Situated in a handsome six-story building across
from Independence Hall and some thirty blocks from campus, the Center for
Advanced Judaic Studies is a treasure that can easily be overlooked by
the Penn community. It should not be missed by anyone who takes seriously
the University's mission to foster cross-cultural study and intellectual
exchange that creates new insights by crossing the boundaries of traditional
disciplines.
The Center was created in 1993 by the merger of the Annenberg Research
Institute with Penn and has been functioning under the aegis of the School
of Arts and Sciences. As the world's only institute for advanced studies
in Jewish civilization, it annually selects one or two themes of study
and chooses some twenty fellows from a large applicant pool for a year
of intense research. The fellows, who come from Europe, the Middle East,
and North America, hold weekly seminars that culminate in an international
conference and a published volume. Most of the fellows come from a broad
cross-section of scholars engaged in the numerous sub-fields of Judaic
studies, while others bring fresh perspectives from other fields. Many
are senior scholars; others are young post-docs. The challenge is to shape
this diverse group of men and women, young and old, Jews and non-Jews into
a cohesive learning community that will leave an enduring mark within and
beyond Jewish studies. The Center also aims to create a powerful engine
that will carry into the next century a creative encounter between Jewish
and American civilizations.
This year's two research groups are wonderful examples of the Center's
vitality. One group, on the Hebrew poetry of Spain, Italy, and Germany
in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, brings together leading scholars
in that field from Israel, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France. It also includes
experts on Arabic and Romance poetry, Jewish philosophy, mysticism, and
history. The second group considers the connections between the European
Enlightenment and the Jewish Enlightenment known as the Haskalah. Originally
organized by two Penn professors, one in German philosophy, the other in
German literature, it brings together scholars of history, art history,
philosophy, and literature from the United States, England, Italy, and
Israel. A regular influx of faculty and graduate students from Penn and
other local universities catalyzes the research activities of both groups.
Participants' diverse backgrounds and perspectives yield discussions that
are always fresh, delightfully invigorating, and deeply satisfying.
Even more remarkable are the chance encounters among the fellows. Since
their offices are assigned to facilitate exchange from scholars of diverse
backgrounds, the agenda of each research group has spilled over to the
other. Many in the poetry group attend the Enlightenment seminar and vice
versa. Without the Center, neither group would have had the opportunity
for such fruitful interaction. The closing conference will unite the two
groups into one, focusing broadly on the theme of cross-cultural dialogues
from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. As in the past, this year's
groups will leave a significant impact on each participant, on the way
each sees his/her own discipline and eventually on the intellectual communities
to which each scholar and teacher returns.
The Center is committed to sharing its "brain-power" with
the community at Penn and beyond. Fellows are expected to establish personal
and intellectual links with their disciplinary communities at Penn. Several
fellows teach undergraduate and graduate courses; some meet regularly and
offer assistance to graduate students; others speak in various forums run
by Jewish Studies, Hillel, and other campus sponsors. The symbiotic relationship
among the Center, Penn's Jewish Studies program, and other programs in
the humanities and social sciences is mutually enriching. In addition to
their work at Penn, fellows also participate in public lecture series throughout
the greater Philadelphia area, New York, and Miami. And the Center regularly
hosts local groups of visitors, runs an annual workshop for local teachers,
organizes special programs for clergy and other educators, and opens its
world-class collection of Judaica to a steady stream of guests.
Every year the Center welcomes a new group of scholars and invites bold
initiatives for creative research. Next fall's fellows, organized by Princeton
historian Anthony Grafton and Hebrew University kabbalah scholar Moshe
Idel, will study the emergence of Christian Hebraism in medieval and early
modern Europe. This unique group was assembled from scholars in the fields
of history, philosophy, literature, and anthropology. In future years the
Center will consider the arts (music, art, and film) and their connections
with modern Jewish Culture, Jews and Christians in Muslim lands in the
19th and 20th centuries, and comparative diasporas in the ancient and medieval
world. Each year will offer new opportunities to engage a different constituency
of Penn's faculty and students, to create new public programs and forums,
and to educate a wider public in the richness of Jewish civilization and
its creative encounters with other cultures. Because of the Center and
its partner, the Jewish Studies program, Penn has become the intellectual
leader in Judaic studies in this country. Never in the long history of
Judaism have there existed so many opportunities for the study of Judaism
in a secular university. By molding together all these diverse resources
and perspectives, and stimulating a new collective discourse, Penn has
created an institution of higher learning unparalleled in Jewish history.
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