Lecture series at the Dubnow Institute focuses on Jewish university history

With a lecture on Jewish scholars at the University of Vienna, Mitchell Ash opens the lecture series »Educational Pathways« of the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow on Thursday, 24 November, 5.15 p.m. On a total of five dates, the series will explore the ambivalences of Jewish history using the example of universities and educational paths: between participation, disadvantage and exclusion. The lectures will take place either in person at the Dubnow Institute in Leipzig or digitally.

Knowledge was traditionally held in high regard in Judaism. If holy scriptures and ritual texts were initially of greatest interest, following the Haskala attention was also paid to worldly content. The entry of Jews into the university, which was for a long time regarded as a Christian corporation, the emergence of the »Wissenschaft des Judentums,« and the establishment of the institute of higher education bearing this name in 1872 were expressions of a Jewish educational ideal in transition. At the same time, this formed part of a general process of secularization and emancipation. These developments by no means followed a linear course. Progress and tradition were reflected in the question of Jewish erudition just as much as participation and exclusion.

The lecture series accompanies a research project of the Dubnow Institute on the possibilities and limitations of Jewish participation in Saxon universities from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. The research results on Jewish graduates from Chemnitz, Dresden, Freiberg and Mittweida are made accessible in a technically and visually appealing way within the framework of »Networking Digitized Cultural Data in Saxony – The Development of a Technical Infrastructure for Research on Mobility, Migration, and the Transformation of Places, People, and Artefacts (in Temporal and Spatial Perspective) – DIKUSA«. In this way, the Institute is linking up with its web portal »Jewish Scholars at the Leipzig University,« which has been accessible online since the spring of this year.

The lectures in the series »Educational Pathways« will take place on Thursdays at 5.15 p.m. during the winter semester 2022/2023. Further speakers are Shmuel Feiner, Stefanie Mahrer, Felix Steilen and Adi Livny. For digital events, you will find the link to the meeting room a few days before the event at www.dubnow.de.