CENTER FOR ADVANCED JUDAIC STUDIES
University of Pennsylvania
Post-Doctoral Fellowships 2005-2006
Application Deadline: November 15, 2004

THE JEWISH BOOK:
MATERIAL TEXTS AND COMPARATIVE CONTEXTS

Over the last half-century, the critical study of the history of material texts in all its forms--from orality to the hypertext--has entered the academic mainstream. In Jewish studies there have been few opportunities to consolidate the various advances made in the study of the Jewish book, and even fewer to contextualize the Jewish book fully within the history of the book at large. During the coming year, the fellows at CAJS will explore the Jewish book as a historical agent in Jewish culture and as a medium of exchange within the larger cultures in which Jews have lived.

Applicants are invited from all disciplinary perspectives, with the aim of uniting scholars working in the traditional fields of Jewish studies with scholars of the history of the book. We anticipate that projects will deal with such questions as:

• How have the materiality and formatting of Jewish texts from antiquity to the present shaped authorship, reception, interpretation, and transmission?
• How have the business of Jewish book production and the market forces of book consumption affected Jewish life and culture?
• How have the visual art in and design of Jewish books shaped reading habits, legibility, recollection, and signification?
• How have cultures of Jewish reading changed over time, creating new forms of social experience and testing communal authority as well as gender boundaries?
• What has been the fate of Jewish books, libraries, book producers, and readers under conditions of censorship and persecution?

The Center invites applications from scholars in the humanities and social sciences at all levels, and will consider outstanding graduate students in the final stages of writing their dissertations. Stipend amounts are based on a fellow’s academic standing and financial need with a maximum of $32,000 for the academic year. A contribution may also be made towards travel expenses. Application deadline is November 15, 2004. Awards will be announced by February 1, 2005.

Individual scholars or groups wishing to propose possible topics for future CAJS seminars should consult the guidelines at www.cjs.upenn.edu/Program/proposal.htm.