!שלום־עליכם 欢迎! 欢迎! Welcome!
The Sino-Judaic Institute has been a pioneer in the field of Chinese-Jewish relations for over 30 years. We are a virtual institute, based in the United States, but with members the world over. We offer this website as a resource to all who are curious about various aspects of Chinese-Jewish relations and want to learn more. SJI is a membership organization. We welcome your participation and involvement.
Our fields of work include:
- The study of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, where Jews have been living now for over a millennium, and assisting the Kaifeng Jewish descendants to reconnect with their cultural heritage as appropriate.
- The study of Jewish life in Shanghai, Harbin, Tianjin, Hong Kong and elsewhere in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- The study of cross-cultural issues such as literary influences, comparative diasporas, religion, intermarriage and family matters, etc.
- The support of Jewish Studies programs in China and fostering scholarship in this field.
- Promotion of tourism to Kaifeng and other cities and to make current exhibits on the Jews of China more accessible to the public.
- Publicaton of Points East, a journal that comes out three times a year, and Sino-Judaica, an occasional scholarly publication.
*Call for Applications: The Holocaust and Asia: Refugees, Memory, and Material Culture*
Monday, March 28–Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Application deadline: Monday, February 1, 2021
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum invites applications for a research workshop entitled /The Holocaust and Asia: Refugees, Memory, and Material Culture/. The Mandel Center will co-convene this workshop with *Kimberly Cheng*, Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University, and *Ran Zwigenberg*, Asian Studies, History and Jewish Studies, Pennsylvania State University. The workshop will take place at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s David and Fela Shapell Family Collections, Conservation and Research Center.
The workshop is scheduled for *March 28–April 6, 2022*. In the event that it is impossible to convene during those dates due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the workshop will be held in a hybrid format consisting of a series of short online sessions in advance of an in-person program convened at the Museum to be scheduled in the Summer of 2022.
Surveying the Holocaust-related myths and historical realities in Asia writ large (from China and Japan through Central Asia to Iran), this workshop explores Jewish and Asian involvement in the Holocaust and its memory. Our workshop examines the limits of the term “Holocaust” and its applicability across histories and cultures to account for the multifaceted ways the tragedy has reverberated beyond Europe. In doing so, we intend to delimit the existence of an Asian sub-field or an “Asian turn” within
Holocaust studies.
To identify the main lines of inquiry of this burgeoning field, the workshop will consist of presentations and roundtable discussions led by participants along three thematic tracks: 1) the experiences of refugees, 2) Asian cultures of memory, and 3) material culture. Daily sessions will be led by participants, as well as discussions with Museum staff and research in the Museum’s collections. The workshop will be conducted in English.
*How to Apply*
Applications are welcome from scholars affiliated with universities, research institutions, or memorial sites and in any relevant academic discipline, including anthropology, archeology, art history, Asian studies, Eastern European and Eurasian studies, genocide studies, geography, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, Middle Eastern studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, religion, Romani studies, and others.
Applications will be accepted from scholars at all levels of their careers, from PhD candidates to senior faculty. Scholars working in Asian academies, as well as scholars from underrepresented backgrounds in the field, are particularly encouraged to apply.
The Mandel Center will reimburse the costs of round-trip economy-class air tickets to/from the Washington, DC metro area, and related incidental expenses, up to a maximum reimbursable amount calculated by home institution location, which will be distributed within 6–8 weeks of the workshop’s conclusion. The Mandel Center will also provide hotel accommodation for the duration of the workshop. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the workshop.
The deadline for receipt of applications is *Monday, February 1, 2021*.
Applications must include an abstract of no more than 300 words outlining the specific project that the applicant is working on, plans to research, and is prepared to present during the program; and a short bio. The application form is available at www.ushmm.org/research-workshops .
SAVE FEB 21, 2021 for an hour-long “Author Talk” featuring PROF. STEVE HOCHSTADT in which he discusses his book Exodus to Shanghai: Stories of Escape from the Third Reich.
When Steve Hochstadt began interviewing former Shanghai refugees in the 1980s, as research for his book, the heroic escape to Shanghai was a largely unexplored aspect of the Holocaust experience. Join us in the interview with Steve Hochstadt, Professor Emeritus of History at Illinois College, and delve into the narratives of one hundred refugees located by Hochstadt. The interview will be moderated by Dr. Warren Rosenblum, Professor of History, Politics, and International Relations at Webster University, and held virtually via Zoom at 8pm CST on February 20th, this event should be accessible both to those residing in the United States and in China. (9pm -10pm ET; Feb 21 10am to 11am Beijing time). Free, but you must register.
Further information can also be seen on the registration page at
https://webster-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Pf6RoqfkQRyzqNLU1lin5Q