Jewish Political Thought beyond Borders

Discussions of Jewish politics today all too often become discussions of borders. This day-long workshop was meant to resist this temptation, finding, interrogating, and fostering Jewish political thought where it crosses boundaries—whether spatial, temporal, or disciplinary. It sought to highlight new resources and modes in political thought that escape, erode, and challenge established confines and impasses.

10:00–10:30     Introduction
    Welcome: Steve Weitzman
    Opening remarks: Nitzan Lebovic

10:30–12:00   Spatial Boundaries
        Chair: Elliot Ratzman, Swarthmore College/Katz Center

        Jews and Separation Walls
            Meirav Jones, Katz Center

        Beyond Borders: Debates over the Status of
        Jewish Refugees in post-1918 Europe
            Tobias Brinkmann, Penn State University

        Exile, Diaspora, Fugitivity
            Vincent Lloyd, Villanova University/Katz Center

        Respondent: Julie Cooper, Tel Aviv University/Katz Center

12:00–1:00      Lunch

1:00–2:30       Temporal Boundaries
        Chair: Liliane Weissberg, University of Pennsylvania

        Two Paradigms of Jewish Politics
            John Ackerman, University of Kent/Katz Center

        Neo-Pragmatism and Prophetic Time
            Samuel Brody, University of Kansas/Katz Center

        Arendt Going Augustinian
            Nitzan Lebovic, Lehigh University/Katz Center

        Respondent: Menachem Lorberbaum, Tel Aviv University/Katz Center

2:30–3:00      Break/Coffee

3:00–4:30      Disciplinary Boundaries
        Chair: Giddon Ticotsky, Stanford University/Katz Center

        Political Thought and Identity in East German Music Aesthetics and Historiography
            Golan Gur, University of Cambridge/Katz Center

        German-Jewish Philosophy and the Quest for “Theory”
            Philipp von Wussow, Goethe University/Katz Center

        Messianic Texts in Jewish Critical Theory: Discipline and Method
            Zachary Braiterman, Syracuse University

        Respondent: Marina Rustow, Princeton University

4:30–5:30          Roundtable
        Moderator: Philipp von Wussow
            Irene Tucker, UC Irvine/Katz Center
            Liliane Weissberg, University of Pennylvania
            David Myers, UCLA/Katz Center

5:30-8:00      Dinner