Colloquium for Graduate Students

organized by The Hebraic Graduate School of Europe
14 February 2010
Berlin, Germany

The Western notion of Modernity developed out of enlightenment and secularization processes. This is one of the reasons, why the topic of modernity has become one of the central topoi in the present dialogue between cultures. Enlightenment and Secularization are intimately interwoven with the way the different religious traditions that have shaped the face of Europe - Judaism, Christianity and Islam -  have developed in the course of time.

 

Enlightenment and Tradition are however not opposites in western thought. The emancipatory impulse of secularized enlightenment is, in the form of Jewish monotheism and Greek rationalism, embedded in the fundamentals of western tradition on which Islam is also founded. In Religion, Philosophy, Science and Art the peoples of Europe have interpreted the historical experiences of modernization.

Besides this, there existed also a critique of modernity, a desire to preserve tradition, impulses, that have also left their imprint on the process of modernity.

 

In the first part of our conference we want to explore the cultural, philosophical, social and political aspects of the above problematics, whereby themes like Secularization and Globalization,  Nationalism, Zionism and Messianism, Enlightenment and Politics, Europe between Athen and Jerusalem, Jews and Muslims in Post Christian Europe and Anti-Semitism, from the perspective of the Shoah, the crisis of the Humanities, and the Jewish   Heritage of Europe in the tension between "Israel in Europe – Europe in Israel", will be discussed.

In the second part we want to study the implications of this for a renewal of the Humanities in Israel and Europe. Here we want to see how in the disciplines of Political Science, Legal Studies, in Philosophy and in Literature in the Western Tradition through the encounter with Judaism and Islam as important cultural entities in Europe, new paradigm and methods can be developed for the study of tradition and modernity in search of a possible solution to the current crisis of the Humanities.

The question of the connection between Religion, Philosophy, Science and Art will be at the center of our concern.

In the third part we want to explore the possibility of developing a Cultural Magna Charta of Europe.

This Magna Charta will bear witness to the mutual influences of the different traditions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Greek-Roman Antiquity - that have shaped the face of Europe. This is necessary to find ways and means reflecting the "principle of differences" as a basis for equality, aiming at a new definition of "the contrat social" for the member states of Western -, Central-, and Eastern Europe, after the breakdown of the great structures of the 19^th century and the ideologies of the 20^th century in the age of globalization.

Against the background of the destruction of the Jewish Heritage of Europe, the bridge between Israel and Europe can serve as a way for a renewal of a common ethos.

 

In the tension between tradition and modernity we must today try and define the social and political horizons of Europe in a new way. In this endeavor we are faced with the challenges of an all embracing economic globalization, which has led to new conflicts between "tradition" and "change" in traditional societies in the face of a pluralistic "world community", leading to a growing fundamentalism in many parts of the world.

 

 

Program:

 

Sunday, February 14, 2010

 

19.00                                      Opening:

                                               Secularisation and Globalisation

 

 

Monday, February 15, 2010

 

09.00 – 12.00             Israel – Individual, People and Nation in Western Tradition

 

Lunch

 

14.00 – 18.00             Nationalisms, Zionisms and Messianisms

 

 

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

 

09.00 – 12.00                         Europa between Athens  and Jerusalem

 

Lunch

 

14.00 – 18.00                         Political Theology and Political Theory

 

 

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

 

09.00 – 12.00             Law and Religion in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

 

Lunch

 

14.00 – 18.00             Jews and Muslims in Post- Christian Euorpe          

 

Thursdaym February 18, 2010

 

09.00 – 12.00              The State of Israel in European and Arabic Context

 

Lunch

 

14.00 – 18.00              Towards a "Cultural Magna Charta for Europe" -

                                   Summation

 

Evening Programs

Public Lectures and Discussions

Film, Music and Literary Readings

 

The Colloquium is being conducted as Interdisciplinary Seminar with an emphasis on the Jewish Heritage of Europe.

 

The various topics will be presented by short lectures and papers, given by Professors, Doctoral Students and Students, in which also current work- in- process and research projects can be introduced and discussed.

 

We cordially invite Post-Doctorial and Doctorial- and MA- Students  from all disciplines of the Humanities and Social sciences such as Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Theology, Sociology, History, Political Science, Law, Economic Studies, Cultural Studies, and Literature, and Education, to participate.

 

Please send applications to:

Michelle Piccirillio: piccirillo@hgse.eu