The most Ancient of Minorities: the Italian Jews
3 weeks duration for 6 ECTS-Dates: 8-26/June 2015
Course director: Alessandra Veronese (a.veronese@mediev.unipi.it), Lecturer on Medieval History, Dott.Lett. Pisa; PhD Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
This is a three-week summer course in Jewish studies, which focuses on the history, the culture and the literature of the Italian Jews across 2,000 years. The students will be taken through the various phases the Italian Jews experienced in the Italian peninsula. Special attention will be devoted to the Jews of Tuscany.
The course aims at focusing on Jewish life in Italy across 2,000 years, presenting the cultural, intellectual, political, social and economic situation of the oldest Diaspora community of Europe, which inhabited the Italian peninsula without interruption from Roman times to the 21st century. The Italian Jewish experience will be analyzed in relation both to the broader and most differentiated Italian politics, society and culture, and to other Jewish communities in Europe and worldwide.
We hope to help students broaden their horizons, by exposing them to new historical approaches and new areas of Jewish studies. Given the small number of participants (a maximum of 40), we hope to create a feeling of intellectual connection among them, enhancing their interests for other topics beyond their specific areas of specialization.
Students will participate on a daily basis, attending two lectures in the morning and two lectures in the afternoon. Required assignments include readings, oral presentations and a final exam. Each lecture will be taught in seminar style and will foster discussion and interaction. Throughout the three-week program, participants and professors will visit libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions of special interest to the participants located in Florence, Rome, and other places in Tuscany and Central Italy.
Instructors and tutors
Pier Giorgio Borbone, University of Pisa
Serena Di Nepi, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
Alessandro Guetta, INALCO
Arturo Marzano, University of Pisa
Elena Mazzini, Istituto Storico Italo-Germanico, Roma
Simone Isacco Maria Pratelli, University of Pisa
Guri Schwarz, University of Pisa
Alessandra Veronese, University of Pisa
How to Apply
In order to apply, students have to:
1) Fill in this Appplication Form and send it to the Logistic Coordinator of the Programme: Lynda Lattke (email: studyabroad@unipi.it)
2) Pay the Application fee alongside the application. This Application fee consists of a non-refundable 250 euros. Such a sum is refunded if your application cannot be accepted. No refund will be given if you fail to complete the application process or you withdraw your application.
Programme fee – which has to be paid at a later stage – includes tuition, field trips, accident insurance, access to an Italian language course, a logistics coordinator and availability of city-tutors who will ensure students’ immersion in Italian culture.
Please keep in mind that prices will vary based on the selected number of modules and whether the student prefers to take care of his/her own meals.
Application deadline: April 30th, 2015
Deadline to pay the total amount: May 15th, 2015.
Please, bear in mind that the Summer school will be activated only with a minimum of 10 participants. Students who have applied will be informed at the beginning of May whether the Summer school will take place. Should the Summer school be cancelled then the University of Pisa will fully refund the €250 to the student.