Chai-er Learning: U of Toronto at BT Speaker Series
Our 2026-2027 Chai-er Learning lecture series is a collaboration between Beth Tzedec Congregation and University of Toronto’s Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies. We are honoured to showcase expert scholars in the humanities and social sciences, whose research, publishing and teaching explore complexities and challenges of the Jewish experience yesterday and today.
This first session welcomes Dr, Anna Shternshis, Director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, for a presentation and discussion on “Soviet Anti-Zionism: History and Legacy”.
Watch for registration information coming soon.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
March 18 Dr. Robert Brym—Why they Hate Us
April 7 Dr. Allan Verskin—Maimonides and the Identity Crisis of a Jew by Choice
May 5 Dr. Ron Levi—Varieties of Antisemitism, and Varieties of Anti-Antisemitism
Presented in partnership by
Beth Tzedec Congregation and University of Toronto’s Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies
Anna Shternshis is the Director of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies
She is a distinguished scholar with an international reputation for her expertise in Jewish culture in Russia and the Soviet Union, oral history as well as Yiddish music.
Professor Shternshis is the author of Soviet and Kosher: Jewish Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1923 – 1939 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006) and When Sonia Met Boris: An Oral History of Jewish Life under Stalin (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017). She is the author of more than 25 articles on the Soviet Jews during World War II, Russian Jewish culture, post-Soviet Jewish diaspora and Yiddish culture of the Holocaust. Professor Shternshis lectures widely around the world and her work has been featured in print media in 45 countries in 22 languages. Her most recent project, Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of WWII, highlights forgotten Yiddish music written during the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. The project has received widespread acclaim, including a Grammy nomination in 2019. She is also the recipient of several awards, including Guggenheim Fellowship and the University of Toronto President’s Impact Award.
Professor Shternshis was appointed as the Special Advisor to the Dean on Community Engagement in March 2020. As Special Advisor, she will provide advice to the Dean on matters related to the strategic priority of increasing community engagement. She will assist in evaluating opportunities for partnership, including working with external organizations and advisory groups. She will also help increase the Faculty’s profile in the community and enrich opportunities for students and faculty, especially related to experiential learning and innovative scholarship.
