Sacred Light: Conversation with Deena Aranoff and Mahjabeen Dhala
Dec 5 @ 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
AN IN PLAIN SIGHT: JEWISH ARTS AND LIVES IN THE MUSLIM WORLD PROGRAM
Join the Magnes and the Madrasa/Midrasha Program of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) for Sacred Light, a conversation with Dr. Deena Aranoff, GTU’s Director of the Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, and Dr. Madjabeen Dhala, GTU’s Director of the Madrasa/Midrasha Program and Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies. as they explore the richness, diversity, differences, and commonalities of the Jewish and Islamic traditions.
Thursday, December 5, 2024 | 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
In person at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA
Program will include:
- Gallery tour of In Plain Sight: Jewish Arts and Lives in the Muslim World with Magnes Curator Francesco Spagnolo
- Reflections by Mahjabeen Dhala and Deena Aranoff, faculty of the Graduate Theological Union and the Madrasa/Midrasha Program
- Brown bag lunch
Space limited to 25 attendees.
If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at magnes@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 643-2526 with as much advance notice as possible.
Dr. Deena Aranoff is Faculty Director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. She teaches rabbinic literature, medieval patterns of Jewish thought, and the broader question of continuity and change in Jewish history. Her recent publications engage with the subject of childcare, maternity and the making of Jewish culture.
Dr. Mahjabeen Dhala is Director of the Madrasa-Midrasha Program and Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. She is GTU’s past Chair of Women’s Studies in Religion. As a religious leader and pilgrim guide, she has spent the last couple of decades studying and learning with and from Muslim communities across the global north and south.
About the exhibition
Co-curated by Magnes Curator Dr. Francesco Spagnolo and scholar of Islamic art Dr. Qamar Adamjee, In Plain Sight: Jewish Arts and Lives in the Muslim World shares a selection of artworks and objects from the Magnes’s permanent collection that challenge common views about historical dualities and creative engagement among Muslim and Jewish artists and patrons. The exhibition highlights rootedness in diaspora, shared graphic forms and visual landscapes, attitudes towards sacred texts and human bodies, and networks of trade and knowledge exchange, all centering around the fundamental role of light in Jewish and Muslim prayer space.
About the Madrasa/Midrasha Program
The Madrasa/Midrasha Program explores the richness, diversity, differences, and commonalities of the Jewish and Islamic traditions. A collaborative effort between the GTU’s Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies and its Center for Islamic Studies, the program seeks to advance study, dialogue, and understanding on Jewish and Islamic texts and contexts within academia and the larger public. In addition to offering cross-cultural academic courses to GTU students, the program offers workshops, lectures, and panel discussions to the public at large in the greater San Francisco Bay area. Dr. Deena Aranoff is Director of the Dinner Center for Jewish Studies; Dr. Madjabeen Dhala is Director of the Madrasa/Midrasha Program and Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies.
The Magnes’s programs and exhibitions are supported by our community. Click here to make a donation.
