“” is hosted by , associate professor of history, and , professor of international studies and director of the , which is in the 91̽»¨Jackson School of International Studies.

As Marhoefer says in the first episode, the series is “a deep dive podcast on stuff that matters now in Jewish life, politics, history and culture — from a scholarly perspective.”

Each of five episodes features a 91̽»¨faculty member. The series begins with history professor talking with Marhoefer and Pianko about anti-Semitism in the United States and the “historical amnesia,” as Glenn said, Americans seem to have about their country’s anti-Semitic past.

Pianko said events of recent years such as the Charlottesville, Virginia, “Unite the Right” rally and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting have affected colleagues on scholarly and personal levels. Since many Stroum Center affiliates teach and conduct research related to anti-Semitism, he said, it made a fitting topic for the podcast series.

“As a historian, I recognized anti-Semitism as a part of American history,” Pianko said. “However, the scholarly narrative of American Jewish history focused on the exceptional nature of the American Jewish experience. The U.S. never experienced the same degree of anti-Semitism or persecution that shaped the European Jewish experience.

“Watching recent events unfold has challenged the assumption of American exceptionalism and raised a host of new scholarly questions with very broad public implications,” Pianko said.

In subsequent episodes:

• Marhoefer discusses the rise of Nazi Germany and asks: Can it happen here?
• , professor of Spanish and Portuguese studies, explores how anti-Semitism has changed over time
• , associate professor of history and Jewish studies, examines Jewish prejudice against other Jews; and
• , associate professor of history, discusses Russian anti-Semitism experienced by 19th-century Jewish settlers to Ottoman Palestine.

“Jewish Questions” is produced, recorded and edited by Stroum Center communications manager. The podcast series is funded by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Seattle and by the center.

For more information, contact Marhoefer at marl@uw.edu. Pianko at npianko@uw.edu or Schoonmaker at kschoon@uw.edu.

Gómez-Bravo is a professor in the . Her book “Comida y cultura en el mundo hispánico” — “” — was published in October by Equinox Publishing.

The book is designed to serve advanced high school students and those taking third- and fourth-year Spanish at the university level. It’s the first such textbook to use food as the starting point from which to help students learn the language and acquire cultural literacy.

Gómez-Bravo, who has taught Spanish for years and has led study-abroad student tours to Spain, said the book’s inspiration flowed from both of those experiences.

“Teaching culture through the lens of food enables the discussion of many different topics in the classroom,” she said, “from literature and social and cultural issues to the environment, religion and politics.

“Food is a common interest that all students share and understand is an important part of any culture. The book allows them to learn more about all of these important topics while discovering the world around them in ways that they find surprising and engaging.”

Each chapter has a reading on a key topic — Aztec food practices, for instance — followed by shorter sections covering “concepts or artifacts” related to the main topic. All chapters include color photographs, literary texts and suggestions of video, audio and web links where students can learn more.

The chapter titles show a wide diversity of topics: “Dietary Laws and Religious persecution,” “Movie Food: Cultural Identities,” “Chocolate and the Aztec World,” “Central America and the Mayan Contributions,” “Cooking and Intercultural Relationships,” “Carnivores and Vegetarians,” “Gastronomic Maps: Spain” and more.

This is the third book by Gómez-Bravo; her first two were about another specialty of hers — the study of 15^th century poetry.

An accomplished cook in her own right, Gómez-Bravo said in a 2012 departmental that she owns hundreds of cookbooks. She said when she moved to the 91̽»¨from Purdue University in 2012 she got rid of many books, “but all the cookbooks came with me. You never get rid of a cookbook.”

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For more information, contact Gómez-Bravo at 206-685-1426 or agbravo@uw.edu.