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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 1955, William Klein

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Alongside the rapid institutional growth of Jewish studies in recent decades, there has been an equally remarkable expansion of the subjects and themes that Judaica scholars explore. Over the next academic year, thirteen scholars from around the world will examine the ramifications of extending the borders of Jewish studies as fellows at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. Hailing from diverse fields, including history, comparative literatures, anthropology and religious studies, these fellows will spend the year working on individual and collaborative projects in relation to the common theme of Studying Jews: New Topics, New Methods, New Directions.

At mid-century, scholars began to focus on the development of Jewish thought and literature, in addition to the history of persecution, self-governance, and religious controversy. Then, beginning in the 1970s, a sea-change occurred as scholars began to address themes that expanded the topical range of so-called Jewish studies and reflected changes transforming academic life. The perspectives of social history and women's studies, in particular, reoriented the way Jewish history was taught, while challenges to the canon in literary studies made room for the study of the cultural production of Jews other than rabbis, philosophers, moralists, and poets. Further shifts in the configuration of the liberal arts, including the rise of cultural studies, gender studies, modern Israeli studies, and interdisciplinarity reverberated as well, changing both the ways Jews were studied and the kinds of Jews who became objects of study.

As a consequence of these changes, there is no consensus among those who view themselves as practitioners of Jewish studies about the “core” content of the field; indeed, there is often friction and tension about which subjects and practitioners are “in” and which are “out” or whether there even is or should be a “core.” While some debate is attributable to identity politics and competition for resources, there is a substantive intellectual dimension involved that has not received the attention it merits. Every choice of subject and of method is laden with meanings and implications. Shifting the focus of one's gaze, stressing this rather than that, may not necessarily be an overt political or cultural move but it does reflect, at a minimum, some sense of what one values as vital and noteworthy. These choices, in turn, shape thinking about the nature and contours of Jewish history, culture, and society.

The Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan provides annual fellowships for scholars and artists from around the world to conduct research in relation to a given theme. Established through a generous financial contribution from the Jean and Samuel Frankel Jewish Heritage Foundation, the Frankel Institute is the only one of its kind at a public university in the United States. The Institute is committed to interdisciplinary, multilingual work spanning ancient times through the contemporary era. By combining intellectual autonomy with the ideal of a scholarly community, it aims to offer global leadership in Jewish Studies.

Look for a list of the incoming fellows later this summer.

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