Out of the Mailbox: UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research on the Magnes Postcard Collection
May 7 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Join the dynamic team of seven UC Berkeley students enrolled in the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program with Prof. Francesco Spagnolo, Curator of the Magnes, as they present their work investigating (and inventorying) thousands of postcards in the permanent collection.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 12:00-1:30 pm
In person at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA
Refreshments will be served.
If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at magnes@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 643-2526 with as much advance notice as possible.
Presentations
Postcards, once a medium of instant and global communication, are rich with cultural and historical information: they represent significant sights, routes of communication, and the rapid circulation of ideas before the Internet and social media. Each student has selected, described, and digitized a number of postcards, following and discovering themes, associations, and an abundance of possible research paths.
Holy Land: Role of Postcards in Constructing the Landscape of Israel
Julia Angel
Art History and Spanish Major, Human Rights Minor, 2026
Gendered: The Politicization of the Woman’s Body in Postcards
Bina Herron Geller
English Major, Food Systems Minor, Class of 2027
Framing the East: Orientalism and Israeli Identity in Postcards from the West Bank and Gaza, 1967
Derick Lietzow
History Major, Creative Writing and Native American Studies Minor, Class of 2025
Moses in Postcards: The Emergence of the Prophet as a Modern Jewish Savior
Margaret Main
Anthropology major, 2025
Threads of Conversation: Feminine Creation Beyond Labor, Leisure, and Ledger
Elisa Matalon
Cognitive Science Major, History of Art Minor, 2026
Dear God: Artistic Depictions of Jewish Mythology and Mysticism
Aleeza Ravéh
History of Art Major, Spring 2025
Israel’s Visual Identity in Western Imagination
Ginger Rubin
Cognitive Science and Linguistics Major, 2027
The Magnes’s programs and exhibitions are supported by our community. Click here to make a donation to help support student programs like this.
