2024 Tenenbaum Lecture

The Tam Institute for Jewish Studies (TIJS) at Emory University will feature Prof. Laura Limonic of SUNY-Old Westbury as the speaker for this year’s Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies. The lecture, to take place on Wednesday, March 6th at 7:00pm, will address the topic: “Latinx Jews in their Adopted Homeland: Constructing New Realities and Claiming New Identities.” This free, on-campus event will be held in Convocation Hall.

Limonic asks, “How do Latinx Jews in the U.S. identify? Can they choose their identity or is it assigned to them? Are their ethnic choices ever strategic or instrumental?” Drawing on the experiences of Latinx Jewish immigrants in the United States, the historical roots of Jewish migration streams to Latin America and a sociological comparative perspective, Limonic will discuss how group construction is never static, and, in particular, how race, religion, and class are increasingly important mediating factors in defining ethnicity and ethnic identity.

Dr. Limonic is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at SUNY-Old Westbury. Her book, Kugel and Frijoles: Latino Jews in the United States (Wayne State University Press, 2019) explores issues of ethnicity, race, class and religious community building among Latino Jewish immigrants in Boston, New York, Miami and Southern California.