8th Contact Day Jewish Studies on the Low Countries

• 9:15-9:30: Registration and coffee (Location: Grote Kauwenberg 18, room D.014)
   
• 9:30-9:45: Welcoming remarks (Karin Hofmeester and Veerle Vanden Daelen)
   
• 9:45-11:15: Panel 1 - Perceived (Sephardic) Jewish identities and nationalities
  • Chair: Veerle Vanden Daelen (Cegesoma, Brussels/University of Antwerp)
  • Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld (Independent scholar), East meets West: Balkan Sephardim in Early Modern Amsterdam
  • Thomas Verbruggen (University of Antwerp), Under the moon and the stars: the story of the Levantine Jewish community in Antwerp and its transformation (1880-1930)
  • Yasmina Zian (Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung, Technische Universität Berlin) Did the First World War impact the Jewish migrants’ life in Belgium? The attitude of the Sûreté Publique between 1900 – 1930
• 11:15-11:30: Coffee break
   
• 11:30-13:00: Panel 2 – What makes a Jew a Jew? New methods and projects
  • Chair: Karin Hofmeester (International Institute of Social History /University of Antwerp)
  • Barbara Tanenbaum (Joods Maatschappelijk Werk & Dutch Council for Refugees), Jewish feelings, Jewish practice? Children of Jewish intermarriage in the Netherlands
  • Wim Penninx (Independent scholar, Delft), Using DNA information to study the migration of Jews
  • Jacques Déom (Free University Brussels), Presentation of the Project ‘Antwerp, a Metropolis of Hassidim’
• 13:00 – 14:30: Lunch break
  • Lunch presentations of new guides and bibliographies
  • Gertjan Desmet (Belgian State Archives), Research Guide ‘Mekorot Hayeda. Sources for the history of the Jews in Belgium (19th-20th centuries)’
  • Barbara Dickschen (Free University Brussels), Bibliographical Guide ‘Les Juifs en Belgique, Guide bibliographique’
• 14:30-16:00: Panel 3 – Changing Dynamics, Comparisons and Crossing Borders
  • Chair: David Wertheim (Menasseh ben Israel Institute, Amsterdam)
  • Tsila Rädecker (Groningen University), Addressing the ‘Jewish Question’ with Humor. A Comparison between Nicolaas Francois Hoefnagel (1735-1784) and Jewish Satire
  • Huibert Schijf (em. University of Amsterdam), The dynamics of Jewish High Society in Amsterdam and Vienna, 1850-1918
  • Froukje Demant (Duitsland Instituut, University of Amsterdam), Living together in a vanished world. Post-war relations between Jews and non-Jews in Twente and the German border region
• 16:00-16:15: Coffee break
   
• 16:15-17:45: Panel 4 – Jews and Diamond Diasporas
  • Chair: Eric Laureys (Service for Technical and Scientific Information (STIS), Brussels)
  • Karin Hofmeester (International Institute of Social History /University of Antwerp), Jews from Antwerp and Amsterdam and the Diamond Diaspora’s in WW I and WW II
  • Judith Kreith (Researcher, Choreographer, Boulder Colorado), Diamond-Cutting and Polishing Jewish refugees from Europe in Cuba, 1941-1945
  • Veerle Vanden Daelen (Cegesoma, Brussels/University of Antwerp), Negotiating the Return of the Diamond Business to Antwerp during and immediately after World War II
• 17:45-18:15: New edition of the History of the Jews in the Netherlands: panel discussion with the editors Hans Blom (em. NIOD and University of Amsterdam), David Wertheim (Menasseh ben Israel Institute, Amsterdam)
   
• 18:15-18:30: Concluding remarks (Karin Hofmeester & Veerle Vanden Daelen)
   
• 20:00: Evening lecture by Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld: Sephardi Women and Family Life in Early Modern Amsterdam (Location: Rodestraat 14, room R.013).
  Followed by drinks.

Click here to read the abstracts of the speakers.

Accommodation

Directions

Contact Day: University of Antwerp, city campus, Grote Kauwenberg 18, room D.014.
Evening lecture: University of Antwerp, city campus, Rodestraat 14, room R.013.

CALL FOR PAPERS

8th Contact Day Jewish Studies on the Low Countries
Institute of Jewish Studies - University of Antwerp
Tuesday 12 May 2015

The Institute of Jewish Studies organizes for the eight time an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Antwerp concerning Jewish Studies on the Low Countries. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate contacts between researchers working within this area of study. We especially encourage young researchers to participate in the workshop. We also hope for contributions from more established researchers, in order to establish a positive exchange between different research generations. We especially invite papers and/or sessions that are explicitly comparative in character, and welcome themes and disciplines within Jewish Studies concerning the Low Countries. Proposals need not be limited to a specific historical period and presentations may include works in progress. Both individual and panel proposals are possible. The conference language is English. Please submit an abstract of maximally 400 words and a short CV by 15 January 2015.

For further information please contact:
Karin Hofmeester: kho@iisg.nl
Veerle Vanden Daelen: veerle.vandendaelen@cegesoma.be