On听May 30鈥�31, Brian Catlos, Professor of Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, and Director of the CU Mediterranean Studies Group, has been invited to take part in "The Intimate Sea: Jews, Families, and Networks in the Mediterranean, "听a two day colloquium sponsored by the at Lehigh University. Featuring leading and up and coming听Jewish Studies scholars from around North America and the UK, this two day event will be held at the Universit脿 di Salento in Lecce, Italy.听听
Scholars of Mediterranean Jewries (and the Mediterranean more generally) are increasingly laying emphasis on the importance of cross-regional and trans-oceanic networks to the history, culture, and commerce of the early modern and听modern period. Rather than conceiving of the Mediterranean as a zone of diminishing import for the modern world, scholars are returning to the modern Mediterranean as a dynamic zone sustained by economic, cultural, and familial networks听鈥� networks that reached well beyond the borders of the sea itself. 听
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This interdisciplinary and international workshop asks:听How did informal, familial, or "intimate" sub-communal networks and partnerships enable the diffusion of Jewish mercantile activity, influence and ideas across the Mediterranean in the听early modern and modern period? How might such networks have challenged or acted in lieu of state power? In what ways have such networks shaped communal and rabbinic forms of influence? Does the existence of these networks听present challenges to traditional understandings of Jewish 鈥渃ommunities,鈥� which have generally been defined by their place within states or cities?听How might the study of such networks change the way we think about Mediterranean Jewish听history and experience; or the Mediterranean more generally?
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Finally, The 2015 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence gave an Honorable Mention in the category of European and World History to Brian Catlos鈥檚听听(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and听scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books,听journals, and electronic content in 54 categories.