Jewish Life in Modern Islamic Contexts

This fellowship year delved into the meaning of modernity beyond the European, American, and Israeli contexts, looking instead to North Africa, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and Central and South Asia. The goals for the year are to bridge linguistic, geographic, social, and methodological boundaries, to connect the study of the intellectual with the study of the everyday, and to encourage attention to new sources and approaches. 

The international cohort of fellows brings a range of disciplinary backgrounds, linguistic and regional expertise to the topic. Each explores complex relationships between Jews and their Muslim neighbors, or with members of other non-Muslim or minority communities in the Islamic world. Research projects include ones focused on journalism and film, literature, gender relations, economic behavior, cultural expression, and religious life as these developed across diverse Islamic contexts. 

A book of essays featuring research from the year is currently being edited by Nancy Berg and Dina Danon.