GHCC REPORT
Workshop Title: ‘Conceptions of Jewishness: Beyond Essentialised Identities’
Organizers: Mia Lee (History)
Christine Achinger (German Studies)
Robert Fine (Sociology)
Date: 2 June 2012 – 3 June 2012
Venue: IAS Seminar Room
Number of participants: 14 (10 invited speakers)
Number of attendees: 18 (Day 1) and 14 (Day 2)
GHCC Funding: £500
Brief Overview: We had a very intense and full two-days of panel presentations and
discussions, bringing together participants from Germany, Austria and different parts
of the UK. As we hoped, the interdisciplinary nature of the workshop allowed us to
explore and share our work on conceptions of ‘Jewishness’ and on Antisemitism in a
context that was free of binary categories and polemical interventions that so often
shut down these kinds of discussions. Participants came from a range of
methodological and disciplinary backgrounds, including law, Jewish studies,
sociology, German studies, and history. Topics and case studies were equally varied
with presentations on contemporary hip-hop culture, the Bolshevik Revolution, the
history of Jewish emancipation, and antisemitism and sexism. The range of different
national backgrounds of participants also prompted interesting and productive
discussions about the differences between the various academic, social and historical
contexts and their impact on Jewish studies and the study of anti-Semitism in the
different countries. Feedback on the workshop from participants was very positive.
The programme for the two-day workshop is attached.
Future outcomes: Participants were keen to organize a second workshop to be held in
2013 either in Bayreuth, Germany or Venice, Italy. A third workshop is envisioned
for 2015 in Singapore. Funding for these future events would be shared between the
host universities and participating institutions. Workshop organizers anticipate a
series of journal publications over the course of the second and third workshops.