Eric Silverman will discuss how something as mundane as clothing can help illustrate the complex social worlds in which Jews have always lived.  For most of Jewish history, but especially beginning around the time when the ancestors of most American Jews migrated to the United States, clothing illustrated a tension between dressing Jewish and dressing like everybody else – that is, clothing communicated messages about the different ways one could be Jewish in a particular era.

Prof. Silverman is a professor at Wheelock College, covering the American Jewish experience and other cultures worldwide. He has published widely and written four books, including two connected to Jewish history: From Abraham to America: A History of Jewish Circumcision and A Cultural History of Jewish Dress. Prof. Silverman is currently working on a project about American Jewish fathers. In addition, he is a scholar with the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center.

Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members. Refreshments will be served.

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Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings

Pre-lecture: 12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Bessarabia, Poland and Ukraine SIGs

Post-lecture (approx. 3:00 pm)
Belarus and Litvak-Baltic SIGs