Profile

The subject of Jewish Art deals with the monuments of Judaism, its visual and material culture from antiquity to the present day and includes artifacts from ancient synagogue buildings to contemporary Israeli film. Teaching and research are oriented towards cultural history, work closely with other sub-disciplines and use the diversity of methods in the humanities to culturally locate artifacts in their specific environment. The focus of teaching and research is on the understanding of Jewish art in the context of the prohibition of images, the relationship between image and text in its specifically Jewish nature, the genesis of independent Jewish sacred architecture and culture and art as a medium of self-assertion in the non-Jewish majority societies of the diaspora.
The geographical proximity of the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien to the oldest and most important communities of Speyer-Worms-Mainz (ShUM) places a focus on research into medieval Jewish sacred architecture, ritual art and customs.

Current courses can be found in the course catalog. Courses from previous semesters are listed in the archive directory.
In addition to the courses on offer, workshops and special events are regularly offered in cooperation with other chairs at the university, the University of Heidelberg and guest lecturers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, as well as excursions.