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Research Activity in the Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies

Faculty members in the department perform research in their various areas of specialization.

History
The Ancient World:
The Biblical Period: History and archaeology of the biblical period, History and archaeology of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, The economy in the First Temple period (The Iron Age), Pottery analysis of the Iron Age, gender and ideology
The Second Temple Period: History and archaeology of the classical world and ancient Israel; Jewish history in the Second Temple period, in light of the writings of the Sages and Greek and Latin sources; early Christianity; the Bar Kokhba revolt, the New Testament, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic literature
The Middle Ages: Jewish-Christian Relations from late antiquity to the early modern era; the Jewish-Christian polemic; sacred space, especially in the Holy Land, pilgrimage in the monotheistic religions; The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem; history of the Jews in Spain
The Modern Age: The study of nationalism; the history of the Jews in Muslim Lands in the modern era; Eastern European Jewry; German-speaking Jews in the Land of Israel, Jewish immigration in the 20th century, history of Zionism, history of the Jewish settlement in mandate Palestine (the Yishuv), history of the State of Israel, the Kibbutz
Middle-Eastern Studies: Research covering the period from the dawn of Islam until today, emphasizing Arabic-speaking societies, dealing with issues including religious-ideological history; social, cultural and religious history.

Philosophy
Researchers in the area of philosophy study metaphysics, epistemology, logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of the mind and cognitive science, philosophy of language, moral philosophy, philosophy of history, political thought, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of sport, post-modern philosophy, the history of philosophy

Judaic Studies
Researchers in the fields of Rabbinic literature and late antique and medieval Hebrew poetry; Jewish philosophy in the Middle Ages; Jewish mysticism; Jewish ethical literature, magic and history of the book

Researchers in the department present their studies in monthly departmental forums (on the ancient world, the middle ages, the modern age and the Middle East) to which they invite researchers from other universities.