Monthly Archives: January 2023

New book: David Freidenreich, “Jewish Muslims: How Christians Imagined Islam as the Enemy” (University of California Press, 2023)

Hatred of Jews and hatred of Muslims have been intertwined in Christian thought since the rise of Islam. In Jewish Muslims, David M. Freidenreich explores the history of this complex, perplexing, and emotionally fraught phenomenon. He makes the compelling case that, then and now, hate-mongers target “them” in an effort to define “us.” Analyzing anti-Muslim sentiment in texts and images produced across Europe and the Middle East over a thousand years, the author shows how Christians intentionally distorted reality by alleging that Muslims were just like Jews. They did so not only to justify assaults against Muslims on theological grounds but also to motivate fellow believers to live as “good” Christians. The disdain premodern polemicists expressed for Islam and Judaism was never really about these religions. Rather, they sought to promote their own visions of Christianity—a dynamic that similarly animates portrayals of Muslims and Jews today.

New Book, open access: Volume 5 of the Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Österreich (German)

The authors Eveline Brugger and Birgit Wiedl are very happy to announce that volume 5 of “Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Österreich im Mittelalter”, which covers the timeframe from 1405 to 1418, is now availabe for free download in pdf format.

The printed book (StudienVerlag, Innsbruck and Vienna) will be available shortly.

Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Funding Programme: European Jewish Heritage

The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe Funding Programme provides funding for European Jewish Heritage. This programme provides support to a range of institutions holding collections relating to the history of the Jewish people in Europe. Whether you’re a museum, archive, library, university, communal organisation or professional institution, funding is available to help you care for your collections and create engaging exhibitions.

Deadline: 17 February 2023.

Networking Meeting Digital Humanities Projects in Jewish Studies, Munich 2023

January 17, 13:15 – January 18, 12:00

For the last decades, digital tools have firmly established themselves in Jewish studies research projects. Yet despite this shift of paradigm, there are still uncertainties in the implementation of Digital Humanities, for instance with regard to the reuse of data among different project teams. The networking meeting offers a forum to exchange information about Jewish studies projects related to Digital Humanities, to discuss common technical standards, and to address the possibility of collaborations.

Scholars Working Groups at the Center for Jewish History

The Center for Jewish History (CJH) invites proposals for a new Scholars Working Group to begin in fall 2023. Building on the success of previous working groups including ‘The History of the Jewish Book,’ ‘New York City and the Jews,’ ‘Women and Gender,’ ‘Jews and the Modern Economy,’ ‘Yiddish Press,’ and ‘Roman Forum,’ CJH is seeking to provide new opportunities to draw from the research and ideas of a wide array of scholars at different career stages. The Center welcomes proposals on diverse and multidisciplinary themes/subjects that seek to examine a specific topic or question through various historical, disciplinary, and contextual mediums and lenses. The ultimate goal is to facilitate the creation of an interdisciplinary community of scholars who engage and provide opportunities for inquiry and conversation among themselves in an ongoing way.

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Call for Papers: Constructions of Jewish Cultural Heritage in Non-fictional Texts on Architecture, Urbanism, and Space

Deadline: 31 January 2023

Since the Haskalah and especially during the development of the Wissenschaft des Judentums (Science of Judaism), authors have been dealing with architecture, urban structures and places, cultural landscapes or spaces that have been thought of or can be read as part of the Jewish—material as well as immaterial—cultural heritage. The dialogue of built, planned and/or imagined architecture and its representation in the medium of text is the focus of this event. The workshop asks for non-fictional texts on architecture, urbanism, and space and their
contributions to the construction of Jewish cultural heritage.

CRINT Essay Prize in Early Jewish and Christian Studies

The Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum (CRINT) Foundation invites submissions for its bi-annual Essay Prize, to be awarded to the best paper on a topic related to the early history of Jews and Christians. Any essay illuminating how Jews and Christians shared and/or developed their own traditions and identities during the first six centuries CE is eligible. Rabbinic literature and culture have long been areas of special focus of CRINT and submissions that in some way engage or draw on these fields of study are therefore especially welcomed.

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