The David Patterson Lectures, named in honour of the Centre’s Founder President, occur weekly during Oxford terms and are open to the public. Please find a list of this term’s lecture titles listed below.
To watch a selection of previously recorded David Patterson Lectures, please click here. If you have any queries about the lectures, please contact Ms Priscilla Lange at academic.administrator@ochjs.ac.uk.
Lectures will be presented in a hybrid format which will be accessible both online (see below) and in person in the Catherine Lewis Lecture Room (refreshments to follow). No need to register if attending in person.
Michaelmas Term 2025
Thursdays (**unless otherwise stated), 18:00-19:00
Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Institute, Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HG
All lectures will be presented in a hybrid format, which will be accessible both online (see below) and in person in the Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre. Refreshments to follow. All are welcome to attend.
Week 1, 16 October
Professor Yoram Meital (Ben-Gurion University), Beyond Bricks and Mortar: Synagogues and Jewish Life and Heritage in Cairo
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DQoPjwnUQuy5QkK8Px4NuQ
Week 2, 23 October
Dr Aadel Shakkour (Al-Qasemi Academy), Opting for Literalism: Foreignizing Arabic Idioms into Hebrew to Enhance the Prestige of Arab Culture
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_JqsyinIR22yI0Wibkw-kw
Week 3, 30 October
No Lecture. A concert will take place at the Maison Française d’Oxford. Please see further information here.
Week 4, 6 November
Dr Emily Rose (Academic Visitor, OCHJS), A Bleeding Corpse, A Grim Grimm Fairy Tale with Early Modern Shivers: The Dubious Margaret of Pforzheim (1267), A Singular Female Blood Libel
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AzgkbRIJSs-F3V1LTd-qhQ
Week 5, 13 November
Dr Miriam Feldmann Kaye (Bar Ilan University)
TBC
Week 6, 20 November
Professor Dr Patrick Koch (University of Hamburg), Between Miracle Worker and Divine Agent: Isaac Luria and the Making of Lurianic Hagiography
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/q_SOsN9aTiOlXoFzMeLdDg
Week 7, 27 November
Professor Susanne Marten-Finnis (University of Portsmouth), Zamość – an Experiment in Geopolitical Engineering. The Sephardic Community in Late-Sixteenth-Century Poland and the Interplay between Geography, Diasporic Agency, and Trade
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jNY8lqpwR5mCIoGoC4JrTA
Week 8, 4 December
Dr Amir Banbaji (Ben Gurion University), Beyond Ornament: The Shifting Role of Melitsah in Hebrew Thought from the Middle Ages to the Haskalah
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ma–NYzkQp–UVgfOonzBg