{"nodes":[{"node":{"nid":"79471","title":"The Salo Wittmayer Baron Dissertation Award in Jewish Studies Lecture: \u0027Undesirables in the Diamond Horseshoe:\u202fA Jewish History of the New York Opera Industry\u0027 with Samantha M. Cooper","campus":"Online event, Off campus","locations":"Temple Chai and Online","college_unit":"Center for Jewish Studies, Jewish Studies, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences","department":"","field_cost_value":"Free","event_price_level":"Free","asu_events_price_desc":"Free","body_summary":"\u003Cp\u003EWinner of the Salo Wittmayer Baron Dissertation Award, Samantha M.\u003C\/p\u003E","full_body":"\u003Cp\u003EWinner of the Salo Wittmayer Baron Dissertation Award, Samantha M. Cooper presents her research \u003Cspan\u003Eon the overlooked role of Jews in New York\u0027s opera industry. Drawing on archival sources, oral histories and the contemporary press, she traces Jewish involvement in shaping the city\u0027s operatic world between the founding of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1880 and its sale to the public in 1940. Her talk offers a fresh perspective on the intersection of Jewish history, immigration, culture and the performing arts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis event will be recorded and available to watch at a later time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Chr class=\u0022copy-divider\u0022\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EAbout the award\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Salo Wittmayer Baron Dissertation Award in Jewish Studies is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Shoshana B. Tancer and Robert S. Tancer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENamed for Shoshana Tancer\u2019s father, Professor Salo Wittmayer Baron\u2014the most important Jewish historian in the 20th century\u2014this\u0026nbsp;award is given to the \u003Cspan\u003Ebest dissertation in the field of Jewish History and Culture in the Americas\u003C\/span\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Chr class=\u0022copy-divider\u0022\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the speaker\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cimg class=\u0022img-fluid\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/g\/files\/litvpz3506\/files\/inline-images\/Screenshot%202026-10-17%20153953.png\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u00228723ff6d-e78a-4207-a99b-ffce1f509642\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 alt=\u0022Samantha M. Cooper\u0022 width=\u0022331\u0022 height=\u0022373\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022image-title-wrapper\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022image-title sqs-cdk-dynamic-text\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESamantha M. Cooper\u003C\/strong\u003E (she\/her) is the Robert M. Beren Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Kansas. She completed her PhD in Historical Musicology at New York University in 2022, and subsequently held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research explores Jewish cultural identity in late nineteenth and early-twentieth century American opera and popular music.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECooper has presented her work nationally and internationally at major conferences and invited talks, and her articles and essays appear in The Journal of the Society for American Music, American Jewish History, The Opera Quarterly, The Journal of Synagogue Music, The Journal of Musicological Research, The Society for American Music Bulletin, and Musica Judaica. Her research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the American Musicological Society, the Center for Jewish History, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, P.E.O. International and the American Academy of Jewish Research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECooper is passionate about teaching and mentoring students of all backgrounds. While at NYU, Cooper taught \u201cMusic of New York: Sounding the Immigrant Experience\u201d for the Music Department, and \u201cAn Introduction to Jewish Music\u201d for the Jewish Studies and Music Departments at City College of New York. She also served as a mentor of fellow international and women graduate students for NYU\u2019s Graduate School of Arts and Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to her research and teaching pursuits, Cooper serves as the Co-Executive Director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jewishmusicforum.org\/about-jmf.html\u0022\u003EJewish Music Forum\u003C\/a\u003E, A Project of the American Society for Jewish Music, alongside Dr. Gordon Dale (Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion). In this role, she has organized three conferences, \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jewishmusicforum.org\/uploads\/1\/2\/4\/1\/12411069\/final_program-_jewish_music_and_humor_conference.pdf\u0022\u003EJewish Music and Humor\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d (2018), \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jewishmusicforum.org\/past-seasons.html\u0022\u003EPsalmody Through the Ages\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d (2020, online), and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gc.cuny.edu\/events\/symposium-music-sound-and-antisemitism\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u201cMusic, Sound, and Antisemitism\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E (2025, in partnership with the Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation) as well as over fifty programs about the interdisciplinary study of Jewish music. All Jewish Music Forum programs are free and open to the public.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECooper is also the host and producer of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.samantha-m-cooper.com\/sounding-jewish-podcast\u0022\u003EThe Sounding Jewish Podcast\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","phone":"","contactname":"Kalani Pickhart","email":"kalani.pickhart@asu.edu","delta":"0","alias":"https:\/\/asuevents.asu.edu\/event\/salo-wittmayer-baron-dissertation-award-jewish-studies-lecture-undesirables-diamond-horseshoe?id=0","ticketing_rsvp_txt":"Register","ticketing_rsvp_txt2":"","ticketing_rsvp_url":"https:\/\/specialevents.asu.edu\/baron-lecture-cooper-2026","ticketing_rsvp_url2":"","website":"https:\/\/jewishstudies.asu.edu","image_url":"https:\/\/asuevents.asu.edu\/sites\/g\/files\/litvpz3506\/files\/2026-10\/Caesar%20and%20Reiner%20Gallipacci%20.jpg","image_alt":"","image_title":"","start_date":"Nov 15 2026 - 3:00pm","end_date":"Nov 15 2026 - 5:00pm","time_description":"Phoenix is always on Mountain Standard Time (MST). This event will be 5:00 PM ET","very_start_date":"2026-11-15T15:00:00Z","very_end_date":"2026-11-15T17:00:00Z","event_types":"Lecture","interests":"Academics|History|Religion|Music|Opera|Humanities","audiences":"For current ASU students|For the community|For alumni|Israel|For faculty","event_units":"Center for Jewish Studies|Jewish Studies|The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences","event_topics":"Academic events|Free|Open to the public","download":"","event_map_url":"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/rTPv1rDWZjsKzNw1A","event_map_title":"","event_video":"","location_term":"Online event, Off campus","venue_address":" 6025 E Bell Rd","venue_city":"Scottsdale","venue_state":"AZ","venue_zip":"85254","alias-indexed":"https:\/\/asuevents.asu.edu\/event\/salo-wittmayer-baron-dissertation-award-jewish-studies-lecture-undesirables-diamond-horseshoe?id=0","sport_tag":"","game_type":"","subtitle":"\u0026amp;#039;Undesirables in the Diamond Horseshoe:\u202fA Jewish History of the New York Opera Industry\u0026amp;#039; with Samantha M. 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