From the study of Judaism to the Study of Mizrahim

Since the Reformation the Orient and its Jewish component have been tapped as an unending resource of textual treasures for the critical study of Jewish civilization. To be sure, since the dawn of Wissenschaft des Judentums in the early 19^th century, most of this scholarship continues to by philologically concentrated. But the disciplinary map greatly expanded during the intertwined heydays of Zionism and Colonialism, with the Jewish Orient being sought out on account of its people and not just due to its troves of manuscripts. In fact the study of non-European Jewry has become a shared topic of inquiry cutting across a whole host of disciplines in both Israel and abroad. This graduate seminar will critically audit this academic harvest and proceed to outline a history of disciplines concerning Mizrahi Jewry. Special emphasis will be put on Oriental Jews and on the measure of native agency that can attributed to them