Cynthia M. Baker

(Bates College)

Europe's and America's "New Jews"

The lecture will be held in English.

The word Jew has evoked a wide range of images and meanings over time, and it continues to do so today. In recent years, the phrase “new Jews” has been used in public discourse as a kind of critical lens through which to interpret issues related to justice, equity, and the politics of identity. An exploration of how this phrase is invoked, and in what contexts, can reveal much about the persistent and changing connotations of Jew, as well as about current cultural dynamics in the European Union and the United States of America.

The lecture will be held as keynote lecture of the conference "Jewish Friends. Contemporary Figures of the Jew" - Workshop/Conference for early- and mid-career researchers (October 16^th-18^th, 2017)

In cooperation with the Institute of Jewish Studies at Freie Universität Berlin