Second German-Israeli Archival Exchange Colloquium 2016/2017
Seminar in Germany: July 18th – 22nd 2016
Seminar in Israel: February 5th- 10th 2017
The Institute for the History of the German Jews in Hamburg is organizing a German-Israeli Archival Exchange Colloquium in cooperation with Tel Aviv University. The seminar is aimed at talented junior scholars in the initial phase of their PhD-project.
Five German and five Israeli PhD-students are given the chance to intently discuss their projects in the research fields of German or German-Jewish history, Holocaust Studies, History of Zionism and/or of Israel, and history of German-Israeli relations in a workshop-atmosphere. Furthermore, the participants will become acquainted with archival research in German and Israeli archives holding the stocks of sources relevant for their respective PhD-projects.
The participants will also be chosen in order to be able to create “scientific duos”. These duos will consist of one German and one Israeli PhD-student working on related topics and research questions. The “duos” will comment on each other's projects and papers during both parts of the seminar.
The seminar is supposed to build up scholarly connections of the participants with each other, but also to establish contacts with local and foreign archives as well as experienced scholars in the respective other country. Hereby it will support the students with the planning and implementation of individual research trips and with their entire PhD-projects.
The colloquium comprises a one-week stay in Germany from July 18th to July 22nd 2016 and a one-week stay in Israel from February 5th to 10th 2017. During these stays the participants will become acquainted with research in four archives on local, federal and state level in each country. Participation in both trips is indispensable since it is a pivotal part of the program and therefore obligatory.
The students will be introduced to the respective archives by local archivists and scholars familiarizing them with the structures and tasks of the respective institutions as well as with inventories and data bases. With reference to individual research projects and selected stocks, we will discuss different approaches to the work with archival material, the analysis of examined source stocks and plans of future research trips. Since time for individual research will be very limited within the frame of the seminar, participants are welcome to prolong their stay at their own expense.
Within the framework of the Archival Exchange Colloquium we are going to visit different archives in both countries which will be chosen according to the archives most relevant for the participants. In previous years the workshop visited the following archives: in Germany: Leo Baeck Institut / Jüdisches Museum (Berlin), Bundesarchiv (Berlin), Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland (Heidelberg), Hebraica- und Judaica Sammlung, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main and Archives of the Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main and in Israel: Leo Baeck Institute (Jerusalem), Yad Vashem Archives (Jerusalem), Central Zionist Archives (Jerusalem), Jewish National Library (Jerusalem), Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (Jerusalem) and the The German-Speaking Jewry Heritage Museum Archives (Tefen).
The above-mentioned list is however just a selection of possible options for the future workshops in both countries, thus, please do indicate the most relevant archives for your research project in your application.
We are looking for candidates working on research projects within the areas of history, Jewish, or literary studies. It is necessary for participating projects to be focussed at source-based research questions requiring extensive archival research in both Germany and Israel. Desirable are projects within the thematic fields of German-Jewish history, Holocaust Studies, History of Zionism and/or of Israel, German History, or of the history of German-Israeli relations. The students should be in the initial stage of their project; a fully elaborated proposal needs to be submitted.
The necessity of conducting research in at least two of the mentioned archives in each country in order to complete the PhD-project needs to be elaborated on in the application. The archives and collections of interest need to be mentioned in the letter of motivation. The seminar will be held and conducted in German and English, therefore good knowledge of both languages is required. Knowledge of Hebrew is desirable. The seminar is open for PhD-Students from German or Israeli academic institutions.
Applications in German or English are to be sent in (as PDF-files only!) by E-mail by February 15th 2016 to
Dr. Bjoern Siegel
Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden (IGdJ)
Beim Schlump 83, D-20144 Hamburg
E-mail: bjoern.siegel@public.uni-hamburg.de
Applications have to contain:
- Letter of motivation (approx. 1 page including a list of archives and collections)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Proposal of the PhD-project (approx. 5 pages)
- Letter of recommendation from the supervisor (to be sent in directly by the supervisor)
Participants will receive individual travelling allowances (lump-sums). We will incur expenses of transportation and accommodation in double rooms at the places of the seminars. Accommodation in single rooms is possible at extra charge. Participants’ individual search for funding for travelling expenses is welcomed.
At this moment, travelling allowances covering all your travel costs can only be assured for the first part of the seminar taking place in Germany in 2016, but is very likely to be secured also for the second part of the seminar.
Funded with a grant of Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.
Successful applicants will be informed by the end of February 2016.