Christopher Silver
@christophersilver.bsky.social
1.2K followers 240 following 99 posts

Historian, author of Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music across Twentieth-Century North Africa (SUP, 2022), collector of records, associate professor of Jewish history and culture at McGill University, curator of gharamophone.com .. more

Political science 30%
Sociology 25%
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One of my department's many upcoming events in Montreal. The Levites Annual Lecture 2025: “Amateur Films and Sephardi Joy: A Global Spin” with Sarah Abrevaya Stein (UCLA). Sep. 15 / 5:30 pm / McGill University. Details and RSVP here: www.mcgill.ca/arts/channel...

Reposted by Christopher Silver

I have some funding for incoming MA students interested in MENA Jewish history. If you know of anyone, please send them my way.

Reposted by Christopher Silver

Heading to Casablanca and Rabat in a few weeks and it’s been a minute since I was last there. Looking for recs of any and all kinds (archives, bookstores, restaurants, cafes). Please feel free to send my way.

Reposted by Christopher Silver

How long is the exhibit up for? I’m going to be in NYC the first week of July.

Reposted by Christopher Silver

Call for Proposals
"KlezKanada and the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University are convening a Yiddish Dance Conference in Montreal from August 27-29, 2025. The event will include panels, discussion sessions, practice-based workshops, and evening community events."
2025 Yiddish Dance Conference - KlezKanada
KlezKanada // Concordia University – Montreal, Canada KlezKanada and the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University are convening a Yiddish Dance Conference in Montreal from August ...
klezkanada.org

Reposted by Christopher Silver

A book I very much cannot wait to read and teach. Out with @harvardpress.bsky.social this December! www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Iran Amplified: 100 Years of Music and Society

Edited by Nahid Siamdoust and H.E. Chehabi

Honored to be giving this talk––"Sounds, Silences, and Echoes: Listening for World War II and the Holocaust from North Africa"––at FIT in NYC on April 22. Please feel free to share.

Tomorrow in NYC.
Honored to be giving this talk––"Sounds, Silences, and Echoes: Listening for World War II and the Holocaust from North Africa"––at FIT in NYC on April 22. Please feel free to share.

What a day in Rabat. Honored to have shared the stage with the indefatigable Khalid Ben Srhir and other scholars who engaged deeply with my work (which is itself indebted to their work). A privilege to talk about books these days––including ones which deal with musical pasts and possible futures.

Rabat and Casa this week. Please send recommendations :)
Heading to Casablanca and Rabat in a few weeks and it’s been a minute since I was last there. Looking for recs of any and all kinds (archives, bookstores, restaurants, cafes). Please feel free to send my way.

Want to put this out there again (given everything). If anyone is interested in pursuing an MA or PhD at the intersection of Jewish and Middle Eastern/North African Studies in Montreal (at McGill), please be in touch. We’re building something special here.

The privilege of a lifetime. Next month, I will travel to Morocco to present the Arabic translation of "Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music across Twentieth-Century North Africa" at the Rabat International Book Fair.

Reposted by Christopher Silver

Exciting news! Hanan Hammad’s exploration of Layla Murad with @stanfordpress.bsky.social will soon appear in Arabic with al-Kotob Khan.

Looking forward to presenting "An Ethereal Trail: Toward a Musical Biography of Salim Halali" at the Ottoman Auralities seminar series tomorrow (18 Feb). More details in link: ottomanauralities.com/seminar-seri...

Any recommendations for books or articles on reel to reel recording?

On the turntable tonight. The Girl on a Motorcycle—released on the Tetragrammaton label. RIP, Marianne.

Reposted by Christopher Silver

To see this story finally out in the world in Arabic, and to have readers who experienced Egypt’s cassette culture first-hand engage with it, is truly something else. These photos and exchanges mean so much to me.
علي حسين
14h • 0
صباح الكتب
لم تتبن جميع الشخصيات العامة المصرية وجهة نظر سوداء وبيضاء عندما يتعلق الأمر بنجم الكاسيت احمد عدوية . كان نجيب محفوظ من بين أولئك الذين تبنوا موقفا فارقا بقدر .
في بعض الأحيان أنتقد الحائز على جائزة نوبل أغاني عدوية بسبب " تفاهتها" و " فظاظتها " وهما صفتان ، ، كما زعم ، أدتا إلى جعل أغانيه " أبعد ما تكون عن الأناقة" ، ولكن في لحظات أخرى يقر الأديب ب" صوته القوي المشحون بالشجن". كذلك لم يكن عبد الوهاب يكره عدوية ، لكنه أصر على أن موسيقاه ستفقد صداها .
آندرو سايمون " إعلام الجماهير .. ثقافة الكاسيت في مصر "
آندرو سايمون
إعلام الجماهير
ثقافة الكاسيت في مصر
الرجماء بدر الرفاعي
دار الشروق

Daté for sure mais vraiment intéressant aussi. Merci, Morgan!

Reposted by Christopher Silver

Ce documentaire de l’ORTF, « Paris arabe et ses cinémas », pourra peut-être t’intéresser : m.youtube.com/watch?v=r0vT.... (trigger warning : c’est daté…)
1969 : Les gens de Barbès | Archive INA
YouTube video by INA Paris Vintage
m.youtube.com

Friend from Paris just gifted me these VHS tapes of Egyptian films released for the French market. There’s a history of distribution and audience to be written here.

What a great initiative! Tell us more about the book club!

Reposted by Christopher Silver

With a new term underway, our Sound Studies book club is back! In two weeks, we’ll be meeting to discuss a work I was asked to select: @christophersilver.bsky.social’s “Recording History: Jews, Muslims, and Music Across Twentieth-Century North Africa.”
Recording History
Christopher Silver
JEWS, MUSLIMS, AND MUSIC ACROSS TWENTIETH-CENTURY NORTH AFRICA