
Black Jewish Scholars on Antiblack Racism and Antisemitism
April 29th and 30th, 2025
Konover Auditorium
UConn-Storrs Campus
*****
Sessions in Konover Auditorium with viewing available at this link.
I became painfully aware that merely being born in a group,
does not necessarily make one possessed of complete knowledge concerning it.
First Day
April 29, 2025
Sessions in Konover Auditorium
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Coffee, Tea, and Pastry in Konover Lounge
9:30 AM–10:00 AM
Opening and Welcome
- Lewis R. Gordon, UConn
- Adane Zawdu Gebyanesh, The Polonsky Academy for Advanced Study - The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute
- Vice President Daniel Weiner, UConn
- Vice Provost Jeffrey Hines, UConn
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Panel 1 - Moderator: Lewis R. Gordon
- Bruce D. Haynes, University of California, Davis, “Jews, Monsters, and Space Lasers”
- Efrat Yerday, Tel Aviv University, “Racialized Citizenship: Ethiopian Jews and the Israeli State, 1955–1975”
11:30 AM – 1:15 PM Panel 2 (Virtual) - Moderator: Adane Zawdu Gebyanesh
- Shula Mola, Hebrew University, “The Paradox of Belonging: Ethiopian-Israeli Female Students' Cross-Group Empathy During the Iron Swords War”
- Shelly Engdau, University of Haifa, “‘Your Color Gives You Away’: Blackness, Resilience and Community Responses to Racism in Israel” (online)
Break for Lunch
1:15 PM – 2: 30 PM
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM Panel 3 - Moderator: Jane Anna Gordon
- Remy Ilona, Olaudah Equiano Institute, “The Holocaust of Biafra: Anti-Semitism and Genocide in Sub-Saharan Africa”
- Itzik Itzhak Dessie, Bar-Ilan University, “Resilience and Identity: Confronting Anti-Blackness and Antisemitism Among Ethiopian Jews in Israel"
- Walter Isaac, University of Tennessee, “Antiracist Strategies to Combat Global Antisemitism”
5:00PM – 6:00 PM
Reception in Lounge
Second Day
April 30, 2025
Sessions in Konover Auditorium
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Coffee, Tea, and Pastry in Konover Lounge
9:00 AM–9:30 AM
Opening and Welcome
9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Panel 5 - Moderator: Lewis R. Gordon
- Bryan Roby, University of Michigan, “The Possibilities and Limits of ‘Afro-Asian’ Jewish Solidarity”
- Moriya Tadela, University of Haifa, “Gender and Race in Another Place: Intersectionality and the Development of Ethiopian Feminism in Israel”
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM Resident Artist
- Jessica Valoris, Mandel Artist Fellow, “Rituals of Remembrance: Black Fugitivity and AfroJewish Creative Praxis”
11:45 AM – 12: 30 PM Panel 6 - Moderator: Adane Zawdu Gebyanesh
Conversation with the artist
12:30 PM – 1: 30 PM
Break for Lunch
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Panel 7 - Moderator: Lewis R. Gordon
- Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, Global Center for Advanced Studies, “Afrofuturistic Ibbur: Researching and Performing the Great African American Khaznte, Then and Now”
- Gil Rothschild Elyassi, University of Haifa, “Whitening Jewishness”
4:15 PM – 5:45 PM Panel 8 - Moderator: Jessica Cooperman
Concluding conversation with organizers
- Adane Zawdu Gebyanesh, The Polonsky Academy, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, and UConn
- Jane Anna Gordon, UConn
- Lewis R. Gordon, UConn
5:45 PM – 6:30 PM
Closing reception in lounge
Registration for this event is now closed. For questions, please contact lewis.gordon@uconn.edu.
Conveners
Adane Zawdu Gebyanesh
Convener
Lewis R. Gordon
Convener
Participants

Dr. Fekade Abebe
Postdoctoral Fellow, Germany

Dr. Danny Admasu
Hebrew University
Dr. Bruce D. Haynes
UC-Davis
Rabbi Dr. Walter Isaac
University of Tennessee
Itzik Itzhak Dessie
Bar-Ilan University

Dr. Dréa Key
Claflin University
Dr. Remy Ilona
Olaudah Equiano Institute
Dr. Shula Mola
Hebrew University
Shahanna McKinney-Baldon
University of Wisconsin
Dr. Bryan Roby
University of Michigan
Dr. Gil Rothschild Elyassi
Haifa University
Dr. Engdau Shelly
University of Haifa
Moriya Tadela
University of Haifa
Efrat Yerday
Tel Aviv University
Resident Artist for the Meeting
Jessica Valoris
Mandel Artist Fellow
Special thanks to UConn Staff:
Mary Malley
Philosophy and Sociology
Sita Nyame
Global Affairs
Alenies Rodriguez
Philosophy and Sociology
Armi Rowe
Judaic Studies