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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:Dr. Pierre Savy (Eiffel University\, Marne-la-vallée):  Usefu
 l Jews: An Alternative Path to Integration (13th-18th Centuries) 
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260519T040550Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_48656897877073
DTSTART:20250127T214500Z
DTEND:20250127T224500Z
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Savy recently published Les princes et les Juifs dans l’I
 talie de la Renaissance (Paris: Presses universitaires de France\, 2023). 
 This French Studies lecture is co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program 
 and the Medieval Studies Program.\n\n \n\nThis talk explores the historica
 l development of an argument advocating for the presence of Jews in Wester
 n societies: the notion that Jews should be accepted because they were\, o
 r could be made\, useful to the societies in which they participated. This
  utilitarian perspective diverges significantly from arguments rooted in v
 alues such as tolerance or benevolence\, as well as from more contemporary
  justifications emphasizing human rights and the rejection of discriminati
 on. Moreover\, it does not primarily focus on theological reasons for the 
 Jewish presence or on the cultural utility of Jews as holders of a specifi
 c knowledge.\n\nThe corpus of sources promoting the argument of Jewish uti
 lity forms a continuous tradition beginning in the Middle Ages\, particula
 rly in juridical and political literature\, and reached its zenith in the 
 eighteenth century\, culminating in the famous competition organized by th
 e Metz Academy in 1785\, just six years prior to Jewish emancipation in Fr
 ance (“Are there ways of making the Jews more useful and happier?”).\n
 \n \n\nWhile this utilitarian argument for integration might appear pragma
 tic and effective\, it raises significant political and ethical concerns\,
  by essentializing the attributes of an ethnic group – even when framed 
 positively. Furthermore\, historical analysis reveals that the regions whe
 re such arguments were most fully developed were not necessarily those tha
 t granted emancipation at the earliest stages.
GEO:42.449053;-76.483403
LOCATION:Klarman Hall\, K164
SUMMARY:Dr. Pierre Savy (Eiffel University\, Marne-la-vallée):  Useful Jew
 s: An Alternative Path to Integration (13th-18th Centuries) 
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.cornell.edu/event/dr-pierre-savy-eiffel-univer
 sity-marne-la-vallee-useful-jews-an-alternative-path-to-integration-13th-1
 8th-centuries-1433
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR