Recent Presentations

Recent Presentations

2024

Featured Author: Joy Ladin for the Journal of Expressive Writing. December 10, 2024.

Body, Soul, Gender, and God: Trans Identities and the Art of Being Human. Institute for Jewish Spirituality. November 2024.

Meet Me There Reading Series Featuring Joy Ladin and Oliver Baez Bendorf. September 2024.

Divinity in the Key of ‘She:’ Feminist and Trans Theology in Shekhinah Speaks.” United Days Conference. May 31, 2024

Gender Identity is Just the Beginning: Exploring the Creative Potential of Trans Perspectives and Experiences. April 3, 2024.

2022

“A Conversation with Joy Ladin, PhD and Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler.” Institute for Jewish Spirituality. May 4, 2022.

2021

“Wonders in the Place of Darkness: A Conversation on Isolation with Joy Ladin and Rabbi Steve Greenberg.” Eshel National Retreat. Via Zoom. January 17, 2021.

“The Soul of a Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective.” Valley Beit Midrash. Phoenix, AZ. January 14, 2021. 

Featured reader. “We Bear Witness: Poetry and the Holocaust.” With William Heyen and Geoffrey Philp. Florida International University. January 27, 2021. 

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, We Bear Witness features poets Geoffrey Philp, Joy Ladin, and William Heyen for an evening of readings and conversation – curated by Dr. Deborah Plutzik Briggs, VP, Arts atThe Betsy, and hosted with John Stuart, Associate Dean of Commuinty Engagement @ Florida International University.

“Poetry at CBST with Joy Ladin & Ariel Zitny.” Congregation Bet Simchat Torah. February 1, 2021.

Dr. Joy Ladin in conversation with Trans Jews are Here Convening Director Ariel Zitny on poetry and more, hosted by CBST on Monday, February 1, 2021.

“How to Read Torah from a Transgender Perspective.” Torah L’Shma Program. Central Conference of American Rabbis. February 4, 2021.

“Beyond the Tower of Babel: A New Approach to Inclusive Policy.” Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. February 11, 2021.

In recent years, the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion has moved to the forefront of national media and organizational priorities. Please join the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy for a discussion around a new approach to thinking about and addressing these priorities with regard to gender identity and expression. What does it mean for organizations to include people who embrace trans and non-binary gender identities? How do these inclusion challenges relate to other social policy goals?
Featuring: Joy Ladin Gottesman Chair in English, Yeshiva University and nationally recognized writer and speaker on transgender identity and Dana Goldman Interim Dean, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and Leonard D. Schaeffer Director’s Chair, USC Schaeffer Center.

“Growing Up at the Corner of Trans & Jewish.” Old Dominion University. February 16, 2021.

Panelist. “Being Trans and a Person of Faith.” The Stonewall Center. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Via Zoom. March 11, 2021.

“We Pass for What We Are: Otherness and Humanness.” The William Alanson White Psychoanalytic Society 2020-21 Colloquia, “Otherness and Listening Beyond the Self: Recognizing the Lived Experiences of Marginalization and Exclusion.” Via Zoom. New York, NY. March 12, 2021.

“The Book of Anna: In Conversation with Joy Ladin.” The Jewish Museum of Maryland. March 14, 2021. 

Join poet, essayist, and teacher Dr. Joy Ladin for a look at her extensive body of work, particularly The Book of Anna. This program was presented in partnership with the Baltimore Festival of Jewish Literature. This program was originally recorded by the Jewish Museum of Maryland on March 14, 2021.

Trans Day of Visibility Speaker. Abraham Joshua Heschel High School. New York, NY. March 17, 2021.

“My Jewish Journey Between Genders, My Transgender Journey Among Jews.” Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program. Orange County, CA. March 23, 2021.

Joy Ladin describes her complex experiences of growing up Jewish and transgender identities in various Jewish communities, from the upstate NY conservative shul in which she became bar mitzvah to Orthodox Yeshiva University, where she has taught for 16 years. She will focus on how these two identities have shaped and enriched one another over the years, and what each has taught her about the other.

Role Model presentation. Live Out Loud Program. The Mott Street School. New York, NY. March 24, 2021.

“Binaries and Beyond: What the Laws of Passover Teach Us about Trans and Nonbinary Lives.” Congregation Dorshei Tzedek. West Newton, MA. March 27, 2021.

Featured Reader (with Diana Whitney and MJ Fievre). Sundog Poetry Center. Jeffersonville, VT. Via Zoom. March 28, 2021.

“The Soul of the Stranger: a Conversation with Seth Marnin.” Temple Ner Tamid. Bloomfield, NJ. Via Zoom. April 5, 2021. 

Join author, Joy Ladin in conversation with Seth Marnin, board chair of Keshet, as they discuss Joy’s book, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. ​​​​​​​Learn her story and how applying transgender theory to the Torah yields a greater understanding of our ancestors and God. And learn how the Torah helps us build empathy and understanding, as we seek to make the most embracing and open community possible.

“The Meaning of Freedom: A Workshop on Identity and Liberation.” SOJOURN. Atlanta, GA. April 6, 2021.

“Trans Jewish Writing.” New Voices Resilient Writers Fellowship. April 8, 2021.

Book launch, reading and interview for The Book of Anna, 2nd edition. Via Zoom. April 11, 2021.

2020

“Trans Poetics: Theory and Practice.” Trans and Non-Binary Poetry seminar. Hunter College. December 7, 2020.

“Trans Hermeneutics: A Common-Denominator Approach.” SVARA Teaching Kollel Queer Shiur. November 29, 2020.

“Creative Writing as a Spiritual Practice.” Shalosh Regalim program. Academy for Jewish Religion. Via Zoom. October 16, 2020.

“Trans Theology.” Guest speaker, “Judaism and Gender” seminar. Georgetown University. Via Zoom. October 13, 2020.

“Welcoming the Souls of Strangers: A Conversation with Joy Ladin.” Webinar with Rabbi Gail Labovitz. American Jewish University. October 6, 2020.

“Tradition as a Tool for Change.” Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program. Brandeis University. Waltham, MA. Via Zoom. October 1, 2020.

“Extreme Teshuvah: Gender Transition as Spiritual Renovation.” Congregation Beth Sholom. Teaneck, NJ. By Zoom. September 12, 2020.

“Building Inclusive Communities.” Beth Israel Congregation. Jackson, MS. Via Zoom. August 23, 2020.

“Shekhinah Speaks: Gender and Divinity.” Hadassah Brandeis Institute. Via Zoom. July 23, 2020.

“Gender and Divinity.” Seminar for Hadassah Brandeis Institute Interns. Via Zoom. July 23, 2020.

“The Spiritual Discipline of Knowing the Soul of the Stranger.” The Gift of Storytelling (with Robert Harvey and Kyndra Frazier). KYND. June 15, 2020. 

“Transgender Religious Discourse: an Online Interview with Rabbi Steve Greenberg.” Eshel. June 10, 2020.

“Becoming at the Mikveh.” Webinar. Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network. April 23, 2020.

“Trans Theology: Writing The Soul of the Stranger.” Body and Gender in Religious Traditions seminar. Mount Holyoke College. April 15, 2020.

“Writing to God: a Workshop for Rabbinic Students.” Netivot Peliot: Exploring Spiritual Modes in a Jewish Context. Academy for Jewish Religion. Yonkers, NY. February 11, 2020.

“Trans Experience in the Torah: Jacob, Esau, and Gender.” Keynote for “A Modern Look at Traditional Jewish Sources: How Judaism Speaks to Our Contemporary Experiences” Symposium. Sutton Place Synagogue. New York, NY. January 26, 2020.

“Trans Hermeneutics: a Workshop.” Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life, Yale. January 25, 2020.

“Transgender and Religious: a Conversation with Reverend Beth Goudy.” Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. Allentown, PA. January 6, 2020.