EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES
EAJS Summer Colloquium 2012
“Wissenschaft des Judentums in Europe: Comparative Perspectives”
Yarnton Manor, Oxford
23rd to 26th July 2012
Jewish Studies today is an integral part of academia, but the history of the discipline throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries is of a young, new field of research that was never really accepted at European universities before the Holocaust. Despite this discrimination, modern Jewish scholarship developed in Germany after the Enlightenment, when it was called Wissenschaft des Judentums.
The Wissenschaft des Judentums spread to most of the European Jewish communities, creating its own institutions and producing an impressive record of scholarship in the fields of Jewish history, religion, literature and culture. Apart from its scholarly endeavours, the Wissenschaft des Judentums served an important role in the Jewish minority’s struggle for political and cultural emancipation. Moreover Wissenschaft des Judentums was not only part of the attempt to foster Jewish identity but also served as an instrument for the defence against anti-Semitism.
Most of the research on Wissenschaft des Judentums undertaken so far focuses on Germany or analyzes the history of Jewish Studies along national lines without providing any comparative perspectives. This is especially problematic as Jewish Studies was clearly a transnational European endeavour, characterized by a network of scholars all over Europe and North America. Furthermore, the situation of Wissenschaft des Judentums varied in different countries and political contexts.
The purpose of the 2012 Colloquium is to bring together international scholars in the field and to partly rewrite the history of Wissenschaft des Judentums/ Jewish Studies in a collective, interdisciplinary endeavour, and to provide a comprehensive systematic and comparative representation of the history of Jewish Studies in Europe before the Holocaust while also taking into account new developments since 1945.
The colloquium organiser is Professor Dr. Christian Wiese, Martin Buber Chair, University of Frankfurt and Visiting Research Professor, Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex. E-mail: Thulin@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
Participation in the Colloquium is by invitation.
Observers are welcome to apply to attend the Colloquium, though space is very limited and only a few places are available. To enquire about registering as an observer, please contact the EAJS Administrator at admin@eurojewishstudies.org.
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