My research is a comparative ethnographic exploration of the process of migration and its result in the diasporic experience. I have ethnographically focused on Jewish cultures in the "new" Europe, half a century after the Holocaust. Thus I have been dealing primarily with the aftermath of both genocide and colonialism in French urban society , and the integration of cultural diversity and of variable historical memories. My study of these historical processes has been focused on the ethnographic analysis of the relation between kinship and ethnicity, of collective memory, of post-migration religious practice, and of urban semiotics.
At Indiana University I have taught courses in Jewish ethnography, collective memory, European ethnography, migration and diaspora, and social theory. These courses have been taught at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Education
- Doctorate in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris (1981)
- Diploma in International Relations, Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales, University of Paris Law School (1979)
- Martse (Master of Arts) in Sociology, University of Paris-Sorbonne (1976)
- Outstanding Young Faculty Award, Indiana University, 1991-92
Geographical Areas of Specialization
Europe and North Africa.
Topical Interests
Jewish ethnography in Europe and North Africa, European ethnography, social anthropology of kinship and gender, ethnicity and migration, religion in urban society, collective memory, French social thought.
Current Courses
- E371/E600 Modern Jewish Culture and Society
Selected Publications
Books
1996; The Architecture of Memory, Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
1983; Le culte de la Table Dressée, rites et traditions de la table juive algérienne. Paris: Editions A.M. Métailié.
1994; The Sephardic Jew as Mediterranean? A View From Kinship and Gender. In Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 4(2): 197-207.
1993; Remembering the Domestic Space: A Symbolic Return of Sephardic Jews. In Going Home, J. Kugelmass, ed., Y.I.V.O. Annual, vol.21, pp. 133-150. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
1989; From a Muslim Banquet to a Jewish Seder. In Arabs and Jews: Contacts and Boundaries, Udovitch A., Cohen M., eds., pp.85-95. Princeton: Darwin Press.
1983; Nourritures de l'altérité: le double langage des juifs d'Algérie. In Annales, E.S.C., March-April, 2:325-340.
