 2016 • 4:00 PM
2015 After War: Dynamics of Jewish Christian Relations
Brotherhood Week, Chanukah, and Christmas:
Identity Politics and Interfaith Celebrations in Post-WWII America
Dr. Joshua Furman | Sunday, October 18, 2015 • 4:00 PM
Philosemitism in Europe and the United States After World War Two: A Moral Revolution?
Dr. Daniel Cohen | Wednesday, October 21, 2015 • 7:30 PM
The Man from Kutno: the Sad Case of Sholem Asch
Dr. Melissa Weininger | Sunday, October 25, 2015 • 4:00 PM
2014 Authentic Judaism?
Questions of Culture, Language, and History
Who is a Jew? Insider/Outsider Approaches to the Age-Old Question
Dr. Brian Ogren | Tuesday, October 7, 2014 • 7:30 PM
The Politics of Authenticity: Questioning Jewish Palestinian Nativity
in the Jewish Community of Palestine, 1918-1948
Dr. Yehuda Sharim | Tuesday, October 14, 2014 • 7:30 PM
Vos macht a yid? Language, Politics and Modern Jewish Culture
Dr. Melissa Weininger | Sunday, October 19, 2014 • 4:00 PM
2013 The Jewish Art of War: A Historical Survey
The Covenant with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:
What to do with Biblical Violence
Dr. Matthias Henze | Sunday, October 6, 2013 • 7:00 PM
Dual Loyalty or Treachery?
Jews on Both Sides of the Great Revolt Against Rome
Dr. Shira Lander | Sunday, October 13, 2013 • 7:00 PM
Jews & War: From the French Revolution to the State of Israel
Dr. Daniel Cohen | Sunday, October 20, 2013 • 7:00 PM
2012 Reading Between the Lines
in Modern Jewish Literature
2011 Revisiting the History of the Jews in Spain
The Ladino Speakers: Language and Identity
Luisa Kluger | Monday, September 12, 2011 • 8:00 PM
2010 Envisioning Jerusalem in the Pre-Modern World
2009 Contextualizing Moses Maimonides
Man of Action: Maimonides as Jewish Community Leader
Dr. Paula Sanders | Wednesday, Oct 14