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 2026
Thursdays, 18:00-19:00 **unless otherwise stated
Catherine Lewis Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Institute, Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HG
Most 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, 15 October
No David Patterson lecture this week. Instead the Tenth Edward Ullendorff Memorial Lecture will take place at 6pm. Please see further information elsewhere in this website.
Week 2, 22 October
Dr Hillel Feuerstein (Hamburg University)
Farther Away, Larger Still: Rumors, Traditions, and Reports about the Zohar in the Aftermath of the Spanish Expulsion
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/m474jMhBTkKRJ0eLr1L6Bw
**Week 3, 29 October (in person only), 5pm Joint session with the Voltaire Foundation
Professor Shmuel Feiner (Bar-Ilan University)
The emotional experience of Jewish secularisation
Week 4, 5 November
Dr Ben Notis (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
A Snippet of Stars: The Night Sky in the Poetry of Solomon Ibn Gabirol
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jiNr5nVrTPOITwhqG4NEwQ
Week 5, 12 November
Professor Gary Rendsburg (Rutgers University)
The Bible Does Not Come with Pictures: Egypt Does!
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xubicgrpQhq09mTM0SJMlQ
Week 6, 19 November
Dr David Segev (Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo)
Beyond the Conversion: A New Intellectual Biography of Israel Zoller (1881-1956)
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/N3f7DuaNQ2-D4JucQ27_eQ
Week 7, 26 November
Professor Laurent Mignon (Oxford)
Mario Levi’s Jacques Brel:On Literature and the Weight of Language
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pM7Jq891R1Sp17jqgX9bJw
Week 8, 3 December
Professor Anna Shternshis (University of Toronto)
Seeking Justice, Mourning the Dead, and Living to Spite Their Enemies: Soviet Jewish Life after the Holocaust, 1945–1953
In order to participate in this lecture via Zoom, please register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/eAmCUqPNQbqiOSJAWUkVaQ