Program Overview

Jewish Studies "On Edge" Summer School

The Jewish Studies "On Edge" Summer School is a week-long intensive learning and conversation program for graduate students in Jewish Studies.

Program Description

Being "on edge" or "on the edge" signifies a state of heightened uncertainty and anxiety, but also has connotations of new and exciting possibilities. Scholars beginning their careers in Jewish Studies today are entering the field at a time when academia is in a highly precarious position. Core values like academic freedom are under threat; scholars are divided over how to respond to the current political situation in Israel and the Jewish diaspora, and AI is destabilizing research and teaching. At the same time, the field continues to produce exciting cutting-edge research, coming up with new questions and embracing methodological and technological innovation.

Program Details

• The summer school will explore Jewish Studies "at the edge" in this double-edged sense, struggling under new stresses even as it ventures into new territory.
• Some presentations will explore Jews or Jewish culture, present or past, in moments of extreme challenge or imminent peril.
• Other presentations will take students to the cutting edge of the field, introducing them to new or experimental modes of research in the field.
• The summer school will be hosted by the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp, working in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and the Hebrew University.
• The week will give participants a chance to meet peers in the field from other parts of the world, to explore various subfields within Jewish Studies beyond their own, and to reflect together on the nature of academia as a career and vocation.

Program Schedule

• The summer school will take place from July 5-10th, 2026, at the University of Antwerp.

Partnerships

• The program is organized in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and the Hebrew University.