Evelyn Dean-Olmsted: What are heritage words?

In this episode, the guest is Dr. Evelyn Maria Dean-Olmsted, who discusses the concept of heritage words.

Evelyn Dean-Olmsted is an anthropologist whose academic research focuses on Jewish Latin America.  Her book, provisionally entitled The Pragmatics of Diaspora: Language, identity, and religiosity among young Syrian Jewish Mexicans is forthcoming with Brill. She currently serves as Project Lead at Rosov Consulting, where she contributes to community studies, program evaluation, and other research services for Jewish nonprofits. Dean-Olmsted also serves on the editorial board of the journal Latin American Jewish Studies; the advisory board of the Jewish Language Project; and the advisory board of Olamim, a grassroots organization of Latinx Jewish families in the Bay Area.

Heritage Words is produced by the HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project and HUC Connect: conversations about the words we inherit and the meaning they bring to our lives.

Host and executive producer: Sarah Bunin Benor

Producer and editor: Avishay Artsy

Video editor: Annabel Noar

Editorial consultants: Kyle Fingerhut, Annabel Noar, Hannah Pressman

Theme music: Maurice El Medioni’s French and Algerian Judeo-Arabic album “Cafe Oran,” featuring the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, courtesy of Piranha Records.