Boundaries is a crucial topic in Jewish Studies and has been a key issue since Biblical times, considering the reasons for dietary laws, prohibition of intermarriage, patrilineal/matrilineal descent.
But the question of boundaries is also contested and raises issues of contrasting imagined communities, along with communal power to police identity and the limits of belonging. In the modern period and especially since the Holocaust, the issue of boundaries has taken on new dimensions.
The 2013 British Association for Jewish Studies (BAJS) conference aims to create a forum for exploration of these issues both from within Jewish Studies but also from contributors who have not previously been involved in BAJS.
David Biale, Emanuel Ringelblum Distinguished Professor at UC Davis, California, will be giving a keynote lecture entitled “Exile, Homeland and the Boundaries of Jewish Identity”. Professor Biale will also be attending a postgraduate workshop that is being organized within the conference.
In addition, Jonathan Boyd, Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, will also be giving a plenary address ‘Challenges Facing the Contemporary Jewish Community in Britain: Insights from the UK Census’.
Other events planned are a visit to the Jewish documents archive in the Library of Canterbury Cathedral and a short festival of Jewish film at Kent’s Canterbury campus.
For the full conference programme and booking information, please visit the BAJS website.