“Sephardic Culture: An Introduction”
Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar
7—10 July 2025 • Remote
This course will be will be held via Zoom from from Monday, 7 July to Thursday, 10 July 2025 from 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm MDT.
Course overview
This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with an overview of main currents in Sephardic Studies including historical and cultural trends, texts, sources for the period 900-1700 CE, attending to the potential of this field to enhance your own research and teaching. It is designed with academics in mind, particularly graduate students, postdocs, and professors working in disciplines such as history, literature, religious studies, but all intersted parties are welcome to apply. Participants will receive a completion certificate which may be listed on your CV and other documents such as grant/fellowship applications. The seminar is held via zoom over four days, with two two-hour sessions each day. Particpants are expected to prepare readings in advance of the sessions, which will be a blend of lecture, pair and group discussion, group close readings, and in-class activities.
The Jewish Communities of the Iberian Peninsula left behind a rich legacy in historical documentation and writings in the area of rabbinics, polemic, poetry, historiography, travel narrative, mysticism, philosophy, and more. Their expulsion from Spanish territories at the end of the fifteenth century lead to a diasporic network of communities in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, and beyond (The Americas, Africa, Asia).
This four-day intensive skills seminar will provide participants with a broad overview of main historical and cultural trends of Premodern Sephardic Studies paired with close readings of representative texts in English (versions in original languages and/or Spanish will be also made avaialable). The seminar is organized both chronologically and generically: we will trace the development of poetry, prose, historiography, and mysticism from Sephardic al-Andalus (900-1200), to Sephardic Christian Iberia (1200-1500), to the Sephardic Diaspora (1500-1700).
The goal is to provides attendees with a basic preparation for including Sephardic sources in teaching and research and provide them with a bona fide (in the form of a certificate of completion for those who attend the full seminar), which may be advantageous in securing grants or other funding for research and travel. Preparation in Sephardic studies can be a way for scholars working in Hispanic, Mediterranean, or Jewish studies (or other fields) to distinguish their research and/or teaching profiles, and put them in discussion with new interlocutors.
Past Participants said:
“It was a great experience. As I said in one of the sessions, to look back at the Sephardic culture "formation" it was an important experience to reflect upon the specific community I'm working with.”
“Great syllabus, helpful close readings, and illuminating discussions.”
”Great class, fascinating material, knowledgeable professor.”
“The instructor was well-versed in the subject, enthusiastic and generous with his time and resources.”
“I was interested to explore a broader perception of Sephardic studies and be aware of the validity of my argument and approach. I wanted to listen and learn from different people, it was a great experience in this regard.”
Faculty
The course will be conducted by Prof. David A. Wacks (Romance Languages, University of Oregon; PhD UC Berkeley 2003), Harry Starr Fellow in Jewish Studies (Harvard, 2006), and recipient of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Sephardic Culture. His research focuses on the literary footprint of the confluence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Iberian Peninsula and Sephardic Diaspora. He blogs on his current research at davidwacks.uoregon.edu. He is author of Framing Iberia: Frametales and Maqamat in Medieval Spain, (Brill, 2007), winner of the 2009 La corónica award, and Double Diaspora in Sephardic Literature: Jewish Cultural Production before and after 1492 (Indiana University Press, 2015), and Medieval Iberian Crusade Fiction and the Mediterranean World (University of Toronto Press, 2019). Selected recent publications include: “Medieval Iberian Romance” in The New Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance (2023), “Sefarad” in Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Medieval Iberia: Unity in Diversity (2021), “Sepharadim/Conversos and Premodern Global Hispanism” in Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 20.1-2 (2019)
Application & Information
Please note: sessions will not be recorded; synchronous attendance is required.
The regular application period is until April 28.
Applicants will be advised of acceptance by May 5. Payment is due on May 12. Applicants waiting on a grant or subvention may request an extension for the second payment.
Late applicants may be accommodated if space remains. Full payment will be due within three days of acceptance, including a $75 surcharge for late applications.
All payments are final and non-refundable. A letter of confirmation/ receipt will be provided by the Mediterranean Seminar, together with a certificate of completion once the course has concluded.
Apply via this form.
For further information or inquiries, contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org subject: “Summer Skills Information”)
Fees
• $1100 for Full Professors, Librarians & Professionals
• $825 for tenured Associates, Emerita/us, Retired Faculty, & Independent Scholars;
• $575 for non-tenured Associates and Assistants, Postdoctoral Fellows & Graduate and Undergraduate students & Non-Academics;
• $400 for Adjuncts, Lecturers & Contingent faculty.
[MOU1] Members of University of Colorado departments may be eligible for a discount.
Limited reductions are offered to applicants who are (1) nationals; (2) current residents; (3) AND faculty or students in low-per-capita GDP countries may apply for a reduction (the Low-GDP Bursary program).
Payment information will be provided at the time of acceptance. Posted fees do not include a 5% processing fee.
For 2025 Non-Academics can apply for $575
All fees are non-refundable.
How do we determine our fees?
Why have our fees gone up?
Can I get a reduction in fees?
What is the low-GDP Bursary program?
Proposed Program
Monday, 8 July 2024: History, Language, Culture, Timeline
9am—11am & noon—2pm
1. Historical and Cultural Trends
2. Sources, Research, Pedagogy
Tuesday, 9 July 2024: Sephardic al-Andalus (900-1200)
9am—11am & noon—2pm
1. Historical and cultural trends
2. Poetry and Prose: Hanagid, Jarcha, al-Harizi
3. Mysticism and Historiography: Ibn Gabirol, Ibn Daud
Wednesday, 10 July 2024: Sephardic Christian Iberia (1200-1500)
9am—11am & noon—2pm
1. Historical and cultural trends
2. Poetry and Historiography: Shem Tov de Carrión and Torrutiel
3. Mysticism and Travelogue: Zohar, Benjamin of Tudela
Thursday, 11 July 2024: Sephardic Diaspora (1500-1700)
9am—11am & noon—2pm
1. Overview of historical trends, language use
2. Revisit sources, research, pedagogy: future research projects and courses
Important dates:
Acceptance/stand by notifications: 5 May 2025
Full payment: 12 May 2025 (subject to extension for late applicants/ or pending grants)
NOTE: Numbers are limited; participants are encouraged to apply early.
Information
For general information regarding fees, enrollment, and administrative matters, contact the Mediterranean Seminar; for questions regarding seminar content and materials, contact the instructor directly.
· Participant responses were lightly edited