THE LBI YEAR BOOK 2011
German Jewry: Memories of the Past – Visions of the Future
International Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Leo Baeck Institute
Jerusalem, 15-18 May 2005
LBI Jerusalem
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Antisemitism in Europe Today: Academic Approaches
London, Sunday, 23 January 2005
European Network for Research into Historical and Current Antisemitism
in cooperation with the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at Sussex University
Workshop organised by
Raphael Gross (Director of the Leo Baeck Institute London and the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at Sussex University)
Ben Barkow (Director of the Institute of Contemporary History and Wiener Library, London)
No single methodology has been successful in fully accounting for the complex historical phenomenon of antisemitism. The Network seeks to bring together disparate national and disciplinary perspectives on this phenomenon.
At the Network’s first workshop open to the public, internationally renowned scholars from different fields will discuss various approaches to the subject. These include contributions from the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, political science and linguistics.
Russian Jews in Germany in the 20th and 21st centuries
Brighton, 13-14 December 2004
Leo Baeck Institute London
Bucerius Institute
Centre for German-Jewish Studies
Organised by:
Yfaat Weiss (Director of the Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society, Haifa)
Raphael Gross (Director of the Leo Baeck Institute, London and the Centre for German-Jewish Studies, University of Sussex)
Research Practices of Jewish Scientists and Scholars in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Brighton, 4-5 October 2004
Leo Baeck Institute London
Centre for German Jewish Studies (University of Sussex)
There is a widely-held belief that most achievements in science and the humanities have little or no relationship to the characteristics of particular social groups. That is, scientific accomplishments are “impersonal.” Thus “Jewishness” does not affect any scientific or scholarly methods or practice. However, some facts appear to challenge this view: for instance above-average representation of Jews in the sciences and the humanities when compared to their numbers in the general population and their exceptionally strong contribution to particular disciplines. To give but one example: in the 1920s and 1930s the large number of Jewish biochemists studying the intermediate metabolism of sugar was quite disproportionate to their participation in other scientific fields. Similar phenomena can be identified in numerous other areas of intellectual inquiry and activity.
This workshop will examine the tensions created by these two apparently contradictory intuitions. The aim is to provide material on whether the “Jewishness” of scientists and scholars-that is Jewish traditions and/or social and psychological mechanisms that are specific to Jews-have any impact on questions concerning approaches to problem-solving, such as:
- Choice and development of themes and topics
- Range of research-guiding questions
- Types of scientific or scholarly practice
- Types of argument
- Relationship to other areas of research
- Institutional organisation
- Individual competence
- Attitudes towards application
The History of the Leo Baeck Institute
Tutzing, 23-26 February 2004
Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem
Organised by Prof Christhard Hoffmann (University of Bergen, Norway)
The idea behind the the Tutzing workshop was to give the authors of the project The History of the Leo Baeck Institute, 1955–2005 the opportunity to meet and discuss first drafts (theses, outlines) of their papers with each other and with experts in the field. The workshop also gave an opportunity for fine- finetuning of contributions (to avoid overlap), exchange of source-material, practical preparations for the planned volume (as, for example, the preparation of a photo section in the volume: those who have photos of LBI – events were encouraged to bring a selection to Tutzing). It was understood that the papers presented are “works in progress” and not finished. We have scheduled this workshop at a relatively early stage of this project to allow for the discussion of concepts and interpretations, the exchange of ideas, and the revision of papers.