Zoë Schwartz

MA student in Medieval Studies
Central European University in Vienna, Austria

“My master’s thesis is a comparative study of the Jewish communities of Worms and Regensburg in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. I specifically focus on social cohesion, as well as so-called “social dissolution” in times of persecution within these medieval urban centers. While often used in modern policy making, social cohesion in its essence is about how different identities and heterogeneous populations live, interact, and support (or undermine) each other. This approach allows for the analysis of social, political, and economic factors that influence the interactions between the Jewish community and the rest of the city, its government and people. What interests me greatly is the organization of urban space.”