American Anthropological Association

Julie Koppel Maldonado has submitted the following report on a memorial lecture honoring Ruth Fredman Cernea, presented by the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists (WAPA) on November 1.

Jonathan Boyarin, PhD, JD, Leonard and Tobee Kaplan Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, spoke to a crowd of 250 people on “The Anthropology of Jews and the Jews in Anthropology” at the Ruth F. Cernea Memorial Lecture at 3:00 pm on Sunday, Nov 1, at the Katzen Arts Center’s Recital Hall, American U. The audience included Ruth’s family, members of the anthropological community, friends and others interested in the topic.

The Memorial Lecture honored the late Ruth Fredman Cernea, PhD, a cultural anthropologist and scholar of the Jewish Diaspora, and author of several books on Jewish culture, symbols and history. She was also a past president and long-time active member of WAPA. More than 20 years of research and interviews went into her most recent book, Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma (2007). Her other books include The Great Latke-Hamantash Debate (2006), The Passover Seder: Afikoman in Exile (1995; original 1981), and she was the long-time editor of the Hillel Guide to Jewish Life on Campus, an annual guide for students and families.

Anthropologist Judith Friedenberg and Rabbi Max Ticktin began the event with remembrances of Ruth as a friend and an anthropologist. They discussed Ruth’s lifework and contributions to anthropology and Jewish studies, mentioning her particular ability never to lose track of her personal life while pursuing her scholarly work.

Jonathan Boyarin’s lecture linked to these ideas in discussing how it is possible to be in and of the thing one sets out to analyze. He discussed the suppressed discourse in anthropology of talking about Jewishness and talking about the ethnographer’s self. The event was a commemoration and celebration to honor Ruth Fredman Cernea, who, in the words of Dr. Boyarin, worked within and for the community she studied.

This was the first time WAPA honored the memory and research of a departed member by organizing a public memorial lecture. The lecture was co-sponsored by the American U Anthropology Dept, American U Jewish Studies Program, U Maryland Anthropology Dept, U Maryland Hillel Center, Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Society for Applied Anthropology, and US ASEAN Business Council’s Project for Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue. Additional support was provided by the University of Chicago Press.

Filed under: Events and Exhibits Tagged: | Washington Area Practicing Anthropologists