Communicating exotic Jews? Anti-Judaism and affect in cross-cultural learning about religious Jews

This evidence-based paper seeks to promote our understanding of the role of affect in the transitional movement from learning object to its reception. My case study examines the development of prejudice and anti-Judaism in Jewish Studies classrooms with particular attention to the representation and perceptions of Jewish gender roles and norms, a highly-publicized area of conflict between liberal values of equality and religious freedom in debates of what it means to be British. The paper engages with the claim that communicating Judaism to non-Jews is not effective without addressing the psychological roots of antisemitic ideology (Marcus 2015). It also draws on insights in the critical study of Islamophobia (Trein 2017) that indicate the significance of affect theory in studies of religious minorities.
Previous empirical study of student learning in Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester collected alumni perceptions of long-term learning outcomes of the study of contemporary religion. ‘Exoticisation’ of contemporary religious Jews, their practices and thought emerges as a key concept that captures some pathological student responses to the curriculum. I use postcolonial theory and studies of cross-cultural learning to problematize the ways in which ‘exoticisation’ might be facilitated or discouraged by the curriculum itself. Consideration of the affective dimension in the learning process has wider implications for the communication of religion beyond formal learning situations.