Received: from sprynet.com (mh.sprynet.com [165.121.2.59]) by m1.sprynet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id UAA08044 for ; Sat, 29 Aug 1998 20:02:57 -0700 (PDT) Received: from tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca (tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca [142.150.96.236]) by sprynet.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id UAA26208; Sat, 29 Aug 1998 20:02:53 -0700 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by tortoise.oise.utoronto.ca (8.8.8/8.8.8) id UAA05089 for js-network-outgoing; Sat, 29 Aug 1998 20:07:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 20:08:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Lorenzo DiTommaso To: js-network@OISE.UTORONTO.CA Subject: Jewish Studies Newsletter: Call for Papers and Notices Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-js-network@OISE.UTORONTO.CA Precedence: bulk Reply-To: Jewish Studies Newsletter Status: X-PMFLAGS: 34078848 0 1 P465D0.CNM THE * JEWISH * STUDIES * NEWSLETTER positions & events in academic Jewish Studies Published by H-Judaic: The Jewish Studies Network ____________________________________________________________ Issue 7.008p5 * August 1998 * Readership = 6200+ for additional information: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic ____________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: *Call for Papers - Anthology: Jewish Locations: Traversing Racialized Landscapes *Notices - Wilson Center East European Studies Research Grants - Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community, Ukraine - MERIA News ------------------------------------------------------------ CALL FOR PAPERS ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Lisa Tessman and Bat-Ami Bar On Subject: Jewish Locations: Traversing Racialized Landscapes We are working on an anthology (the working title of which is Jewish Locations: Traversing Racialized Landscapes) that is intended to collect original philosophical/theoretical essays that reflect on both ontological and ethico-political questions about Jewish identity and race. Because these reflections are taking place in the context of post-Holocaust transformations, we would like to see special attention paid to the double processes of the de-racialization of Jews qua Jews and the recasting of Jews both in re-racialized and in other terms. We envision the volume as comprised of three parts: Part I: Anti-Jewish Anti-Semitism as/and Racism In modernity Jews have been constructed racially. What we would like, therefore, is for essays in this section to engage with contemporary critical theories of race and racism and examine how this literature conceptualizes or treats Jewishness and whether even if it does not, it may be useful for thinking about Jewishness. Among the questions that essays in this section may consider are some of the following: Of the recent explanatory and/or conceptual models for race and racism (such as those of Gloria Anzalda, K. Anthony Appiah, David Theo Goldberg, Lewis Gordon, Mara Lugones, Charles Mills, Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Lucius Outlaw, and Naomi Zack), are some more promising or more problematic for understanding the current "Jewish condition"? Should one expect an adequate critical race theory to be able to account for anti-Jewish anti-Semitism as a form of racism or elucidate why it should not be considered in this way? Can a model of race and racism that centers color, as many U.S. based theories do, capture the way that Jews have been and are currently racialized? Need there be a specific theory of anti-Jewish anti-Semitism or should it be theorized together with anti-Arab anti-Semitism and other forms of Orientalism? Part II: Jews and Whiteness Many Jews in the U.S. today, when their phenotypic marking permits them to, consider themselves white and are perceived so by others. So, for this section we are looking for essays that interrogate senses of Jewish identity and "otherness" and address questions such as: What has replaced the concept of Jews as constituting a distinct race? Have Jews in the U.S. been re-racialized as either white or "of-color" depending on phenotype and is the "color of Jews" dependent also on economic status and degree of assimilation, hence, markers of class and its culture? In a landscape where ones location is described by a mixture of factors such as nation, phenotype, class, and culture and where these factors may either be constitutive of race or may displace race, where are the Jews? What has been, to use Baldwin's phrase, "the price for becoming white" in the case of those Jews who have been re-racialized as white? What happens to the "whiteness" of Jews given the fact of its absence in some Jews? Can and should Jewish-whiteness be refused? Can (as Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz suggests) some interesting use be made of the Jewish experience of being not quite white but not quite of-color (in Charles Mills' words, "off-white"), and does this in-between status complicate Jews relation to (other) white anti-racist politics or to "critical white studies"? Part III: The Gender of Jews Race is entwined with gender. Thus, the essays we want for this section, perhaps using and reflecting back on feminist and queer theories, will discuss issues regarding the dialectics of the experience of Jewish racializations and gender. Questions that may be focused on in this section include: Is the experience of anti-Jewish anti-Semitism always gendered or can interpolation by anti-Jewish anti-Semitism de-center gender? How do stereotypes of Jews denoted by terms such as "J.A.P." function to both racialize and genderize? If part of the racialization of (diasporic) Jewish males involves being feminized, is the male experience of assimilation away from a (diasporic) Jewish identity--or a transformation into being a "new Jew"--also one of regaining a denied/forgotten masculinity? What, then, may be the female or the queer experience of such assimilation or transformation? How is Jewish identity tied to the body, with its signs of race and gender, and how are race and gender oppressions played out on and through the Jewish body? Our planned deadlines are 01 February, 1999 for a first draft and 01 June, 1999 for the final draft. We would like to hear as soon as possible from anyone who is interested in participating in this project. You can send us a snail-mail note or an e-mail posting. For e-mail, Lisa Tessman's address is ltessman@cisunix.unh.edu and Bat-Ami Bar On's address is ami@binghamton.edu Lisa Tessman Department of Philosophy University of New Hampshire Durham, NH 03824-3574 Bat-Ami Bar On Department of Philosophy SUNY-Binghamton Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 ------------------------------------------------------------ NOTICES ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Arieh Lebowitz Subject: Wilson Center East European Studies Research Grants 1. Research Scholar Grant East European Studies has been awarded funds by the Soviet-East European Research and Training Act of 1983 (Title VIII) of the U.S. Department of State's Authorization Act for the research scholar grant. These scholarships are available to American citizens (or permanent residents) in early stages of their academic careers (generally before tenure but after the Ph.D) or American scholars whose careers have been interrupted or delayed. For non-academics, an equivalent degree of professional achievement is expected. Research scholarships will be awarded for 2-4 months of research in Washington, D.C. Office space at the Wilson Center and a research assistant will be provided whenever possible. Access to the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and other resources of the Washington area will be facilitated. The deadline for receipt of applications and supporting materials is November 1. Grantees can start their appointments as early as the next May. 2. Short-Term Grants (one month's duration) With funding provided by Title VIII (Soviet and East European Research and Training Act), East European Studies offers short-term grants to scholars having particular need for the library, archival, and other specialized resources of the Washington, D.C. area. This program is limited to American citizens (or permanent residents) at the advanced graduate and post doctoral level and to an equivalent degree of professional achievement for those from other fields. Short-term grants provide a stipend of $80 per day for one month. This is residential program requiring visiting scholars to remain in the Washington, D.C. area and to forego other academic and professional obligations for the duration of the grant. No office space, however, is provided. The applicant is requested to submit a concise description of his/her research project, a curriculum vitae, a statement on preferred and alternate dates of residence in Washington, D.C., and two letters specially in support of the research to be conducted at the Center. Applications are reviewed by members of the East European Academic Council at regular intervals throughout the year. Closing dates are December 1, March 1, June 1, and September 1. Applicants are notified approximately four weeks after the closing date. 3. Applications An individual may apply for only one category of support. Applicants are advised to email, call or write to the following address for application materials (no application form is required for Short-Term Grants): East European Studies Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20523 (202) 691-4190 email: haynesai@wwic.si.edu ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Arieh Lebowitz Subject: Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community, Ukraine Greetings! This announcement is for a Web presentation which provides information about the Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community (VRJC) in Ukraine. The URL for the site is as follows: http://www.igc.apc.org/ddickerson/podolia-vrjc.html The VRJC has several functions, including the following: * supporting the elderly and sick Jews of the region. * creating and implementing educational programs. * revitalizing Yiddish language and culture. * preserving the region's Jewish historical artifacts, sites, and monuments. * celebrating the traditional Jewish holidays. The VRJC's archives (in Vinnitsa) contain documents pertaining to the Holocaust; these materials are primarily in Russian and Ukrainian, but there are also some documents in German. The VRJC has several ongoing projects -- which include restoring the town's synagogue. The community has eight Jewish schools, a lecture center, and musical groups which perform Yiddish music and dance. The VRJC's postal and e-mail addresses are as follows: Mr. Igor Desner, Executive Director Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community Post Office Box 1993 Vinnitsa-21 286021, Ukraine vinjew@sovamua.com Thank you for your time and consideration. Cordially, David Dickerson http://www.igc.apc.org/ddickerson/ http://www.igc.apc.org/ddickerson/podolia-vrjc.html ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Barry Rubin Subject: MERIA News MERIA Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3 The next issue of MERIA Journal will be sent in seven postings in the first half of September. It includes a new feature, "Indispensible Introductions." We are compiling a series of brief papers introducing key issues regarding the modern Middle East (approximately 4,000 words) but which also have a high level of analysis and an original perspective. The first two in this series are: * Nikki Keddie, "Iran: Understanding the Enigma. A Historian's View" * Robert J. Lieber, "US-Israel Relations." The issue also features presentations on current Gulf issues: * Joshua Teitelbaum,"The Gulf States and Dual Containment" * Gerald Steinberg, "Us Responses to Proliferation of WMD in the Middle East" Two articles on women in the region: * Ustun Reinart, "Freedom under Wraps: Islamic Garb on Turkish Campuses" * Dahlia Scheindlin, Palestinian Women's Model Parliament" And an analysis of some material factors in Middle Eastern history: * Barry Rubin, "The Geopolitics of Middle East Conflict and Crisis" Finally, we have a stimulating article on evaluating democratization and measuring civil society's strength in regional states: *Ali R. Abootalebi, "Civil Society, Democracy, and the Middle East" As always, all articles will be sent to all subscribers individually. If you miss one in the sequence, please order from or download from our homepage. Middle East Review of International Affairs (Meria) A Magazine on Middle East Studies/1998:Issue 12/August 1998 Direct Circulation 4,395; Total Circulation 5,900 Serving Readers Throughout the Middle East and in 57 Countries Editor, Barry Rubin ------------------------------------------------------------ ____________________________________________________________ Managing Editor: Avi Jacob Hyman Review Editor: Henry Abramson Chair: Jonathan Sarna Newsletter Editor: Lorenzo DiTommaso Jewish Studies On-Line Editorial Board: Henry Abramson, Josh Backon, Lewis Barth, Judith Baskin, Herb Basser, Bernard Cooperman, Alan Crown, Nathan Ehrlich, Yossi Galron, Penny Schine Gold, Avrum Goodblatt, Joseph Haberer, Guy Haskell, Howard Joseph, Yitzchak Kerem, Richard Menkis, Jim Mott, Leslie Train, Tzvee Zahavy, Belarie Zatzman, Reena Zeidman ------------------------------------------------------------ Jewish Studies Network Homepage: http://h-net.msu.edu/~judaic ------------------------------------------------------------ this newsletter is published & distributed for members of H-Judaic@h-net.msu.edu - The Jewish Studies Network an affiliate of H-Net: Humanities On-Line and Shamash.Org