David H. Aaron's presentation provides a survey of the principal texts relevant to the exploration of early Judaism's language consciousness and ideology.

Marc Caplan, U-M

Avraham Novershtern

Richard Kalmin, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Frankel Institute Fellow

Ruth Tsoffar, U-M Frankel Fellow

Yaron Tsur, Tel Aviv University

With Aaron McCollough, U-M Library and Jeremy York, HathiTrust

Monique Balbuena, University of Oregon and Fellow at the Frankel Institute

Benjamin Hary, Emory University

In this colloquium, professor Hary reviews the history of the Judeo-Arabic religiolect and analyze its structure. He then discusses the language continuum employed by users of Judeo-Arabic and trace its diachronic evolution. The presentation also tackles some terminological issues, especially with respect to the denotation of Arabic-speaking Jews. Finally, Hary addresses the state of Judeo-Arabic today as it is an endangered religiolect, perhaps on the verge of extinction.

Elliot K Ginsburg is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan. He specializes in the Jewish mystical traditions, including kabbalah and hasidism, and has wide-ranging interests in Judaism as religious tradition, and in the history of religions.