🌟 Co-sponsored by UC Davis Jewish Studies, Middle East/ South Asia Studies, the Department of Music, and the Department of Religion, Culture, and Society.

The Bene Israel are a Jewish community from
western India who, over centuries, developed a distinctive identity in relation to other Jewish and non-
Jewish communities, translating their sounds, words, and practices to have uniquely Marathi Jewish
meanings. Schultz explores sonic, embodied
translation among the Bene Israel through the
metaphor of the echo: a resonant, transformative,
relational phenomenon. Singing this repertoire
teaches singers and listeners not only how to be
Jewish, but how to be Bene Israel. It also fosters
sociality, providing a medium through which women
echo one another, sharing cultural expertise while
securing affective ties.
Co-sponsored by Jewish Studies, Middle East/ South
Asia Studies, the Department of Music, and the
Department of Religion, Culture, and Society.

Featured Speaker

Professor Anna Schultz

ANNA C. SCHULTZ is Professor of Music and the Arts and Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she is also an Associated Faculty Member in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, a Member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a Member of the Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies. She is currently serving as Department Chair. Her first book, Singing a Hindu Nation, was published by Oxford University Press in 2013. Her second book, Echoes of Translation: Audibility and Relationality in Indian Jewish Women’s Song, was published by OUP in 2026. Schultz also writes on race, place, and gender in American country music.