Parkes Institute

This Wednesday, join Parkes Institute Honorary Fellow Professor Bryan Cheyette in conversation with Professor Becky Taylor on the displacement of Gypsy communities, with a focus on Janina Bauman's pioneering work on this subject. Part of the Bauman Memorial Conversation series.

🔗 More info and registration:

How do you displace a Gypsy? Bauman Memorial Conversation 2 | The Bauman Institute The Bauman Institute is delighted to host the second event in our online Bauman Memorial Conversations series, Thinking Displacement, with an intervention by Professor Becky Taylor, esteemed historian of the relationship between the British state and marginalised peoples and places.

Just two days to go!
Join Parkes alumnus Joseph Finlay for the launch of his new book on the history of HIAS + JCORE
🗓️17 June, 7 pm, in person or online
📍 JW3
🔗 hiasjcore.org/events/celebrate-jcores-50th-anniversary-not-only-ourselves/

Celebrate JCORE’s 50th anniversary at ‘Not Only for Ourselves’ - HIAS+JCORE Grassroots Activism Want to take action and join our movement for a more compassionate asylum system? We’re building a grassroots activist network and need your help.Learn more

We are so happy to finally share Shtetl – a new board game where the world of Jewish small towns comes to life through play.

Shtetl refers to a unique historical and cultural world that once thrived in Eastern Europe. These towns with a predominantly Jewish population were crossroads where languages, religions, and traditions intertwined.

Inspired by the historical region known in Jewish tradition as Raysn – today Belarus and neighbouring parts of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine – Shtetl offers a new way to reconnect with this world.

In this atmospheric, card-driven strategy, you develop your own shtetl: welcoming residents, constructing buildings, celebrating holidays, preparing traditional dishes, and guiding the community through the joys and challenges of a bygone era.
The game is designed for 2–6 players, ages 8+, and will be published in two language editions: English and Russian.

Shtetl was developed by a team of historians, educators, game designers, artists and creative producers. Its visual world and mechanics are based on careful work with historical sources and references – traditional townscapes, archival photographs, clothing, crafts, and social roles of the period – reimagined through contemporary art in a fresh, uncluttered way.

The game is now fully developed and ready for print. We are launching a Kickstarter pre-order campaign to make the first print run possible.
We invite you to support the campaign, pre-order the game, and share it with someone who would love to bring this story to the table.

Pre-order on Kickstarter [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shtetl/shtetl-a-cultural-strategy-board-game]

Your turn!

This week, we honour Professor Joachim Schlör, with an international conference on Jewish History and Culture Beyond Borders, taking place 11–12 June 2026 in Graz.

🔗 Full programme: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/parkes/news/events/2026/04/jewish-history-and-culture-beyond-borders-international-conference-in-honor-of-professor-joachim-schloer.page

Did you know that 2026 marks 50 years since JCORE was founded?

We're delighted to celebrate this milestone alongside our very own alumnus Joseph Finlay, who completed his PhD here at the Parkes Institute and has authored 'Not only for ourselves' — a fascinating new book exploring JCORE's role leading Jewish anti-racist activism since 1976.

There's a special launch event at on 17 June (7pm–9pm) to discuss the book and honour this proud history.

Speakers include:
📌 Lord Simon Woolley
📌 Dawn Butler MP
📌 Dr Edie Friedman, HIAS+JCORE's Honorary President, who founded JCORE in 1976 and ran the organisation for 46 years
📌 Rabbi David Mason, HIAS+JCORE's Executive Director since 2023
📌 Dr Joseph Finlay (Parkes Institute alumnus), the book's author

Speakers will examine JCORE's evolution over the decades and reflect on the context in 2026 — a time when challenging hate and welcoming refugees in the UK matters more than ever.

Book your place today ➡️ https://hiasjcore.org/events/celebrate-jcores-50th-anniversary-not-only-ourselves/

Celebrate JCORE’s 50th anniversary at ‘Not Only for Ourselves’ - HIAS+JCORE Grassroots Activism Want to take action and join our movement for a more compassionate asylum system? We’re building a grassroots activist network and need your help.Learn more

Parkes Institute members Claire Le Foll and Noëmie Duhaut don't just chat in Yiddish — they also run in the mud for cancer research!

On 20 June, their team the Muddy Frogs will be taking on the Southampton Pretty Muddy 5k 2026 – Race for Life.

Consider donating to support Cancer Research UK! 🐸🐸💪💪

Claire's fundraising page: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/claires-race-for-life-1407320314811
Noëmie's fundraising page: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/nomies-race-for-life-1

The Parkes Institute is deeply saddened to mark the death of Richard Harries (1936–2026), former Bishop of Oxford.

In our latest post, Professor Tony Kushner reflects on his life, his relationship with James Parkes, and his lasting connection to the Institute.

We are also grateful to share a 2024 conversation between Richard Harries and Professor Neil Gregor, discussing James Parkes and items from the James Parkes Collection, held by University of Southampton Special Collections.

The recording captures his deep knowledge of Parkes’s work and his enduring commitment to Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Read the obituary and watch the conversation here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/parkes/news/2026/05/obituary-the-right-rev-lord-harries-of-pentregarth-19362026.page.

Image credit: House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris (CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=187552005)

Last month, our Lecturer in Holocaust History, Janek Gryta, led a powerful two-day workshop for senior scouts from the Sanok troop in Poland.
Using archival documents, photographs, and witness testimonies, participants explored the wartime history of Zasław — the site of a WWII concentration camp.
The scouts didn't just learn history — they reconstructed it, and are now preparing an exhibition on this forgotten place, to be shared with students at the University of Southampton.
This initiative was supported by the Foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future" (EVZ)

📢 Undergrads researching the Holocaust — want to present at a conference?

The BIAHS Postgraduate Conference has an undergraduate panel on 2 June at the University of Southampton.

Ask your supervisor to nominate you by 18 May 👇

[email protected]