Sephardic Families: Between Judaism and Christianity

"Sephardic Families: Between Judaism and Christianity" examines the complex dynamics of identity, faith, and cultural adaptation faced by Sephardic Jews as they navigated the boundaries between Judaism and Christianity in medieval and early modern Spain. This lecture explores the pressures of conversion, the preservation of Jewish practices, and the formation of new hybrid identities within a society that often forced choices between religious traditions, shedding light on the enduring legacy of these communities across generations.

About Dr. Roger Martínez-Dávila: My connection to Jewish history is rooted in a lifelong relationship with Spain and my late father's question, "Who are we?" This question shaped my first book, Creating Conversos: The Carvajal-Santa María Family in Early Modern Spain (2018), which examines the 14th-century origins of my family, a blend of Spanish Catholic knightly and Jewish rabbinic families. Somos católicos, somos judíos. We are the resilient, fractured conversos. I serve on the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute’s Commission for the 1776-2026 America&Spain250 initiative. At the Primeras Jornadas "America&Spain250" in May 2024, I presented a lecture titled, “Traigo nuevas de las Américas. Presencia sefardita en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos.” I hold a Ph.D. in History and a B.A. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) from UC Berkeley.

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