Upcoming Events

Join UNC Asheville Professors Dr. Ken Betsalel and Dr. Dwight Mullen for a conversation on the relationship between love and power in the writings of Martin Buber and Martin Luther King Jr. Explore political imagination and the role of the arts. Free and open to all.

February 18, 5:30 PM, Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall

UNC Asheville Campus

Parking information: https://parking.unca.edu/parking-permits/

Campus Map: https://maps.unca.edu/

With/In Sight: A Concert of Dance

This unique dance program explores the intersection of movement and spirituality, drawing inspiration from Jewish values of holiness, introspection, and community. The performance includes pieces that highlight the power of Hebrew letters, the universal experience of life transitions, and the Kabbalistic connection between breath and soul. The evening offers a profound reflection on spirituality in dance.

Three performances

February 22, 23, and 24 at 7:30

Asheville Jewish Community Center

Tickets are $20 in advance and $23 at the door.

Link to purchase tickets.

Presented by Dance and Spirituality, this event is co-sponsored by the Asheville JCC, Congregation Beth Israel, St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, Deerfield Charity Foundation, Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville, and private sponsors.

Existentialism is a popular course offered by many philosophy departments in the United States which asks poignant questions about the meaning of human existence. Existentialism is usually presented as a philosophical and literary movement involving both theistic and atheistic thinkers.

Unfortunately, the representative theistic existentialists are frequently restricted to Christian thinkers, thereby ignoring important work by some important Jewish existentialists. All too often, Jewish existentialists have been neglected in this way, or even written out of the history of existentialism altogether.

This talk will highlight the important work of three Jewish existentialists: Lev Shestov, Martin Buber, and Benjamin Fondane. Each thinker offers significant and original contributions to existentialism and unique inquiries and insights that remain relevant and merit our attention today.

March 5, 5:30 PM, Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall

UNC Asheville Campus,

Parking information: https://parking.unca.edu/parking-permits/

Campus Map: https://maps.unca.edu/

The Center for Jewish Studies at UNC Asheville invites you to the 2025 Phyllis Sollod Lecture, “Queer Judaism,” presented by Dr. Orit Avishai of Fordham University.

The lecture will explore the experiences of Orthodox LGBTQ+ individuals in Israel, highlighting their efforts to reconcile sexual and gender identities within the framework of Orthodox Judaism.

Dr. Avishai will discuss how these individuals have created new modes of being Orthodox Jews, challenging and aligning with traditional practices, and offer insights applicable to American Jewish communities.

The event is scheduled for March 20 at 7:00 PM in the Highsmith Blue Ridge Room on the UNC Asheville campus.

This talk is free and open to everyone.

Parking information: https://parking.unca.edu/parking-permits/

Campus Map: https://maps.unca.edu/

Dr. Orit Avishai is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University, where she also serves as an ethnographer. Her recent book, “Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel,” was published by NYU Press.