This year, the full group sessions (8:15-9:15 pm) explore 
Cosmopolitan Jewish Communities at the Edge of Modernity.

The sessions will cover three of the large Jewish communities that developed in central and western Europe in the centuries after the expulsion of Jews from Spain. These communities were significant for their rich cultural and social diversity, intellectual and religious vibrancy, and their engagement with the non-Jewish world.

This first session, presented on February 5, explored 
The Jewish Community of Amsterdam
presented by Dr. Dean P. Bell.

The second session, on February 12, explored
The Jewish Community of Venice 
presented by Dr. Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern. 

The third session, on February 19, will explore
The Jewish Community of Prague 
presented by Dr. Benjamin Frommer.

Dr. Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern is the Crown Family Professor of Jewish Studies in the History Department at Northwestern University. He has been a Rothschild Fellow at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an Associate Fellow at The Davis Center for Russian Studies at Harvard University. He publishes regularly on comparative literature and Jewish history.