Fairfield University Bennett Center for Judaic Studies announces fall lecture lineup

The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University will host a series of lectures this fall featuring guest scholars and religious leaders. The upcoming schedule focuses on Jewish history, ethical values, and religious observances.

Led by director Yaron Ayalon, the center aims to offer learning experiences for the campus community. Dr. Ayalon, who joined the university as director in September 2025, also serves as a professor of religious studies and holds a doctorate in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University.

The fall lineup begins on Tuesday, September 22, with a presentation by Sari Siegel, a visiting scholar at the Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research at the University of Southern California. Her lecture, titled “Jewish Prisoner-Physicians in Auschwitz-Birkenau,” takes place at 5:30 p.m. in the Dogwood Room at the Barone Campus Center.

On Tuesday, October 6, Dr. Ayalon will join Gavriel Rosenfeld, president of the Center for Jewish History in New York City and a Fairfield University history professor, for a 7:00 p.m. discussion in the Dogwood Room. Their talk will cover the evolution of Jewish power and highlight Dr. Ayalon’s research.

The Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Lecture is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, at 5:30 p.m. in the Kelley Presentation Room. The event features University of Michigan scholars Aaron Rock-Singer, a historian of the modern Middle East, and Cara Rock-Singer, an assistant professor of Judaic studies.

The series continues on Thursday, November 12, with the Joan and Henry Katz Lecture in Judaic Studies at 7:30 p.m. in the Kelley Presentation Room. Marc Dollinger, an author and chairholder in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University, will speak on American Jewish-Black relations.

The programming concludes with the 29th Annual Jacoby-Lunin Humanitarian Lecture on Thursday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business Event Hall. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will deliver a presentation on ethics, leadership, and social justice titled “A Moral Emergency: What Judaism Demands of Us Today.”

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Fairfield University Bennett Center for Judaic Studies announces fall lecture lineup