Maya “Zuni”
González
modern Jewish HISTORIAN
yiddishist
holocaust & Genocide educator
About
me
Education
MA in History, Certificate in Public History, 2021-2023
University of Massachusetts Amherst
BA in Jewish Studies and History (Intensive), 2017-2021
University of California, Santa Cruz
I am a scholar of modern Jewish history, Yiddish, and memories of genocide. My research interest is in American Holocaust memory in film, museums, and other kinds of public expression.
No matter what I'm working on, I'm always surrounded by books. Currently, I am a full-time Bibliography Fellow at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA.
Recent Projects
Vi makht men a yidisher zin?
(How do you make a Yiddish zine?)
A zine in Yiddish about making zines in Yiddish.
View and download the zine here
self-published, April 2024
drawing of zuni by Kathryn Rathke
Contributing Guest on Proste Yiddish Podcast, Ep. 36
april 12, 2024
Pillar of Fire: A queer Anti Zionist Haggadah
“This hagaddah includes art and poetry from over 50 queer, trans, JOCISM Jews reckoning with what it means to honor passover after Oct 7th 2024. This gorgeous art forward collection of anti-zionist work exists to guide you through your passover seders - this year & beyond.”
My hand-carved stamp is featured for the washing of the hands.
Reproductive Justice Zine:
30+ Yiddish words to talk about reproductive justice!
Final project, steiner summer program 2023
Learn more about the zine in Rebecca Margolis’s article “Yiddish Learning by New Learners: Two Zines and Two Games Student Projects from the Steiner Program’s Intermediate Class” on In Geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies
"Imagining the 'Day of Reckoning': American Jewish Protest Performance during the Holocaust"
MA THESIS, UMASS AMHERST 2023
Public Writing
Selected Speaking
Paper, “‘Eretz isroel is unser land’: Interpreting Yiddish and Jewish Nationalisms at the New York Museum of Jewish Heritage," UMass Graduate History Association Conference, April 6, 2024.
Paper, “Sensationalism and Solidarity: The Material, Literary, and Historical Legacies of Chaim Margoles-Davidzon,” Farbindungen Yiddish Conference, February 18, 2024.
Paper, “The Invisible Conflict: American Jewish Activism in Ken Burns’ The US and the Holocaust (2022),” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 18, 2023.
Invited Lecture, “Yiddish: Past, Present, Future,” Temple Beth El Aptos, November 2, 2023.
Paper, "Staging the 'Chorus of Civilization': Public Displays of Justice in Holocaust Protest Performance," Boston University Graduate Student Political History Conference, April 22, 2023.
Paper, “Imagining the 'Day of Reckoning': Public Displays of Justice in Holocaust Protest Performances,” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 19, 2022.
Invited Lecture, “Remember Us: Holocaust Representations in European-Jewish Émigré Film, 1942-1945,” History 112: Introduction to World Religions, University of Massachusetts Amherst, October 4, 2021.
Project Presentation, “Remember Us: Online Exhibit” Digital Scholarship Research Symposium, University of California, Santa Cruz, May 29, 2021.
Get in touch
LINKED IN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayacgonzalez/
Email
mcgonzalez@umass.edu
Curriculum Vitae