You are invited to attend the 2026 Joel Barkan Memorial Lecture, featuring Lawrence Baron.

Topic: Black is the New Jewish in Streaming and TV Series

Over the past decade, Black Jewish characters have been increasingly appearing as major characters in streaming and television series starting with Orange is the New Black (2015) and Chicago Med (2025) and more recently in Long Story Short (2025) and Boston Blue (2025). First, this talk will examine the demographic, media-driven, and political reasons why this is occurring. Then it will analyze whether these depictions of Black Jews constitute “shallow representations” which reduce them to either one-dimensional stereotypes of Blacks and Jews or substantive portrayals of the backstories and hybrid identities of Black Jews.

The Joel Barkan Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture hosted as a part of the Provost's Global Forum in International Programs. This year's Provost's Global Forum: Cinematic Connections in a Polarized World: How movies bring us together, will bring together experts from across the University of Iowa campus, the greater Iowa City area, and around the world for film screenings, keynote talks, and lively conversations about how movies foster connection across cultural, religious and generational divides.