Modern media has not only documented Jewish culture but also transformed it by allowing Jews to express and represent themselves new ways. This is the thesis of two new titles in the Jewish Culture and Contexts series, which is published by Penn Press in collaboration with the Katz Center.

Natalie Dohrmann (NBD): Ronit, tell us a bit about your broad scholarly interests, what drew you to them, and what especially excites you about them personally and/or intellectually.

While the Katz Center focuses much of its energy on its annual fellowship, it also supports new research in other more experimental ways, including conferences, institutional partnerships, and other forward-looking initiatives.

In the series What Do You Know?, we feature scholars’ answers to questions about Jewish history and culture submitted by our readers.

An anonymous reader writes: I would be interested in getting a better understanding of the ebb and flow of dhimmi status over the centuries, and how that affects the way they are treated today.

What does dhimmi mean, where did it come from, and is it still relevant?

Below is a celebration of the life and scholarship of Professor Joel Kraemer (1933–2018) written by JQR contributor Mordechai A. Friedman (his pieces can be found here and here). Kraemer was a great pioneer of Judeo-Islamic studies, a lovely human being, and a generous teacher of many students, some of whom are currently at the Katz Center both among staff and fellows.

This year at the Katz Center the fellows have spoken about how little research has been conducted on modern Jewish legal sources from Islamic lands. With this in mind, I’m presenting one such source to show the promise that legal texts have for shedding light on both social and intellectual history.