Call for Papers: Diaspora and Indigeneity – Intersections of Modern Jewish, Kurdish, and Amazigh History (Conference at the Heidelberg Center for Jewish Studies, 27–29 March 2023; deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2022)

The research field of Middle Eastern and North African Studies is increasingly recognizing the ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of a region that was (throughout the Cold War) largely approached through the prism of the nation state. This research agenda includes a growing body of literature on hybrid identities, marginalized communities, transnational connections, and the blind spots of this expansive research field itself: as a legacy of methodological nationalism, Middle Eastern and North African Studies still tends to sideline communities that were historically shaped by non-state politics or various strategies of state evasion (James Scott).

As part of this disciplinary diversification, the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies, the Heidelberg Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Heidelberg University invite papers for a three-day conference exploring the intersections of three research fields that operate at the margins of Middle Eastern and North African Studies: Jewish Studies, Kurdish Studies, and Amazigh Studies. The conference will take place in Heidelberg on 27–29 March 2023; the keynote speaker will be Professor Brahim El Guabli (Williams College, USA).

The goal of the conference is to explore and theorize the intersections of modern Jewish, Kurdish, and Amazigh history, with a special focus on competing claims to identity, indigeneity, and diaspora politics. Papers can be presented in English or French. Contributions by young scholars are highly encouraged. The most promising contributions will be published in a special issue of a relevant journal in the field of Middle Eastern and North African Studies. We are especially interested in papers that explore the following topics:

–          Non-state politics / state evasion

–          Politics of memory and history (e.g. memory of Anfal and memory of the Shoah)

–          Kurdish Jews, Amazigh Jews, and transnational linkages

–          Diaspora politics and the dynamics of nation-building

–          Language politics in emerging national movements

–          Historical role models, including Israel/Palestine in Kurdish and Amazigh nationalism

–          Indigeneity and diaspora as represented in art and literature

–          Space, toponymy, and neologisms used to foreground repressed or minoritized identities

The conference is supported by the VolkswagenStiftung. Based on availability, funding will be provided for accommodation and transportation. To apply for the conference, please submit a short abstract (300 words) and a short CV (1-2 pages) with your most important publications by 31 October 2022 to the conference organizers (Johannes Becke, Bareez Majid, and Alessia Colonnelli; contact: gathering-the-dispersed@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de).

Appel à communications : Diaspora et Indigénéité – Intersections entre l’Histoire moderne juive, kurde et amazighe (Conférence au Centre d’Études juives de Heidelberg, 27–29 mars 2023 ; date limite pour les résumés : 31 octobre 2022)

Le domaine de recherche des études sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord a encore tendance, du fait de l’héritage du nationalisme méthodologique, à écarter les communautés qui ont été historiquement modelées par des politiques non-étatiques ou diverses stratégies d’évasion de l’État (James Scott). Toutefois, la littérature reconnaît de plus en plus la diversité ethnique, linguistique et religieuse d’une région qui a été (tout au long de la guerre froide) largement abordée à travers le prisme de l’État-nation. Ce programme de recherche s’appuie ainsi sur une littérature croissante portant sur les identités hybrides et les communautés marginalisées et vise à combler les lacunes de ce domaine de recherche. 

Dans le cadre de cette diversification disciplinaire, le Centre d’Études Transculturelles de Heidelberg, le Centre d’Études juives de Heidelberg et le Département d’Études moyen-orientales et islamiques (Université de Heidelberg) lancent un appel à communications pour une conférence de trois jours visant à explorer les intersections de trois domaines de recherche qui opèrent à la marge des études sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord : les Études juives, les Études kurdes et les Études amazighes. La conférence aura lieu à Heidelberg le 27-29 mars 2023; l’orateur principal sera Professeur Brahim El Guabli (Williams College, États-Unis).

L’objectif de la conférence est d’explorer et de théoriser les intersections de l’histoire moderne juive, kurde et amazighe, avec un accent particulier sur les revendications concurrentes en matière d’identité, d’indigénéité et de politique de Diaspora. Les communications peuvent être présentées en anglais ou en français. Les contributions de jeunes chercheurs sont vivement encouragées. Les contributions les plus prometteuses seront publiées dans un numéro spécial d’une revue pertinente dans le domaine des études sur le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique du Nord. Nous sommes particulièrement intéressés par les contributions qui explorent les sujets suivants :

–          Politique non-étatique / Évasion de l’État

–          Politique de la mémoire et politique de l’histoire (par exemple, mémoire d’Anfal et mémoire de la Shoah)

–          Juifs kurdes, Juifs amazighs et liens transnationaux

–          Politique de la Diaspora et dynamiques de la construction de la nation

–          Politique linguistique dans les mouvements nationaux émergents

–          Modèles historiques, y compris Israël/Palestine dans le nationalisme kurde et amazigh

–          Indigénéité et Diaspora telles que représentées dans les arts et la littérature

–          Espace, toponymie et néologismes utilisés pour mettre en avant des identités opprimées ou minorisées

La conférence est soutenue par la VolkswagenStiftung. En fonction des disponibilités, un financement sera accordé pour l’hébergement et le transport. Pour s’inscrire à la conférence, veuillez soumettre un court résumé (300 mots) et un CV (1-2 pages) avec vos publications les plus importantes jusqu’au 31 octobre 2022 aux organisateurs de la conférence (Johannes Becke, Bareez Majid, et Alessia Colonnelli ; contact : gathering-the-dispersed@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de).

Call for Papers

Central European Jewish Communities in the Toleration and Emancipation Period, 1781–1938

24–25 May 2023, Olomouc, Czech Republic

Jewish community represents the core of Jewish society. Although it lost much of its autonomy in the Habsburg monarchy as a result of Joseph II’s Enlightenment reforms, Jewish community still represented the most important institution that brought local Jewish society together. As a result of equal rights being granted to Jews in the mid-19^th century, Jewish communities were – with few exceptions – given autonomy only in the religious sphere. While in the toleration period (1781–1848), Jewish community provided a space for the formation of an ethnic, religious, cultural and, to some extent, linguistic identity, in the emancipation period (1848–1938), Jews had to seek and realize non-religious identities in institutions other than Jewish religious community.

The conference focuses on the chronological transformation and territorial diversity of the functions of Jewish communities, and on cooperative efforts between Jewish communities within regional and supra-regional associations. There is also a place for papers dealing with individual institutions operated by Jewish communities. Last but not least, the conference focuses on social plurality within Jewish communities, especially on associations that complemented or directly competed with the activities of Jewish communities.

The conference is organized by the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague), the Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies (Olomouc) and the Institute for Jewish History in Austria (St. Pölten).

For more information visit the conference website: https://www.kehillot.eu/.

Submission deadline: 30 November 2022

Call for Papers: Theorizing Jewish-Arab Transculturation

Workshop at the Heidelberg Center for Jewish Studies, February 7­–9 2023

Deadline for abstracts: October 15, 2022

Jewish-Arab relations continue to be explored through the opposing research paradigms of conflict and coexistence: While the conflict paradigm projects the political struggle over Israel/Palestine onto earlier periods of Jewish-Arab relations, the coexistence paradigm imagines an ideal past of inter-ethnic and inter-faith harmony. By contrast, recent scholarship has emphasized the dynamics of interaction, entanglement, and transculturation, crystallized in a long history of hybrid identities: Even in contexts of asymmetric power relations and violent encounters, Jewish-Arab history has produced paradoxical effects of mutual learning and cultural borrowing – ranging from entangled epistemic networks in the Middle Ages to the modern phenomena of the “Hebrew Bedouin” or the PLO’s “Palestinian Zionism” (Sadeq al-Azm).

While the entangled history of Jewish-Arab relations is increasingly well-established, our workshop seeks to advance theory-guided approaches to Jewish-Arab transculturation. How can we explore transfer, interaction, and appropriation in Jewish-Arab history from a comparative perspective? How can we make sense of the radical power shifts caused by European colonialism and the modern nation-state without losing sight of the longue durée of Jewish-Arab relations? How could the research field of Transcultural Studies help us to bridge the disciplinary partition between Jewish Studies / Israel Studies and Middle East Studies / Islamic Studies? And how could we refine our understanding of Jewish-Arab relations by studying transculturation in other world regions, ranging from East Asia or South Asia all the way to the Caribbean?

To discuss the theorization of Jewish-Arab transculturation, the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies, the Heidelberg Center for Jewish Studies, the Department for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Heidelberg University) and the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute invite papers by scholars in the broader fields of Transcultural Studies, Jewish Studies, Israel Studies / Palestine Studies, and Middle East Studies for a three-day workshop in Heidelberg on February 7–9, 2023. The workshop is supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the joint research project “Beyond Conflict and Coexistence: An Entangled History of Jewish-Arab Relations” (Heidelberg, Munich, Halle). Based on availability, funding will be provided for accommodation and transportation. The keynote speech at the workshop will be given by Oren Barak (Hebrew University of Jerusalem).

The workshop will be held in a three-day format. Papers by young scholars are especially encouraged. The most promising contributions will be published in a special issue of a relevant journal at the intersection of Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, and Middle East Studies. We are especially interested in papers which explore the following topics:

Theory-guided approaches to Jewish-Arab transculturation (hybridization, creolization, appropriation, mimicry …) from the Middle Ages until today

Case studies of Jewish-Arab transculturation (e.g., in terms of language, culture, religion, and politics)

Transregional comparisons between Jewish-Arab relations and other cases of transculturation

To apply for the workshop, please submit a short abstract (300 words) and a short CV (1–2 pages) with your most important publications by October 15 (contact: beyond-conflict@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de).