5th Annual Padnos Public Engagement Lecture on Jewish Learning: How Women Changed American Religion

Name: 5th Annual Padnos Public Engagement Lecture on Jewish Learning: How Women Changed American Religion
Start: 2025-02-27T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-02-27T20:30:00-05:00
Location: Loosemoore Auditorium – Richard M. Devos Center, Grand Valley State University

February 27 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EST

Free

How Women Changed American Religion: A Jewish Perspective

5th Annual Padnos Public Engagement Lecture on Jewish Learning

Guest Speaker: Karla Goldman (University of Michigan)

The 2025 Padnos Lecture, delivered by Professor Karla Goldman (University of Michigan) explores how American Judaism has been shaped by general societal expectations for women’s religious behavior and by new active roles Jewish women took on within their religious institutions. Major changes that took place included the restructuring of synagogue architecture with the removal of the women’s gallery, the redefinition of community through women’s volunteerism, and the introduction of women’s religious leadership, which also challenged conventional theology. Historically and today, American Judaism — in dialogue with American society and other models of religious practice — has constantly evolved and transformed in an effort to match the ever-moving target of gendered expectations for religious behavior and practice.

Dr. Goldman’s research focuses on the history of the American Jewish experience with special attention to the history of American Jewish communities and the evolving roles and contributions of American Jewish women. She directs the University of Michigan Jewish Communal Leadership Program, a collaborative effort between the School of Social Work and the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies.

RSVP here to attend: http://gvsu.edu/interfaith/padnos2025