FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FROM THE DIRECTOR
The summer months offer time for reflection on the past academic year and provide an opportunity to look ahead to the excitement of a new semester.
The Greenberg Center and the Department of Judaic Studies once again offered outstanding public programs and undergraduate courses. I’m grateful to the many community partners that continue to help make the Greenberg Center a destination for the study of Jewish history and culture. They include the Avon Free Public Library, the Holocaust Education Resource and Outreach (HERO) Program, the Jewish Community Foundation, the Jewish Federation, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, the Jewish Teen Learning Connection (JTConnect), Mandell JCC, the Presidents’ College at the University of Hartford, the UConn Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, Voices of Hope, and the Zachs Hillel Center for Jewish Life. I’m also thankful to our Judaic Studies faculty, including Hazza Abo-Rabia, Yifat Avner, Ayelet Brinn, and Kyra Jenney, for their commitment to our students.
In addition to directing the Greenberg Center, I also direct the Museum of Jewish Civilization. Installing the exhibit, “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit,” served as a personal highlight from the past year. Our team transformed the Bruce Singer Gallery into a one-stop location for all things related to the history of Jewish involvement in astronomy, science fiction, and space, including Star Trek memorabilia. Undergraduate students Lily Gross ’26, Diego Huaman ’26, Sophia Smith-Golub ’25, and Sam Vilk ’25, gained valuable career experience by interning at the museum. In addition to serving as docents and public relations specialists, they also curated their own exhibits that they displayed in the Greenberg Center.
Looking ahead, I am excited to lead the 2025–26 Humanities Center Honors Seminar and Lecture Series on “AI in Action: The Future of Humans.” I selected this theme due to the prevalence of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives, and for the importance of understanding its potential to help and the possibilities for harm. Students from across all colleges at the University of Hartford applied to take this two-semester course and I’m excited to share the outcomes of the research that students will undertake.
Amy Weiss
Director, Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies
Director, Museum of Jewish Civilization
Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies and History, and Maurice Greenberg Chair of Judaic Studies
As I finish my third year teaching at the University of Hartford, and associate directing the Greenberg Center, I continue to be amazed at the strong community of colleagues, students, and community members that we are building.
This year, in addition to our courses and public programs, I had the opportunity to lead two lecture series that brought the University of Hartford community, and the greater Hartford community more broadly, into the Greenberg Center to learn about the wonderful work that we do. First, I gave a series of lectures this fall for the University of Hartford’s Presidents’ College about the “Abrahamic Religions,” exploring topics related to the origins, history, and religious texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As is always true with the Presidents’ College, participants in this series came from a variety of perspectives, leading to vibrant, multifaceted conversations about religion, history, and culture.
Second, I served as the lead faculty fellow for the University of Hartford’s Humanities Center, an institution that brings together faculty and students across the University to explore vital topics in the humanities. For this year, I chose the theme of “Banned Books and Censorship,” a topic that has been of crucial importance throughout Jewish and American history and becomes more relevant every day. As part of this position, I organized a spring lecture series for faculty across the University to discuss their dynamic research on a variety of subjects related to this theme. Lecture topics ranged from discussions of censorship of ancient, medieval, and contemporary art to the censorship of Boccaccio’s The Decameron to a wonderful lecture on advertising controversies on the Hallmark Channel from Greenberg Center Director Dr. Amy Weiss.
Next academic year, I will be on sabbatical, joining an international cohort of Judaic Studies scholars who will be in residence at the University of Michigan’s Frankel Institute for Judaic Studies. Together, we will be exploring questions related to the theme of “Jews and Media,” and I will be working on my second book project, which will excavate the US government’s attempts to surveil and censor Yiddish newspapers during World War I. I look forward to sharing everything that I learn next year with students and with all of you when I return in the fall of 2026!
Ayelet Brinn
Associate Director, Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies
Philip D. Feltman Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish History
IN MEMORIAM Arnold Greenberg
The Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies shares the sad news that Arnold C. Greenberg (Hon. ’89), the founder of the Greenberg Center at the University of Hartford, passed away on March 19, 2025, at the age of 91.
Arnold graduated from Hartford’s Weaver High School in 1951, where he served as the valedictorian. He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1955 with magna cum laude distinction. Arnold also received a JD from Harvard Law School in 1958. He returned to Connecticut and became the CEO of Coleco, his family’s business, after a career in law. He led the company through a series of business ventures including early video and arcade gaming, home computing, and perhaps most notably, the 1980’s classic Cabbage Patch Kids.
Arnold was a generous and gifted leader, speaker, businessperson, and philanthropist. In honor of his father, he founded the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University in 1985. He was exceptionally proud of not only the scholarly work of the Center, but also of the stimulating and educational community programming provided to diverse audiences at all ages and stages of life. He also served as a lifetime member of the University of Hartford’s Board of Regents, serving as chair from 1998 to 2003. He received an honorary degree in 1989 and was awarded the University of Hartford’s prestigious Medal for Distinguished Service in 2004. Put simply, Arnold was deeply engaged in many aspects of the University of Hartford’s growth and evolution. Generations of students and scholars have benefited from his dedication to the University, as well as his continued support of Judaic Studies as both an academic department and a Center.
We send our sincerest condolences to Arnold’s family and all who were fortunate enough to know him.
Professor Ayelet Brinn, Arnold Greenberg, and Professor Amy Weiss
GREENBERG CENTER PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Jewish Masculinity in the Twentieth Century
Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw Angels Fall
Christophe Lebold, in conversation with Amy Weiss (University of Hartford) and Tina Panik (Avon Free Public Library), discussed his new book on Leonard Cohen. The Avon Free Public Library co-sponsored this program.
The Counterfeit Countess
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles during the Holocaust tells the astonishing story of Dr. Josephine Janina Mehlberg, a Jewish mathematician who saved thousands of lives in Nazi-occupied Poland by masquerading as a Polish aristocrat. Greenberg Center director Amy Weiss interviewed authors Elizabeth White and Joanna Sliwa. The Avon Free Public Library, the Presidents’ College at the University of Hartford, the UConn Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, and Voices of Hope co-sponsored this program.
Ayelet Brinn, associate director of the Greenberg Center, interviewed Ronnie Grinberg (University of Oklahoma) and Miriam Eve Mora (University of Michigan) about their recently published books. Grinberg’s Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals (Princeton, 2024) explores how virility and Jewishness became hallmarks of postwar New York’s combative intellectual scene. Mora’s Carrying a Big Shtick: Jewish Acculturation and Masculinity in the Twentieth Century (Wayne State, 2024) dissects notions of Jewish masculinity and its perception and practice in America in the 20th-century through the lenses of immigration and cultural history. The UConn Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life co-sponsored this program.
Authors of The Counterfeit Countess, Joanna Sliwa and Elizabeth B. White, with Professor Amy Weiss (middle)
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 6:30 pm via Zoom
Free. Register at www.avonctlibrary.info
Field trip to NYC’s Lower East Side
Community Read: Trust Me: A Novel
UHart students and community members discussed Scott Nadelson’s Trust Me: A Novel ahead of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award ceremony, which honored Nadelson. This event was co-sponsored by the Avon Free Public Library.
A u t h o r E v e n t
Students in Professor Ayelet Brinn’s American Jewish History course, along with several other UHart students, took a field trip to the Lower East Side. Together with Professor Amy Weiss, they visited the Tenement Museum to learn about immigration to the city in the early 20th-century. Brinn also gave a guided walking tour about the Jewish history of the Lower East Side.
Join us for a virtual, moderated conversation with author Rebecca Brenner Graham. This outstanding, inspiring new narrative of the first woman to serve in a president’s cabinet reveals the full, never-before-told story of her role in saving Jewish refugees during the Nazi regime.
Majoring and Minoring in Judaic Studies: High School Recruitment Event
Local high school students and their parents toured the Zachs Hillel Center, took sample Judaic Studies courses at the Greenberg Center, and heard from current Judaic Studies students about their experiences at the University of Hartford. The Zachs Hillel Center for Jewish Life and the Jewish Teen Learning Connection (JTConnect) co-sponsored this event.
Rebecca Brenner Graham is a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University. Previously, she taught at the Madeira School and American University She has a PhD in history and an MA in public history from American University, and a BA in history and philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. In 2023, she was awarded a Cokie Roberts Fellowship from the National Archives Foundation and a Rubenstein Center Research Fellowship from the White House Historical Association. Her writing has been published in The Washington Post, Time, Slate, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She can be found online at RebeccaBrennerGraham com
University of Hartford students visited the Tenement Museum in New York City as part of a day-long field trip with Professors Ayelet Brinn and Amy Weiss
Professors Amy Weiss and Ayelet Brinn lead a discussion about Trust Me: A Novel, winner of the 2024 Edward Lewis Wallant Award, during a community-wide discussion.
EDWARD LEWIS WALLANT AWARD
Scott Nadelson
The Edward Lewis Wallant Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious Jewish literary awards in the United States.
The annual award recognizes an author whose published work of fiction is deemed to have significance for American Jewish history and culture.
The Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies named author Scott Nadelson as the winner of the 2024 Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Trust Me: A Novel. Nadelson teaches at Willamette University, where he holds the Hallie Brown Ford Chair in Writing, and in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University. The award ceremony took place at the University of Hartford on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.
Scott Nadelson has already proven himself to be a master of short fiction through brilliant collections like The Cantor’s Daughter, Aftermath, One
of Us, While it Lasts, and more. Trust Me is an entirely original creation: 52 beautifully moving vignettes capturing a year in the life of a father and daughter navigating middle age and adolescence, parenting and childhood after divorce from the alternating viewpoints of Lewis and his daughter, Skye (aka Sills). With lyrical prose, at times lush and at other moments elliptical, Nadelson paints a portrait of a father and child both coming of age as they recognize their essential sameness and difference. Through skillful third-person limited narration and with chapters that rotate between narrating characters, Nadelson creates the conditions for both a dialogue between father and daughter and an interior monologue through which we are invited into each character’s interior, subject space. Such
double-voicing creates a simultaneity of experience and perspective as father and daughter navigate ways of interacting and renegotiating their worlds. The unpredictability of the natural world is a measure of their own uncertain terrain as together they forge ahead only certain of one thing: their deep connection, as at the novel’s close, the child—by now, a young woman— looks into her father’s face and sees “something strange and fragile—a mirror, she thinks, of her own.” Nadelson’s novel lovingly depicts the tender and the awkward moments between a father and daughter within the beauty of nature and reminds us above all of the value of capturing and cherishing special times and special places together, before they’re gone.
Professor Ayelet Brinn, Marjorie Feldman, Professor Amy Weiss, Avinoam Patt, Scott Nadelson, Josh Lambert, Laurence Waltman, Victoria Aarons, and Megan Mikosz
STUDENT AWARDS
The Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies is pleased to recognize students who received awards for their research and academic distinction.
The following list recognizes student award recipients for the 2024–25 academic year.
Jack and Tillie Bayer Judaic Scholarship
Kai Chau ’25
Hailey D’alessio ’25
MacKenzie Eugene ’25
IIan Sperber ’27
Albert Vargas ’27
Millie and Irving Bercowetz Judaica Scholarship
Max Auerbach ’26
Jerome E. Caplan Memorial/Rogin & Nassau Endowed Scholarship
Avital Lichtenfeld ’26
Beth S. Kaplan Endowed Scholarship
Hilary Bareiss ’25
Elaine Lampert Memorial Scholarship for Judaic Studies
Lily Onderdonk ’26
Rosa Shanes ’25
George J. Sherman and Lottie K. Sherman Endowed Scholarship
Samuel Vilk ’25
Judith P. Wolfson Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Sam Archambault ’25
Harvey Gibbs ’24, DPT ’27
Tristan Houle ’26
Professor Amy Weiss, Max Rosenbush ’26, Professor Yifat Avner, Sam Vilk ’25, Lily Onderdonk ’26, Kai Chau ’25, Hilary Bareiss ’25, Office Coordinator Megan Mikosz, and Professory Ayelet Brinn
Professor Amy Weiss, Kai Chau ’25, and Professor Ayelet Brinn
Professor Amy Weiss, Sam Vilk ’25, and Professor Ayelet Brinn
MUSEUM OF JEWISH CIVILIZATION
The Museum of Jewish Civilization, an enterprise of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, is located in the Mortensen Library on the University of Hartford campus. The featured exhibit in the Bruce Singer Gallery during the 2024–25 academic year was “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit.” The exhibit was created by the Center for Jewish History and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
“Jews in Space” was on display from September 2024 - May 2025. It examined how Jews have asked questions about the nature of the solar system from the ancient past to contemporary times. It asked visitors to consider the links between the sciences and the humanities by understanding how Jews have combined religious and literary texts with astronomical and technological discoveries. The exhibit served as an opportunity to tell the history of how humans have questioned the world around them—and above them—and how these inquiries have resulted in great changes. How have Jews used their changing understandings of space to determine holiday calendars? When and why have religious figures updated theological treatises or changed their views on God and creation based on scientific advances? These questions— and their answers—also demonstrated the opportunity for interfaith dialogue, as the exhibit may have challenged or complemented visitors’ understandings of creation narratives and various religions’ origin stories.
Carrie Cushman, Edith Dale Monson Director and Curator of the Joseloff Gallery, and Professor Michael Robinson tour the “Jews in Space” exhibit
The Museum sponsored the following public programs to accompany the exhibit:
SEPTEMBER 18, 2024
Museum Exhibit Open House for the University and Greater Hartford communities.
NOVEMBER 18, 2024
“The Origins of Space: Religious and Scientific Perspectives” with Xandy Frisch, assistant professor of Judaic Studies at George Mason University, David D. Grafton, professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and Paul Slaboch, associate professor and chair of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Acoustical Engineering at the University of Hartford, and Amy Weiss, assistant professor of Judaic Studies and History and the director of the Museum of Jewish Civilization, at the University of Hartford.
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
“Jews in Space on Screen!” with Jennifer Caplan, associate professor and The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Chair in Judaic Studies, at University of Cincinnati.
MARCH 10, 2025
“The Beginnings of Science Fiction: Jewish Culture” with James McDonald, chair of the Department of Physics, at the University of Hartford
“Jews in Space” received funding from CT Humanities, the Feltman Family Fund, the Jewish Community Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, and the NASA Space Grant Consortium Faculty STEM Education Programming Grant. Thank you to our generous sponsors for making this exhibit an “out of this world” experience!
Associate University Counsel, Jason T. Martinez, Esq., tours the “Jews in Space” exhibit
Aidan Wallace ’28 and Sam Jimenez Vizcaino ’26 tour the “Jews in Space” exhibit
DEPARTMENT OF JUDAIC STUDIES
CORE FACULTY
Ayelet Brinn
Amy Weiss Department Chair
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Hazza Abo Rabia
Yifat Avner
Kyra Jenney
OFFICE COORDINATOR
Megan Mikosz
FACULTY NEWS
2024–25
Academic Year
Hazza Abo Rabia, adjunct instructor for Judaic Studies, presented the paper “Cultivating Nationalism: The Literature That Shaped Modern Egypt” at the International Conference on Language, Literature, and Culture (ICLLC-2024), held in December 2024, in Phuket, Thailand.
Ayelet Brinn, assistant professor of Judaic Studies and History and the Philip D. Feltman Professor in Modern Jewish History, taught classes this year on Ancient and Medieval Jewish History, Modern Jewish History, American Jewish History, and Banned Books. Outside of the University, she recently completed a four-year tenure as the co-coordinator of the Center for Jewish History’s Scholars’ Working Group on the American Yiddish Press and a three-year tenure as a member of the executive committee of the American Jewish Historical Society. This year, Professor Brinn published a new article in Studies in American Jewish Literature and presented talks related to her current research on censorship at the American Jewish Historical Society’s Biennial Conference, the Southern Jewish Historical Society’s Annual Conference, and the Association for Jewish Studies’ Annual Conference. This year, Professor Brinn was awarded the University of Hartford’s Belle K. Ribicoff Junior Faculty Prize, which recognizes an outstanding junior faculty member who demonstrates combined excellence in teaching, scholarly or creative activity, and service.
Professor Amy Weiss and students in her First Year Seminar class “Fact or Fiction: World War II in American Literature and Film” celebrate receiving the “Best Demonstration of Creative Thinking” Award at the annual FYS Symposium.
Amy Weiss, assistant professor of Judaic Studies and History and the Maurice Greenberg Chair of Judaic Studies, contributed an essay on “American Judaism from 1900 –1940” to The Palace of Thundering Gods, a forthcoming collaborative open access project on the history of religion in the United States (Stanford University Press). Weiss, as director of the Museum of Jewish Civilization, curated the 2024 – 25 exhibit, “Jews in Space: Members of the Tribe in Orbit.” Related to this work, she received a CT Humanities Implementation Grant and a NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium Faculty STEM Education Program Grant. She also received a Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation Fellowship, a Holocaust Education Foundation of Northwestern University Teaching Grant, a Vincent Coffin Grant, and two Richard J. Cardin Grants. Weiss’s First Year Seminar class, “Fact and Fiction: World War II in American Literature and Film,” received the Best Demonstration of Creative Thinking Award during the fall 2024 FYS Symposium. Weiss also received a Faculty Fellowship from the University of Hartford’s Humanities Center, where she presented her research on media censorship on the Hallmark Channel. She also gave invited talks for the Jewish Theological Seminary alumni summer series and the Newberry Library’s Seminar on Religion and Culture in the Americas.
OFFICE COORDINATOR NEWS
Susan Gottlieb, an office coordinator for the Judaic Studies Department and the School of Communication, retired from the University of Hartford after nearly thirty years of service.
Megan Mikosz is thrilled to have joined the Greenberg Center at the University of Hartford as an office coordinator. Megan graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 2024 with a degree in Hospitality and Tourism. With a background in event planning from CCSU, she plans to continue organizing and coordinating departmental events, meetings, and activities at the University of Hartford. Her role includes ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of departmental offices, and serving as a key point of contact for faculty, staff, and visitors.
STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS
Hilary Bareiss, ’25 Judaic Studies Minor, Reflects on Time at UHart
I came into the University of Hartford with a clear vision of what I wanted to study. I knew I wanted to major in Visual Communication Design at the Hartford Art School, and minor in Judaic Studies. As I continued through my undergraduate journey, I continued to collect courses of study, eventually branching out into additional minors of Printmaking and Art History, as well as taking chemistry courses to prepare for my future.
Through all of this, Judaic Studies became an increasingly influential part of my experience. The classes I have had the opportunity to take through the Greenberg Center have had such amazing variety and are easily among the most influential classes I have taken overall.
In addition to Ancient and Modern Jewish History courses, I took special topics classes about the History of Gender and Race in U.S. Media and the Bible as Literature. I also completed an internship at the local Mandell JCC and an independent study with Professor Ayelet Brinn. These opportunities allowed me to incorporate Judaic Studies into my other areas of interest. I was a curatorial intern for the Mandell JCC, working to create a comprehensive catalog for their diverse art collection. In my independent study, we examined topics such as archiving, collections, and historiography from a uniquely Jewish perspective.
I have received several scholarships for my work within the Judaic Studies Department, such as the Bercowetz Judaica Scholarship, the Jack and Tillie Bayer Judaic
“The classes I have had the opportunity to take through the Greenberg Center have had such amazing variety and are easily among the most influential classes I have taken overall.”
Scholarship, and the Beth S. Kaplan Endowed Scholarship. These awards recognized my dedication and encouraged me to continue my hard work in these classes. They have also allowed me to have the ability to pursue extra opportunities that have fortified my college experience. I have been able to take part in study abroad trips, travel to conferences, and take part in other programs such as the Jewish text study and arts focused Brandeis Camp Institute in California.
I have also received several awards and opportunities from other areas in the University. For instance, as a Dorothy Goodwin Scholar, I worked with Professor Ayelet Brinn as my faculty mentor to develop an exhibit that explored the development of Jewish visual culture throughout the diaspora. This project was an incredible opportunity to have as a sophomore and gave me so much confidence in my abilities and empowered me to never stop striving to understand things from unique perspectives.
Following my work with the scholarship program, I displayed my research in several venues on campus. I displayed my findings associated with the Dorothy Goodwin Scholarship in the Mortensen Library from April to August of 2023. My exhibit then moved to the Museum of Jewish Civilization, where it was on view until February 2024. In fall 2024, I received the Elizabeth Cathles award which supported the research and development of my Art School senior thesis. I created an interactive multi-media installation displayed in the University art gallery that focused on addressing the American loneliness epidemic.
This year, I have also been selected as a recipient for the Emeriti Scholarship, the University Interdisciplinary
Studies Award, a Senior Regents’ Honor Award, as well as the Belle K. Ribicoff Prize. This success and these recognitions are a testament to my tireless work at UHart, but they are also a testament to the support I have received. The faculty in the Greenberg Center have been an endless source of strength and resources that I can always draw from when needed. From advice on real-world issues to support in personal matters, I know that the Greenberg Center will always be a safe space for me and my fellow students.
In the future, I want to ultimately attend graduate school to earn a master’s degree in art conservation.
Providing care to art and artifacts is something that deeply fascinates me. Currently, I am in the process of applying and completing interviews at local art museums to work in their special archives, collections, or research departments. These programs are rigorous and highly competitive, but my time at UHart has prepared me well to approach this field with the interdisciplinary mindset that is so integral to it. There is no doubt to me that my classes as a Judaic Studies minor have helped me to better understand the world around me and how to think critically about issues of all types.
The Greenberg Center Played an Active Role in Laura Lopez’s (’22) College and Post-College Work Experience
I started working at the Greenberg Center during my first semester of my freshman year. I chose to work there because it sounded interesting, but I didn’t know at that time that I was choosing a job that I would hold throughout my undergraduate and graduate education.
Initially, my responsibilities included giving tours at the Museum of Jewish Civilization, located in the Mortenson Library on campus. It was the best job I could have asked for. I got to have some of the most incredible experiences, including meeting Holocaust survivors, hearing about their lives, and sharing their memories with visitors. I was also able to learn about incredibly unique stories from the past and to share them with the community. Doing so helped to build my confidence with public speaking and other communication skills, which I was able to apply to my work as a psychology major.
After I graduated from UHart, I stayed on with the Greenberg Center while I worked on my master’s
degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. During the pandemic, I worked on other projects at the Greenberg Center, but eventually returned to working in the museum. I was able to not only help with tours, but I also helped install exhibits and other displays throughout the Greenberg Center. I am proud to have helped with such great projects that have educated visitors.
“Through personal and educational challenges, I knew I could always count on those at the Greenberg Center to be in my corner.”
I can confidently say that I would not be where I am today without my work at the Greenberg Center. The people that I met there supported me and guided me through these past seven years. Through personal and educational challenges, I knew I could always count on those at the Greenberg Center to be in my corner. I have now graduated with my master’s degree and will very shortly start work as a mental health therapist. I wouldn’t have become the person I am today if seven years ago I hadn’t gone to the campus career fair and applied to work at the Greenberg Center.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Please join us for a lively lineup of programs taking place during the 2025 – 26 academic year, which are free and open to the public. A more complete schedule can be found on the Greenberg Center website.
WEBSITE
hartford.edu/greenberg
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
7 p.m. Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
Fallmann Family Lecture
Author Nina Willner will speak about her book, The Boys in the Light: An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival, Faith, and Brotherhood.
This program is made possible through the generosity of the Rose and Arthur Fallmann Endowment.
The Avon Free Public Library, the Jewish Book Council, the Presidents’ College at the University of Hartford, and Voices of Hope are co-sponsoring this event.
October 2025 through April 2026
An Infinite Journey: The Art of Siona Benjamin
Siona Benjamin is originally from Mumbai, India and currently lives in New Jersey. Her artwork engages with her Jewish upbringing in a mainly Hindu and Muslim India, and how her search for home and belonging can be reflected in the shared experiences of people across the globe.
This exhibit is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford.
Museum of Jewish Civilization, University of Hartford
Finding Home #80 (Lilith)
38 X 26 in. Gouache and gold leaf on wood panel.
© 2006 Siona Benjamin. Courtesy of the artist.
