Spring 2011 Class: The Judeo-Spanish Diaspora and the Jews of the Middle East

Professor Matthias Lehmann

From the medieval to the modern periods, Sephardic Jews inhabited the frontier between the Christian and Islamic worlds, between Europe and the Middle East, between “West” and “East.”

This course will explore the history of the Mediterranean Diaspora of Judeo-Spanish communities that emerged in the wake of the Spanish expulsion in 1492, with a special focus on the Judeo-Spanish (Sephardic) communities in the Middle East and in North Africa.

The course will span the period from 1492 to the twentieth century, with a focus on the modern era. Topics explored will include Sephardic responses to the trauma of expulsion, the fate of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews converted to Christianity (the “Conversos” or “Marranos”), the rise of Ottoman Jewry, the transformation of Sephardic communities in the age of nationalism and European colonialism, the destruction of the Sephardic heartland in World War II, and the encounter of Sephardic Jews with Zionism and the State of Israel. Students will write short book reviews, give in-class presentations, and will write a final paper.