(U.Penn. 02/03)

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CENTER FOR ADVANCED JUDAIC STUDIES University of Pennsylvania
Post-Doctoral Fellowships 2002-2003
Application Deadline November 15, 2001

JEWISH HISTORY AND CULTURE IN EASTERN EUROPE, 1600-2000

For much of the modern period, the Jews of Eastern Europe constituted the
human reservoir of Jewish civilization, the source of many of the currents
that shape Jewish life even today. Scholars of literature and religion,
historians, and experts in allied fields, stimulated in part by the new
accessibility of long-hidden archival materials in Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union, have begun to re-envision East European Jewry and its
place in modern Jewish history and culture. In 2002-2003, the CAJS will
sponsor an interdisciplinary seminar devoted to assembling and placing in
perspective the fruits of the new scholarship.

Among the possible questions the seminar will consider are: What are the
limits of "crisis" as an explanatory model for individual and collective
change among East European Jews? In what ways did East European Jewry
remain a coherent entity across the periodic recastings of political
boundaries in the region? What were the lines of influence between Jews and
their mostly Slavic neighbors? The seminar will also consider neglected
issues of gender and economic life among East European Jews. What
historical contexts made possible the rise in Eastern Europe of Jewish
cultural modernism, with the ideal of the emancipated (male or female) self
at its center? How have the pioneering figures of Jewish scholarship in
Eastern Europe, with their pronounced populist bent, shaped the field's
intellectual lineage? How can attention to the intersection of elite and
popular culture illuminate such epochal developments as the rise of
Hasidism as a mass movement, the political mobilization of the Jewish
"silent majority" at the beginning of the 20th century, and the renewal of
Jewish national identity in the USSR during the Cold War?

The Center invites applications from post-doctoral candidates in the
humanities and social sciences. Outstanding graduate students in the final
stages of writing their dissertations may also apply. Stipend amounts are
based on a Fellows' academic standing and financial need with a maximum of
$32,000 for the academic year. A contribution may also be made towards
travel expenses. Application deadline is November 15, 2001. Awards will be
announced on January 15, 2002.

For more information and application forms:

http://www.cjs.upenn.edu/Program/2002-2003/announce.html

Or contact Sheila Allen: allenshesas.upenn.edu

Benjamin Nathans
Watkins Assistant Professor in the Humanities
Department of History
University of Pennsylvania
Suite 352-B
3401 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228
Tel: (215) 898-4958
Fax: (215) 573-2089
Email: bnathanshistory.upenn.edu