The Program in Jewish Studies at the University of California at Berkeley
with Support from the Departments of Comparative Literature, German, and History
Is Proud to Sponsor the
2nd Annual Berkeley Yiddish Conference
On the Borders of Yiddishland
24 – 25 May 2004
3335 Dwinelle Hall
The University of California at Berkeley's second annual conference on Yiddish culture, On the Borders of Yiddishland, was held May 24–25, 2004. This year's event followed in the path of our inaugural conference in aiming to bring together scholars of Yiddish studies across disciplines to examine transformations of European Yiddish culture, life, and letters.
The imaginary territory of Yiddishland exists on no geo-political map. But its history, literature, and social practices continue to engage us as scholars of Yiddish culture, and its political, demographic, and ideological dimensions keep haunting us, over a half century after the physical landscape of Yiddishland has been virtually emptied of its long-standing Jewish presence. Recently, scholarship in historical, literary, and cultural studies has been concerned with questions of itinerancy, migrations, and the crossing of territorial boundaries. Although these questions have become increasingly important in discussions about contemporary Europe, a historical examination of the meaning of border crossing in an uncharted space that is defined by language and culture is certainly needed.
For a full schedule of the 2004 conference, click HERE.
To read an article in the Forward (in Yiddish) about the May 2004 conference, click HERE.
To download a 2004 conference poster, click HERE [PDF format 1.5 mb].