Cafe 58 (Room 124), 3401 Spruce Street
Thursday, March 20th, 2014 - 9 am to 5 pm
There exists a strong scholarly consensus that polemic has played a central role in Jewish history. Whether we consider polemics involving Samaritans, Christians, Qaraites, Muslims, Haskalah thinkers, Zionists, “the nations,” or contemporary group identity formation, polemical forms of argumentation and representation have been widespread in thinking about Jews and Judaism. However, this scholarly consensus often obfuscates rather than clarifies, preventing the category of polemic from receiving careful scrutiny. The label “polemic” can render certain aspects of a text unproblematic or irrelevant, because scholars frequently view polemic as a dishonest form of argumentation that bears little or no relationship to a writer’s “real” views. To move this situation forward, scholars must begin to ask the following questions. How can scholars identify polemic and delimit its boundaries? Does the label polemic imply that a given author actually held different views? How is that view identified? Are there limits to polemic, either based on reasonableness or believability? Do consumers of polemic share the scholarly skepticism of polemic or recognize the rhetorical strategies at play? What role does relationship with a real or imagined “Other” play in constructing identity?
All are welcome to attend this conference, featuring Professor Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University, as the keynote speaker and students of different periods and disciplines in the study of Judaism and Jewish history who will bring diverse data to bear on these theoretical questions. This conference is generously sponsored by Penn’s Jewish Studies Program, Sasgov, History, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, English, Classics, and Ancient History. This one-day event will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2014, 9 am to 5 pm in Café 58 (Room 124) at 3401 Spruce Street. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
For more information: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/events/2014/warring-words-rethinking-polemic-study-jews-and-judaism-jsp-interdisciplinary-graduate-s
All are welcome to attend this conference, featuring Professor Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University, as the keynote speaker and students of different periods and disciplines in the study of Judaism and Jewish history who will bring diverse data to bear on these theoretical questions. This conference is generously sponsored by Penn’s Jewish Studies Program, Sasgov, History, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, English, Classics, and Ancient History. This one-day event will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2014, 9 am to 5 pm in Café 58 (Room 124) at 3401 Spruce Street. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
For more information: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/events/2014/warring-words-rethinking-polemic-study-jews-and-judaism-jsp-interdisciplinary-graduate-s
