Workshop
16.10.2023
12:00-18:30
For the past few decades, flourishing gender studies have provided new heuristic tools, theoretical reflections, and methodological approaches that have brought fruitful results also in historical research. Cross- and intercategorial angles based on concepts such as intersectionality expanded conventional historiographical narratives and thus, not least, contributed significantly to new findings in Jewish studies. Perspectives on Jewish history and culture drifted towards more open, mutual, and sensitive understandings of categorizing individuals and groups. The inclusion of gender helped to reflect on how encounters, exchanges, and diverse forms of togetherness unfolded in different historical pasts. This has particularly fostered microhistorical case studies that contributed to a more nuanced understanding of the everyday life of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe.
With this workshop gathering scholars specializing in Jewish and non-Jewish history in Europe, we seek to stimulate the discussion on the place of Jewish studies in the gendered history of the region and situate Jewish Studies in the broader academic landscape transformed by the gendered turn.
During the workshop, we foresee to discuss encounters between Jewish and non-Jewish men and women; perspectives on queerness, masculinity,
or femininity; aspects of distinct gendered Jewish history. Questions to be addressed include: In which perspectives on everyday life does gender prove to be a relevant category of analysis? Which intersectional aspects are relevant in interpreting frequent encounters between Jews and non-Jews? Which theoretical frames help us to sharpen our research on agency in daily working patterns?
Organizer: Susanne Korbel, University of Graz / Aleksandra Jakubczak, POLIN museum
The workshop is part of the FWF Esprit Project ESP 120. The workshop is organized within the Global Education Outreach program, supported by Taube Philanthropies, the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, and the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and with the support of the World Union of Jewish Studies.