50th Anniversary Celebration

Fifty years ago, UCL elevated its traditional Hebrew studies, established in 1826, to an independent Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, as we all know it today. 

Since then we have remained the only university department in the UK dedicated exclusively to the field of Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

The Department’s 50th anniversary celebration and ten-year memorial tribute to Professor John Klier on 7 February was a wonderful night full of new friends and familiar faces. 

The evening was opened by Head of Department Sacha Stern and followed by several illuminating talks including the keynotes from David Ruderman of the University of Pennsylvania, and Philip Alexander of the University of Manchester. Punctuating our occasion were rousing Yiddish song performances by alumna Rachel Weston.