Annual Conference of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies
OLD NEW JEWS: JEWISH IDENTITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
THE DINA AND RON GOLDSCHLAGER FAMILY CONFERENCE ON CONTEMPORARY JEWISH LIFE
Old New Jews borrows the Jewish idea of Alt Neu to capture the ongoing exchange of past and present, innovation and tradition. This year's AAJS conference on Jewish Identity in the 21st Century examines how this creative tension is playing itself out under the impact of our rapidly changing millennium. Over the centuries the contours of Jewish identity have shifted through encounters with broader intellectual, historical, cultural and sociological trends. The 19th century was notable for transforming Jewish identity through the impact of emancipation, modernisation, antisemitism and the birth of new ideologies. In the 20th century, the Holocaust and the creation of Israel were two events that dramatically reshaped the Jewish world. This conference focuses on examining how the 21st century will sustain and transform Judaism and Jewish identities. It looks to past models of Jewish culture and identity in order to provide a comparative perspective on current and future trends impacting on Jews and Judaism. Papers and keynote addresses will look at questions of Judaism and Jewish identity – its transmission, diversity, and specificity in relation to national and global settings. The conference will look at how the Israel-Diaspora relationship is being remodelled; Jewish institutional life; the impact of new technologies; Judaism in an age of choice and hybrid identities; demographic trends and marriage patterns; population movements and scholarly constructs of ethnicity, identity and social cohesion.
Photo collage: Emmanuel Santos
Conference dates: 12 and 13 February 2012
Papers will cover a broad range of themes.
- Models of Jewish identity through the ages
- Israel, Middle East and globalisation
- New technologies and virtual Jewish communities
- Jewish education and globalisation
- Jews and language
- Judaism in an age of choice
- Immigration, multiculturalism and globalisation
- Antisemitism and globalisation
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
- Dr Daniel Gordis
- Professor Samuel Heilman
- Professor Bethamie Horowitz
- Professor Andrew Markus
- Professor Moshe Semyonov
- Professor David Shneer
Conference chair: Associate Professor Mark Baker
Conference convenor: Dr Miriam Munz