eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
The Sephardic Studies Program and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies are excited to offer Ladino Language and Culture for the first time this summer at the University of Washington! In this class, students will:
- Acquire basic reading and writing skills in Ladino.
- Master the basics of Modern Ladino vocabulary, grammar and syntax.
- Read and translate simple folkloric and literary texts in modern Ladino, including songs, proverbs, short stories and plays, and newspaper articles, both in Hebrew characters as well as in Romanization.
- Gain insights into the historical, linguistic, and social-cultural factors that influenced the development of Modern Ladino.
- Participate in the only university-level Ladino language course in the United States!
Those interested in Jewish Studies; Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; Middle East Studies; Spanish and other Romance languages; linguistics; culture; literature; history; and many other subjects and disciplines — especially the intersections of these subjects — will find this course of great interest.
Course details
- Offered both A-term (June 22 – July 22, 2020) and B-term (July 23 – Aug 21, 2020).
- Offered as JEW ST 289, 5 credits I&S
- Meets MTWTh from 1:10 pm – 3:20 pm.
- Open to current UW students, visiting undergraduate and graduate students, adults and professionals, faculty and postdoctoral fellows, international students, and U.S. high school students.
- May not be repeated for credit.
- No prerequisites.
- For detailed tuition rates, click here. Be sure to scroll down for scholarship opportunities!
- Register here.
About the instructor: David Bunis
David Bunis is the chair of Ladino Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was a visiting professor at the University of Washington in 2013-2014. He is the world’s leading authority in the field of Ladino linguistics and one of most notable instructors of the language in the world. Professor Bunis received his PhD in Linguistics from Columbia University and has published extensively on Ladino, including in the fields of sociocultural linguistics, language and politics, and translation studies, including the translations of important Ladino texts from the 16th to 20th centuries. He has also authored a highly regarded Ladino language textbook and is an expert in soletreo, the traditional Sephardic Hebrew cursive script.
Scholarship opportunities
We are happy to offer generous Ladino language study grants to both non-resident UW students and non-resident visiting students (up to $5,000) and to current resident UW students and resident non-UW students (up to $1,000). Priority applications are due April 15th; all applications are due May 15th. Please apply here. For questions about the application, please contact Makena Mezistrano (makflo@uw.edu).
