Institute for Jewish Studies, Free University Berlin
Contact details
Fabeckstraße 23-25, "Holzlaube"Raum 0.2059
14195 Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 30 838 52002
Email: judaistik@geschkult.fu-berlin.de
https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/judaistik/index.html
Head of Department/Director
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Giulio Busi
Tel: +49 30 838 555 79
Email: busi@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Activites
BA Jewish Studies: Jewish Studies at Freie Universität Berlin deals with the history and literature of Judaism in the geographical and cultural area of late antiquity as well as with the social and intellectual history of the late Middle Ages and modern times in Europe. The basic concept of the Bachelor of Judaic Studies is designed in such a way that it does not proceed chronologically from antiquity to the present, but rather begins with the modern age and deepens the historical roots of the treated modern topics in the 2nd and 3rd year of study. The course is intended to introduce as many aspects of Judaism as possible and enable graduates to grasp the complex phenomenon of Judaism in its independence,In all phases of the course, the subject of research is also examined for gender and diversity aspects and various models of gender relations are reflected in their respective religious, cultural and social contexts.
In the language modules, students learn the Hebrew language in its various stages of development (biblical, rabbinic and medieval Hebrew; modern Hebrew) and are enabled to read and analyze original language sources. It should be expressly pointed out here that the Hebrew language course I and II offered at the institute can also be taken as part of general professional preparation by students who do not complete this course in the core subject or in the related area of the module offers.
MA Jewish Studies: The master's program in Jewish Studies offers an interdisciplinary, specialist and research-oriented education, which, in addition to the subject-specific core area "Judaic Studies" also offers profile development in the areas of "Judaism and Islam" and "Holocaust Studies" and therefore a high degree of social and political relevance. In the core area, in-depth knowledge of the various forms of Jewish self-image, of the societal, cultural and social aspects of Jewish existence in multi-religious contexts and of Jewish responses to modernity and postmodernity, which are characterized by the terms Enlightenment, emancipation, acculturation and Zionism, but also characterized by the term anti-Judaism/anti-Semitism.
Other modules of the elective area explore the presentation of knowledge in rabbinic literature and in other specifically Jewish knowledge traditions in science, philosophy and mysticism from antiquity to the present; Jewish life in the Islamic culture and about the dynamics of these two religious communities in the modern and present; forms and effects of anti-Semitism and racism as well as detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. There are also language and history modules.
MA Interdisciplinary Studies of the Middle East: This brings together six disciplines – Arabic Studies, Iranian Studies, Islamic Studies including Islam in Europe, Jewish Studies, Semitic Studies, and Ottoman Studies and Turcology – to approach the Middle East from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The program allows you to learn and apply new methods that take into account the diversity of languages, literatures, societies, religions, and cultures of this region and to gain a new understanding of the many ways in which they have become intertwined throughout their rich histories.
Offers courses in Jewish Studies
Pursues academic research activities
Degrees offered
BA Jewish Studies
MA Jewish Studies
Main research activities
For a Judaic institute in Germany, research in constant contact with international Judaic research is vital. Members of the institute include members of the Association of Judaists in Germany, the European Association of Jewish Studies and the World Union of Jewish Studies. There is close cooperation with numerous Judaic institutions in Europe and beyond, especially with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and with the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento in Florence.
The following projects are currently carried out at the Institute for Jewish Studies:
Patterns of Knowledge Circulation: The Transmission and Reception of Jewish Esoteric Knowledge in Manuscripts and Print in Early Modern East-Central Europe
The Kabbalistic Library of Pico della Mirandola
A Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud
The Impact of the Sefer ha-Zohar on the Christian World 17th-19th Centuries
A Digital Synopsis of the Mishnah and the Tosefta
The Hebrew manuscripts of the “Erfurt Collection” as cultural and historical witnesses to Jewish life in the Middle Ages
Completed or discontinued projects:
A collection of texts on Jews and Judaism on perishable material from Egypt: 330 BCE to 700 CE
DFG project Yohanan Alemanno
Lexicon of Jewish Names: Collection of all Jewish names and persons in antiquity in Palestine and in the diaspora
School project: History and Oral History. Jewish life in Berlin
There is a Jewish Studies library
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