EAJS Summer Laboratory for young Genizah researchers and those interested in the field. Institut für den Nahen und Mittleren Osten, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München. 6 – 7 September 2017.
Conveners: Judith Olszowy-Schlanger (EPHE Paris), Ben Outhwaite (Genizah Research Unit Cambridge), and Ronny Vollandt (LMU Munich)
Venue: Institut für den Nahen und Mittleren Osten, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München
Date: 6 – 7 September 2017.
From approximately the tenth to the nineteenth century the Jewish community of Old Cairo deposited their worn-out book and documents into the Genizah of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, a storeroom for retired texts. Countless leaves, to a large part written in Hebrew script and thus deemed too sacred for an ordinary disposal, were placed there, the remains of treasured books, personal and official letters, amulets, calendars, and all kinds of written text that a highly literate community might produce.
With the discovery of the so called “Cairo Genizah”, one hundred and twenty years ago, researchers from diverse disciplines and fields have gained access to an enormous and unprecedented collection of rare and original documents from the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, more than 200,000 pieces in Cambridge University Library alone, along with other collections scattered worldwide. This remarkable storehouse of primary sources has thrown a fresh new light on the medieval society of the Mediterranean world as a whole (including Islamic and Eastern Christian history) and particularly on Jewish history and culture from ancient to early modern times. Giving the scope, scale and diverse character of the material recovered from the Cairo storeroom, the Genizah continues to provide a seemingly inexhaustible source of primary research materials for scholars from a wide range of disciplines.
Even with the essential tools that have been established over the last few decades to facilitate Genizah studies, gaining access to this vast field with its very specialized material is still a challenge to young researchers and thus calls for special training. Our EAJS Summer Laboratory is therefore intended as a platform for advanced MA-students, PhD-candidates and Post-Docs, who are interested in the field of Genizah Studies and wish to venture further into it. Every participant will have the opportunity to present a paper on her/his topic of research. Senior scholars will present their own work and offer hands-on training, as well as provide feedback on the participants’ projects.
Confirmed senior scholars:
Emma Abate, IRHT, Paris
Dotan Arad, Bar Ilan University
Eve Krakowski, Princeton University
Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, EPHE Paris
Ben Outhwaite, Genizah Research Unit, Cambridge
Michael Rand, University of Cambridge
Gregor Schwarb, SOAS London
Renate Smithuis, University of Manchester
Sacha Stern, UCL London
Ronny Vollandt, LMU Munich
o apply, please send us a letter of intent, specifying your field of interest and a topic you would like to present, as well as your CV by 1 June 2017 to the following address: friederike.schmidt@campus.lmu.de
For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.