Conference, JRRI

Call for papers for the John Rylands Research Institute conference 2016. Theme: 'The Other Within: The Hebrew and Jewish Collections of the John Rylands Library'. Extended proposal deadline: 26 Feb 2016. Conference dates and venue: 27–29 June 2016, The John Rylands Library, Deansgate, Manchester. Further information.

New Publication

A Catalogue of Hebrew Manuscripts. Peter Pormann has published a new book entitled A Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Boydell & Brewer, 2015). Further information.

New Publication

Mizrahi Literature. Moshe Behar has published an article entitled 'The Foundational Antinativism of Mizrahi Literature' in the Journal of Levantine Studies 5/1 (2015), 107-126. Further information.

Rothschild PhD funding opportunity

Doctoral fellowships in Jewish Studies. Students entering their first year of doctoral study can apply for grants of up to £16,000 per year for up to three years. Students in later years of a doctoral programme may apply for shorter periods of funding. Applicants must demonstrate that their application has the support of their proposed supervisor, who should provide one of the references (see the academic interests of staff at Manchester). Deadline: 11 Feb 2016. Further information.

Rothschild Fellowship opportunity

Call for proposals for post-doctoral fellowship. The Rothschild Foundation Europe offers a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Jewish Studies for two years for up to £32,500 p.a. (in the UK, this equates to a part-time position). The Foundation only allows one application per institution, and so there will be an internal selection process for The University of Manchester. Internal deadline: 8 Jan 2016. Further information.

PhD completion

Michelle Magin on Holocaust Representation. The Centre would like to congratulate Michelle Magin on the successful defence of her doctoral thesis 'Toward a Globalised Memory of the Holocaust: An Exploration of the Exhibition Spaces and Educational Programmes at Four Sites of Remembrance in Post-Unification Berlin'. Her supervisor was Dr Cathy Gelbin and the external examiner was Prof. Bill Niven (Nottingham Trent). See the list of current PhD students in the area of Jewish Studies at Manchester.

Modern Hebrew for Beginners

Tuition in Modern Hebrew for classroom and/or video-conferencing modes. The University of Manchester is offering places for Beginner's Modern Hebrew (MEST10212) for those who wish to audit the course (i.e. participate without formal assessment). The cost is £545 for an eleven week course, 5 hours per week. Students can attend the university class in person or by video-conferencing - the University is piloting a system that allows the student (via a computer with camera/microphone and without any special software) to attend and participate in the same class via a swivl robot and video-conference link. Further information.

New Publication

Contribution to volume of essays on Midrash. Katharina Keim, 'The Role of Small forms in Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer' in It’s better to hear the rebuke of the wise than the song of fools (Qoh 7:5), ed. W. David Nelson & Rivka Ulmer, Vol. 6, Judaism in Context 18 (Gorgias Press), 153-178. Further information.

Conference paper, SBL, Atlanta

Paper on Midrash. At the Society of Biblical Literature Annual meeting in Atlanta in Nov 2015, Katharina Keim presented a paper to the Midrash Section entitled 'The Thematic Exposition of Bible in Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer' on Sunday 22 November. Further information.

New Publication

Web resource: Jewish engagement with evolution. The online reader Darwin's Jews was compiled by Daniel Langton and includes a short selection of texts on the subject of Jews, Judaism and evolutionary theory written during the period 1865-1968. Further information.

MA fees bursaries in Jewish Studies

Masters degree studies at the University of Manchester, 2016-17. This is a home/EU fees bursary for MA students who make Jewish Studies topics their main study focus in their MA in Religions and Theology. Three bursaries will be awarded each year on a competitive basis. There are no eligibility criteria based on nationality, but please note that the bursary is restricted to the maximum cost of home/EU fees. Further information.

Workshop on Jewish-Polish Relations

"Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow of Jewish-Polish Relations". Ewa Ochman is among those contributing to this half-day workshop taking place under the auspices of the Israeli Information Center, the Polish Consulate General in Manchester and the Centre for Jewish Studies. The workshop is part of a programme promoting a new exhibition entitled 'Righteous Among the Nations: Help of Polish people for the Jewish Population 1939-1945', which will be exhibited at the Whitworth Hall. Workshop date and venue: 1.00-4.00pm on Mon 30 Nov, Whitworth Hall, University of Manchester. Further information.

Bogdanow Lectures 2016

Holocaust Studies. We are delighted to announce that the Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies 2016 will be given by Michael Marrus (Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto) on the topic 'Lessons of the Holocaust'. Lecture dates: 15 and 16 Feb 2016. Further information.

Leverhulme Fellowship Opportunity

Call for proposals in Jewish and Hebrew Studies. The John Rylands Research Institute is pleased to announce that it intends to sponsor Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships beginning in 2016. Projects must demonstrate a strong connection to the University of Manchester Library’s Special Collections, which include extensive Judaica and Hebraica holdings and many other collections relevant to Jewish and Hebrew Studies. Potential applicants are invited to submit preliminary applications by 11 January 2016. An internal panel will then decide which applications to put forward to the Leverhulme (by 10 March 2016). Further information.

Bernard Jackson Student Prize 2015

Post-graduate prize. This prize is awarded annually to the student with 'the highest grade for a master's dissertation in Jewish Studies' at the University of Manchester. It honours the Centre's second co-director Bernard Jackson. For 2015 the prize of £100 was awarded to the winner Caroline Kaye (MA in Religions & Theology) for a dissertation supervised by Alex Samely and entitled 'The Wicker Man: A Trace of the Holocaust? An Analysis of The Wicker Man (1973) as a Post-War Phenomenon'. Further information.

New Position

Research Centre administrator in Jewish Studies. This position has been made possible by new funding to help develop the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester as a European Regional Hub for Jewish Studies. 14 hours per week, fixed term: 1 Jan 2016 to 31 Aug 2018. Deadline for application: 26 Nov 2015. Further information.

Panel discussion, interfaith

Antisemitism and Islamophobia. Philip Alexander is among a group of scholars and interfaith practitioners taking part in a seminar on the theme of 'Challenging Antisemitism and Islamophobia' organised by the International Abrahamic Forum in partnership with other groups. 7pm on Thu 3 Dec 2015 at a north Manchester venue. Further information.

Public Lecture, Menorah Synagogue

Poland's Jewish Community. Jan Lorenz will give a lecture entitled 'Newcomers, returnees and keepers: A look at the Poland's Jewish community' at Menorah Synagogue in South Manchester on 11:15am Sun 29 November 2015. Further information.

New Publication

Italian views of Alexandrian Jews. Georg Christ, 'Transients? Jews in Alexandria in the Late Middle Ages Through Venetian Eyes' in Expulsion and Diaspora Formation: Religious and Ethnic Identities in Flux from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century, ed. by John Victor Tolan, Religion and Law in Medieval Christian and Muslim Societies (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), 195-216. Further information.

New funding

Atheism and Judaism. Daniel Langton has been awarded £140,000 as an AHRC Leadership Fellow with an 18 month project entitled 'The Doubting Jew: Atheism, Jewish Thought and Interfaith Relations', 2016-17. Further Information.