We are pleased to forward this call for abstracts for a volume of essays to be published by the Littman Library as part of the Jewish Cultural Studies series.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
The Dilemma of Jewish Heritage: Studies in the Construction and Consumption of the Past in the Present
Edited by
Magdalena Waligórska (University of Bremen, Germany) and
Simon J. Bronner (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
Publisher: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford, UK
The dilemma of Jewish heritage explored by various writers in this volume is the construction and consumption of the Jewish past in the present.
Although the Jewish predicament is not unique among minority groups in heritage studies in the face of identity and community issues within mass society, there are distinctive aspects because of the diasporic characteristic of Jewish experience in relation to so-called “host” countries and their multicultural populations in different locales of the world.
The editors invite papers that focus on the choices, strategies, and outcomes in various contexts as individuals, institutions, and communities define “Jewish heritage” for different audiences. The editors also seek to interpret the often politicized discourse centering on “heritage” by comparing its usage in Jewish settings compared to “history,” “society,” “art,” and “culture.”
Possible areas of investigation include, but are not limited to:
— the function of Jewish museums as Jewish community centers and nationalistic organizations;
— representation of Jewish culture on stage in festivals of Jewish arts;
— special issues in the adaptation of intangible cultural heritage in preservation and performance;
— cultural work in the production of heritage merchandise;
— curating by Jews and non-Jews in museums and their consequences;
— strategies of Jewish heritage education in public and parochial schools;
— the effects of “going public” by Jewish organizations as part of multicultural programming and “marker” projects;
— issues of Jewish heritage awareness programs such as Birthright Israel and March of the Living;
— negotiation of Jewish heritage in student organizations such as Hillel and summer camp programs.
Send a 200-400 word abstract of your proposed essay before June 1, 2016, to Simon J. Bronner at sbronner@psu.edu. Queries are also welcome and can be directed to Professor Bronner. The editors will choose 15 proposals from this pool and invite submission of English essays (6,000-8,000 words) from authors before January 2017. For more information on the Littman series, see http://littman.co.uk/jcs.