One Century of “Oriental” and Semitic Studies, 1830 through 1933: Scholarly Networks, Trajectories and Concepts (S.T. Lee Conference and Lecture, 10-12 December 2025)

In the course of the long nineteenth century, “Oriental studies”—an umbrella term for the scholarly exploration of Middle Eastern and Semitic languages and cultures writ large, from antiquity up to the contemporary period—evolved as an academic discipline in its own right. Over this period, it gained its independence from theology and its constraints, thus shifting its focus from Old Testament studies and pertinent languages towards other fields and philologies. This process resulted in the establishment of specifically designated university chairs and seminars all over Germany, Central Europe, and beyond, as well as the foundation of professional associations, such as the American Oriental Society in the United States (1842), or the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft in Germany (1845), and a growing number of specialized publication venues. Only a few scholars involved in this process were engaged in the study of Christianity and the history of Christian communities in the Near and Middle East, while the focus shifted gradually towards Islamic civilization and history, eventually leading to the new independent field of Islamic studies. While these developments primarily involved scholars who identified as Christians, Jewish scholars developed around the same time a critical historical/philological approach towards the Jewish literary tradition and its history, an approach that became known as Wissenschaft des Judentums. The protagonists of the Wissenschaft des Judentums strove to have Jewish studies established within the academic structures of mainstream Christian society, a goal that had only limited success. Their contribution to Orientalism and the gradually evolving field of Islamic studies was nonetheless significant.
The aim of the conference is to look closely into the period between the mid-nineteenth century and the end of the Weimar period through selected case studies within the context outlined above that are based on hitherto unexplored archival materials and correspondences. These may focus, for example, on pertinent scholars and their trajectories, newly evolving concepts and methodological approaches, or national and/or international networks.