This seminar approaches religious diversity in France through a focus on two religious minorities: Jews and Muslims. The objective is not only to consider how French Jews and Muslims interact with each other, but more centrally, to look at how Jewish and Muslim individuals and communities define themselves in the context of secular French society, with its Catholic (or ex-Catholic) majority and its republican policy of laicité. We will also look at how Jews and Muslims, Judaism and Islam, are viewed by others. What is the influence of international conflicts on local perceptions? How does anti-Jewish sentiment take shape in contemporary France? How does anti-Muslim sentiment take shape in contemporary France? What parallels can we make, what contrasts can we draw?
This seven-day seminar takes place in Paris, France.
