Workshop: Jewish Studies in the Aftermath of October 7

Jewish Studies in the Aftermath of October 7

April 7, 2025

This workshop aims to examine how scholars of Jewish Studies think and rethink their disciplines in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ongoing war in Gaza. We ask participants to reflect on their disciplines as well as their own practices as scholars and intellectuals. Has the discipline experienced a crisis in the past year? If so, can we describe its contours? Can we continue to use old paradigms and notions, or should we seek new ones? And if so, where should we look for these?

SCHEDULE

Morning Sessions: Duke University

249 Rubenstein Library, Carpenter Conference Room

^{8:00am: Gathering and light breakfast}

^{8:30am: Welcoming notes}

8:45-10:00am: Modern European Jewish Histories and Literatures

Chair: Ruth von Bernuth (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Kata Gellen (Duke University): Shifting Narratives About Holocaust Memory in the German-Jewish Studies Context

Karen Auerbach (UNC-Chapel Hill): Teaching and Writing about the History of Antisemitism and Zionism in Central and East European Contexts

^{10:00-10:15am: Coffee Break}

10:15-11:30am: Histories/Ethnicities

Chair: Julie Mell (NC State University)

Malachi Hacohen (Duke University): Jewish History and the End of the Liberal Era

Yuval Evri (Brandeis University): The Impossibility and Possibilities of (Arab) Jewish Studies

^{11:30-11:45am: Coffee Break}

11:45am-1:00pm: Antiquity and the Present

Chair: Joseph Lam (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Eva Mroczek (Dalhousie University): What Is Jewish Studies for? Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies Program-Building Today

David Lambert (UNC-Chapel Hill): Studying Past and Present with Ancient Jewish Texts.

^{1:00-1:45pm: Lunch}

^{1:45-2:30pm: Transportation to UNC}

Afternoon Sessions: UNC-Chapel Hill

Dey Hall, Toy Lounge

^{2:30-2:45pm: Opening remarks}

2:45-4:00pm: The Non-Jew

Chair: Michele Rivkin Fish (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Jagoda Budzik (University of Wrocław): Why Jewish Studies Needs the Goy

Ishay Rosen-Zvi (Tel Aviv University): The Past, Present and Future of the Goy

^{4:00-4:15pm: Coffee Break}

4:15-5:30pm: Mirrors and Opposites

Chair: Daniel Herskowitz (Duke University)

Sarah Hammerschlag (The University of Chicago Divinity School): Duplicity and Doubles

Shai Ginsburg (Duke University): Intimacy and Love