Francesco Spagnolo

http://www.google.com/profiles/spagnoloacht

• Posts: 16

Dispatches from the Magnes Working Group on Modern Jewish Culture: An Inquisition Effigy Doll

The Working Group on Modern Jewish Culture is an exciting new initiative of The Magnes, supported by the Townsend Center for the Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley. The Working Group meets monthly, and benefits from the participation of faculty, Magnes curators, and graduate students in Jewish Studies and other area studies. Its ongoing [...]

Spanish Work: Translating the Magnes Collection

As if on an “autopilot” of sorts, I have been continuously adapting (and at times, translating) collection information created over the decades at The Magnes from a German-dominated view of Jewish life to a more, how can I say, ecumenical one. (That is to say, one that reflects a more current state of Jewish studies [...]

Between History and Mistery: Imaging “The Synagogue of the Chinese Jews” (1827)

I am delighted to share a guest post by Albert Wu, PhD candidate in the Department of History at UC Berkeley. It resulted from conversations we started at THATCamp Bay Area 2011 (a digital humanities conference we both attended), and continued with a shared exploration of the holdings of The Magnes, both online and on [...]

One Internship, Ten Spice Containers

By Ekaterina Kalashnikova Graduate Student in Cultural Anthropology, Oulu University, Finland As a student of Cultural Anthropology at Oulu University in Finland, I am delighted to have had the opportunity to carry out an Internship at The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life this Fall. It was very exciting for me to experience first-hand [...]

With a Little Help From Your Colleagues. Creating and Archiving Exhibitions With Collaborative Digital Tools

In this post, I am presenting a step-by-step description of how the recent exhibition of The Magnes, Gained in Translation: Jews, Germany, California circa 1849 (on view in the Rotunda Gallery of The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, until July 1st), was created, and its information archived online, with the help of [...]

“This Night, We All Recline.” The Magnes Collection Passover Survival Guide

The symbology of Passover, the Festival of freedom, liberation, emancipation, or self-determination – depending on how one interprets the Hebrew definition of the celebration, חג החרות, chag ha-cherut – is difficult to escape. Ritual objects and material culture do not shy away from these interpretations, and instead enhance them by pointing to the practical implications [...]

The Great and The Small: Purim & The Magnes Collection

Purim Greetings from China. JWB (The Jewish War Bond), postcard, 1940′s Alvin I. Fine papers, 1848-1962, WJHC 1977.002 The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library [image file: wjhc1977-002-001] The spirit of Purim is high with The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life! So, let’s bring on the metaphors… (And, if [...]

Between Past and Future: The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Comes to Bancroft (Bancroftiana, Fall 2010)

Frances Dinkelspiel tells the history of the Judah L. Magnes Museum and the establishment of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at The Bancroft Library in the Fall 2010 edition of Bancroftiana, Newsletter of the Friends of The Bancroft Library. Share and Enjoy:

To Cherish the Fruit of a Beautiful Tree: Etrog Containers in the Magnes Collection

The etrog (Heb. אתרוג, citrus fruit) is one of the “Four Species” used during the rituals relating to the Festival of Sukkot (or Tabernacles). Following rabbinic interpretations (based on the Mishnah and the Talmud, Sukkah), the “Four Species” (a date palm frond, myrtle and willow branches, and an etrog) are typically acquired during the days between Yom Kippur [...]

Closer To Home: A Cultural History of Jews in California (Casden Institute’s Annual Review, vol. 7)

Congratulations to the Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life (USC) for publishing the seventh volume of its Annual Review (August 2010). A Cultural History of Jews in California, edited by Bruce Zuckerman with William Deverell (guest editor) and Lisa Ansell (associate editor) covers a topic that is defined as [...]