Sunday, November 9th, 2025
9:00 AM Pacific | 10:00 AM Mountain | 11:00AM Central | 12:00 PM Eastern
JOIN US, Sunday November 9th, 2025 for a discussion of the research behind the book
“From New Christians to New Jews: Seventeenth-Century Spanish Texts in Defense of Judaism” by Dr. Matthew Warshawsky, a past president of SCJS.
In six essays, Warshawsky explores the issues of Jewish identity and survival during the Inquisition period shared by six different Iberian authors of the Diaspora, including arguments for open advocacy for Judaism to personal laments about justice and suffering. His is a rare insight into the thoughts and feelings of those who had to deal with the Expulsion, expressed through poems, sonnets and letters. His research supports the idea these contributions be considered among the best examples of trans-Atlantic literature.
Matthew Warshawsky (PhD, Ohio State University) is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Portland, where he has taught since 2002. His expertise ranges from introductory Spanish language to courses about the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian cultures of medieval Spain; women authors of Golden Age Spain; Don Quixote; Spanish literature from the Baroque era to the present; and Latin American Jewish literature and culture.
Most recently, he is the author of the monograph From New Christians to New Jews: Seventeenth-Century Spanish Texts in Defense of Judaism (Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, 2024). His collaboration with students has led to coauthored publications in peer-reviewed journals of undergraduate research on the literature of Iberian authors of Jewish origin. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, and previously has served on the national screening committee for Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships to Spain and as vice president of conference programs for the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies. In January 2026, he will start a fourth term as chair of the Department of International Languages and Cultures at the University of Portland.
