Embedded travel course brings Jewish history to life.
"Embedded Travel Course: Jewish Italy and Its Literatures,”
Last spring, the Duke Center for Jewish Studies was able to sponsor “Jewish Italy and Its Literatures,” an embedded travel course led by Professor Saskia Ziolkowski, who was able to bring the richness and complexity of authors ranging from Bocaccio to Igiaba Scego to life for our students. Professor Ziolkowski, discusses the benefit of these courses here:
In the first part of the Duke University Jewish Studies and Italian 2024 course, “Jewish Italy and its Literatures: The Most Ancient Minority,” the class explored the Jewish literature of Rome, Venice, and Trieste. Our authors ranged from Giovanni Boccaccio, Leon Modena, and William Shakespeare to Elsa Morante, Joseph Brodsky, Claudio Magris, and Igiaba Scego. We both analyzed these authors’ literary works, as well as discussed what the terms “Jewish Italy” or “Jewish Italian literature” mean, or could mean. Thanks to a generous gift from and the support of the Center for Jewish Studies, the whole class went on a trip to Italy over spring break. During our time in Italy we built on our historical knowledge, reflected on how seeing sites in person changed our interpretations of the we have read, and considered what new questions our visits raised for the next part of the course, which will be guided by students’ individual research projects. While a range of courses would benefit from the addition of a travel component, Jewish Italian literature and history are especially rich and complex topics that have garnered increasing scholarly and popular attention. In large part because of this trip, students have found precise research topics that will contribute to current discussions about the significance of Jewish Italy and its literatures.
Read the student discussions that unfolded on Jewish intellectual life for undergraduate students like Sarah Gorbatov (T ’26), who wrote upon her visit to Trieste
It was natural to envision the likes of Saba, Svevo, Joyce, Voghera, and Magris sitting at those same tables, pen in hand, during the cafè’s heyday. As Magris explains, the cafè is an intellectual atmosphere conducive to introspective meditation and lively discourse.” - Sarah Gorbatov (T ’26).