Mingled Identities: Rethinking the Notion of Identity in Jewish Culture
The 2012 summer school focused on the meaning of Jewish identity across the sweep of Jewish history. Scholarship on the history of Judaism as well as the history of western religions in general has moved away from the narratives of religious conflict and separation. Instead of border maintenance, scholars increasingly speak of border crossings, socio-cultural mixing, hybridity, and mingled identities when examining the histories of interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Such explorations have challenged the meaning of Jewish culture itself. What elements in specific Jewish cultures can we speak of as enduring or internal, and how are these ideas themselves created and disseminated? Is it not more productive to examine Jewish cultures at their borders, at their sites of cultural contact and exchange with other cultures, rather than merely to study them in isolation in search of their essential nature? Through an intense seminar format, students explored these questions with a faculty of distinguished scholars representing variegated fields and approaches to Jewish studies, as they emerge from close readings in original languages and open discussion.
