Opening Ceremony with Prof. Derek J. Penslar: Between Amity and Enmity: Jewish and Arab Mutual Perceptions in the 20th Century

Opening Ceremony of the Research Training Group Ambivalent enmity

Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues

we would like to cordially invite you to the opening ceremony of the Research Training Group "Ambivalent Enmity" on November 30, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. in the Alte Aula of the University. The keynote speaker will be Derek J. Penslar (Harvard University), who will speak on "BETWEEN AMITY AND ENMITY: JEWISH AND ARAB MUTUAL PERCEPTIONS IN THE 20TH CENTURY".

As part of the DFG-funded interdisciplinary research training group - a cooperation between Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg School of Jewish Studies - we are investigating the ambivalence of enmity relations. The focus is on the analysis of enmity as an essentially relational phenomenon that is characterized by transculturation and interdependence. 12 international doctoral students and two postdoctoral researchers have begun their research on case studies of ambivalent enmity in Europe, Asia and the Middle East from the Middle Ages to the present.

Derek J. Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University. He is known for his comparative and transnational approaches to Jewish history. He is currently working on a book on the worldwide reactions to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

The 27-year-old jazz and boogie-woogie pianist Dan Popek will provide the musical framework.