The University of Southampton is home to the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, the world’s oldest and most wide-ranging centre for the study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations across the ages. The Parkes Institute has researchers in all periods from antiquity to the twenty-first century with a truly global outlook. Amongst the Institute’s specialised interests currently are Holocaust Studies, Migration, Maritime Studies, Heritage and Ancient Jewish Studies, and this work is underpinned by examining questions of the relations between Jews and non-Jews and Jewish identity and culture more broadly. The Parkes Library and associated archive is one of the largest Jewish documentation centres in Europe and the only one in the world devoted to Jewish/non-Jewish relations.
This interdisciplinary institution, bringing together scholars from across the Faculty of Humanities, offers over thirty modules ranging from antiquity to the modern era at undergraduate level and through the MA Jewish History and Culture programme. The modules provide the opportunity to look at the variety of issues that have impacted on the Jewish people throughout history and have influenced the relationship between Jews and non-Jews to the present. The teaching pursues a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Jewish history, culture and religion, from antiquity to the present day, and facilitates the exploration of the unique experience of Jewish communities and individuals in various contexts from life under Greek and Roman rule to Jewish life in Britain, eastern Europe and America, and not least the Holocaust and the founding of the state of Israel. The Parkes Institute’s outreach programme also offers adult education classes and study days, school and college visits, as well as public seminars and lectures.
You can find out more about the Parkes Institute here.