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| Posted 03.16.07 |
Guggenheim Recipient to Pursue Research on Jews, Christians
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A research grant from the Harry Frank Guggenheim
Foundation will allow a Wesleyan faculty member to pursue her research on
Jews and Christians in pre-modern Poland.
 Magdalena
Teter, assistant professor of history, received the Guggenheim award in
March. The foundation makes grants in the natural and social sciences and
the humanities that promise to increase understanding of the causes,
manifestations, and control of violence, aggression, and dominance. Awards
range between $15,000 and $30,000.
Teter, pictured at right, was one of eight recipients of the award. She will
research the close social interaction between Jews and Christians; the role
of lay and religious instigators in exploiting religious sentiments;
position of the accused Jews in the community; local economic dynamics; and,
the role of gender. She will publish her findings in a tentatively titled book, “An
Anatomy of Sectarian Violence: Jews and Christians in Pre-Modern Poland.”
The Guggenheim grant will allow Teter to travel to Rome and Poland to
conduct archival research. She plans to work in the General Archives of the
Carmelite Order in Rome, the Roman Archive of Society of Jesus, the Secret
Vatican Archives, and the Polish Archdiocesan archives in Poznan, Cracow, as
well as a number of state archives.
This research will be completed throughout the summer and again, for a few
weeks during the fall or winter.
“In today's world plagued with sectarian violence, roots of such violence
have aroused a widespread interest,” Teter says. “I want to know what makes
neighbors rise against neighbors? What's the role of authorities in
incitement or quelling of violence? And who benefits from it? These
questions are not limited to modern times but are also pertinent to
pre-modern societies, in which religion was crucial in shaping social
order.”
Teter’s project examines questions of social and religious violence and
aggression between the two religious groups by looking at specifically
religiously motivated violence aimed at asserting religious dominance of one
group over the other.
Teter will publish her findings in a book titled “An Anatomy of Sectarian
Violence: Jews and Christians in Pre-modern Poland.”
At Wesleyan, Teter has taught classes on Jewish history, Jews among
Christians and Muslims, early modern Europe, East European Jewish
experiences and senior thesis. In 2000, she received her Ph.D from Columbia
University with a dissertation titled, “Jews in the Legislation and the
Teachings of the Catholic Church in Poland (1648-1772).”
As a Guggenheim recipient, Teter is required to submit a written report
within six months of the end of the grant period. The report includes a
discussion of the scientific and scholarly accomplishments achieved under
the grant.
For more information on the Guggenheim Foundation go to:
www.hfg.org.
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By Olivia Bartlett, Wesleyan Connection
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