"Oud Therapy: Jewish Music, Representation, and Diversity Post-October 7th  2023"

Join us at 6:30 p.m. for snacks and tea, followed by Miranda's presentation at 7:00 p.m. The event is free but registration is requested here.

Miranda Crowdus invites us to explore her journey discovering the fabulous oud and all its musical intricacies and capabilities of enhancing beautiful Jewish texts, as well as the musical repertoires and geo-spatial imaginaries associated with them! Musical and sonic (re)animation can articulate intricate states of Jewish religious and spiritual values, and boundaries of intra-Jewish identity and belonging that can powerfully transcend recent hegemonic polarizations and anti-Jewish rhetoric in the public sphere. This talk explores how exploring Jewish diversity through music and discovering new instruments and musicality can be a cathartic and powerful tool for building bridges, strengthening community, and imagining a better future. This talk also moves towards mobilizing the practice of music for well-being regardless of positionality, or musical training, so that such paths can be accessible to all.

Miranda Crowdus is an assistant professor at the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University where she also holds the Research Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies. Crowdus’ research interests lie at the intersection of ethnomusicology and Jewish Studies. She earned her doctorate at City University London in 2016. She was a research associate at the European Centre for Jewish Music in Hanover, Germany. Her book Hip Hop in Urban Borderlands was published in 2018. She is currently working on a DFG-funded project "Rethinking Jewish Cultural Heritage in Europe: Jewish Transformations Through Reparative Response and Creative Encounter."