UCA’s Humanities and World Cultures Institute and UCA’s Department of Philosophy and Religion, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Arkansas and the Jewish Cultural Center at Hendrix College, this week will present sponsor a three-night lecture series exploring Judaism and the Civil Rights Movement in the American South
“Let My People Go! Judaism, Civil Rights, and the American South” will examine the legal, social, and historical responses of Jews towards the widespread injustice against racial and ethnic minorities in the American South during the Civil Rights Era. In addition, the lecture series will serve as a model for future presentations and dialogues concerning the role of religion and public life in Arkansas and the American South.
To serve the citizens of Arkansas with enriching educational programs focusing on cultural connections between religion and public life in the American South, the lecture series will feature three speakers at Hendrix College and UCA on Nov. 5, 6, and 8.
Phil Kaplan, Arkansas Jewish community leader and Little Rock attorney specializing in civil rights cases, will share his experiences as a defender of civil rights in Arkansas’s legal system this Wednesday evening, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., in the Mills Center, Lecture Hall A at Hendrix College.
Charney Bromberg, nationally-known Jewish civil rights activist and former Executive Director of Meretz USA for Israeli Civil Rights and Peace, will speak on lessons learned as a champion of justice and racial understanding in Mississippi in the 1960s on Thursday evening, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the UCA Student Center Ballroom.
Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Director of the History Department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life and Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in Jackson, Miss., will examine the unique relationship between Jews and African-Americans in the American South during the Civil Rights Era on Saturday evening, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in UCA’s Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center.
All lectures are open to the public, and refreshments will be provided.
