In the field of diaspora studies, theoretical paradigms have often been based on the historical experience of Jewish people living outside of their homeland in the ancient, medieval and modern eras. While almost every description of the “Jewish diaspora” commences with an account of the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE, the first Jewish Diaspora communities with substantial evidence are those that ringed the Mediterranean in the late Hellenistic and Roman periods.

On Wednesday, March 11, former Brock University President Jack Lightstone will present on surveying the principal dominant cultural and social patterns of these communities and asks how these patterns may have contributed to these communities’ sustainability in a diaspora setting.

The event, Strategies of Sustainability of Diaspora Communities: Take the Jewish Graeco-Roman Diaspora, for Example, takes place in Rankin Family Pavilion Room 214 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. with refreshments provided.

Interested guests must RSVP to Irene M. F. Blayer at iblayer@brocku.ca or Lissa Paul at lpaul@brocku.ca

The Diaspora Inter-Crossings Speaker Series launched in 2014 typically hosts speakers from outside of Brock, including those from other Canadian universities, as well as speakers from Brazil, the Caribbean, Portugal and the U.S.