Monthly Archives: February 2024

Call for Papers: Jews in Krakow: History and Culture. Krakow, Sept. 23-25, 2024

Submission deadline: April 15, 2024

In 1986 the first academic institution in post-war Poland devoted to the study of the history of Jews – The Research Center on the History and Culture of Jews in Poland at the Jagiellonian University – opened in Krakow. Today the city, with its numerous academic and cultural institutions, is one of the most thriving centers of Jewish studies in Central Europe.

The abundant literature on Krakow’s Jewry is written in many languages (mainly Polish, English, Hebrew, and German), which reflects the international character of the research. Numerous research projects pertinent to various aspects of the history of Jews in Krakow have been conducted in recent decades. The conference will serve as a platform for researchers from various centers and academic backgrounds to meet. Organisers invite papers engaging with any aspects of the history and culture of Krakow’s Jewry, from the Middle Ages to today: social, religious, political and economic history; cultural, literary and everyday life; history of Jewish institutions, biographies, and commemorations of Krakow Jewry.

Weeklong Seminar on Qalonymos b. Qalonymos

The Shalom Spiegel Institute of Medieval Hebrew Poetry at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, will be dedicated to the work of Qalonymos b. Qalonymos (c. 14th century, Provence/Catalonia/Italian Peninsula) from June 16-21, 2024 at the Seminary. The week will include daily seminars with leading scholars on various aspects of Qalonymos’ work (Hebrew poetry and philosophical writings) as well as instruction in developing skills in the close reading of medieval Hebrew texts. The seminar will meet for morning and afternoon sessions Monday through Thursday, concluding with one session and lunch on Friday. The program is intended to supplement academic programs that offer medieval Jewish studies, general Hebrew literature and Jewish philosophy, but do not provide courses in which medieval Hebrew texts are read in the original. It is also expected to benefit students and faculty who have had access to such courses, but whose academic work would benefit from more intensive training in this area.

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Writing Jewish Masculinities across the Middle East and the North Africa

This collection will offer a pioneering perspective on Jewish masculinities, significantly enriching our understanding of the intricate intersections of aging, gender, and migration. Our goal is to publish these contributions in an edited volume through Edizioni Ca’ Foscari – Venice University Press, ensuring rigorous peer review for scholarly excellence.

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Associate Professor: Department of Religious Studies, Duke University

The Department of Religious Studies at Duke University invites applications for a position at the rank of associate professor with tenure. The appointment will be in the Department of Religious Studies but is pursued in collaboration with Duke’s distinguished Center for Jewish Studies. The search committee welcomes applicants working in any field involving the study of Jewish religious culture, experience, history or thought in the modern era. The committee seeks applicants with strong evidence of commitment to scholarship and teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, sharing the work of the department, and contributing to Jewish Studies at Duke. Applications should consist of a letter of application, current CV, and three letters of recommendation. All application materials should be uploaded at the Academic Jobs Online portal (academicjobsonline.org).

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The formation of trusting relationships between merchants in Mallorca and Barcelona 1240-1350.

by Annabel Hancock, St John’s College, Oxford

Through my research on Catalan and Mallorcan traders in the medieval Mediterranean, I seek to explore the ways in which identity, trust, and community both in the past, and now, shape human lives. I ask what it means to be a part of a group, what it means to make agreements with others, and how interactions with others change the ways we understand our own identity. The medieval world, far from the parochial backwater it is often seen to be, was filled with movement and connections. Traders from Barcelona corresponded with people and exchanged objects from England to the Middle East to China. These interactions involved cooperation between different communities, different languages, and different cultural understandings of the world.  

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