Jews and the American West: Violence, Race, and Masculinity

Video available now: https://youtu.be/KdrTYx04AvQ

David S. Koffman (York University) and Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University) in conversation with Caroline Luce (UCLA)

This webinar brings together David S. Koffman (York University), author of The Jews’ Indian, and Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University), author of Masculinity and the Making of American Judaism, in dynamic conversation with host Caroline Luce (UCLA) about Jews’ relationship to the physical and discursive landscapes of the American west. How did the American colonial project shape Jewish ideas about masculinity, morality, and violence? How has the figure of the Jewish frontiersman been used to advance ideologies of belonging, both in the U.S. and around the world? Using historical materials drawn from their research, together they consider western Jewish subjectivity and the place of “the frontier” in American Jewish history.