Workshop: Shared Spaces Methodological Approaches to Jewish/non-Jewish Relations Event
For more information regarding this event, please email The Parkes Institute at parkes@southampton.ac.uk .
Event details
A cooperation between the Parkes Insitute, University of Southampton, and the Center for Jewish Studies, University of Graz
Abstract
A growing number of scholars in Jewish studies have discarded the idea of a largely isolated Jewish existence in the past. Instead, they have concerned themselves with Jewish and non-Jewish cultural exchanges as well as encounters. In this context, the notions of space and spatial conditions have become particularly relevant. Historians have drawn attention to shared Jewish and non-Jewish experiences at particular spaces ranging from markets to religious sites or neighborhoods and entertainment venues. What has remained unanswered so far, and what we wish to address in the workshop, is the question of how such shared experiences affected the relations between Jews and non-Jews. Which methodological procedures can and shall be employed in order to assess their repercussion?
Furthermore, we aim to explore and discuss different forms of proximity and togetherness, ranging from mere co-presence to intense friendships and relations, and ask whether, and in which way, the focus on Jewish and non-Jewish encounters and interactions has contributed to a new understanding of the Jewish past. What exactly are the new analytical instruments, theoretical frameworks, and methodological approaches that may render research on Jewish and non-Jewish entanglement more promising than the work of traditional historiography?
Programme
1 – 3 pm 1 – 1.30 pm Welcome and introductory round among the discussants: what is your research about? (2 min) 1.30 – 3 pm How crucial are everyday life relations between Jews and non-Jews in your research and how important do you think they are in renewing scholarship on Jewish history and culture?
3 – 3.30 pm Break
3.30 – 5 pm Based on daily encounters, how do you conceptualize Jewish/non-Jewish relations? Can we think Jewish/non-Jewish relations without using the dichotomy of concepts such as assimilation versus antisemitism? If we do not use the concepts of assimilation, integration and acculturation what do we use instead? (5 min)
5 – 5.30 pm Concluding remarks
Discussants
George Gilbert, Klaus Hödl, Maja Hultman, Reuven Kiperwasser, Susanne Korbel, Tony Kushner, Claire Le Foll, Dan Levene, Heather Mann, Piera Rossetto, Joachim Schlör, Katalin Straner