When Hannah Arendt arrived in New York as a German-Jewish émigré in 1941, she soon began writing a column for the German-language magazine Aufbau, followed shortly by contributions to a variety of other non-academic journals. In our seminar, we will explore these "short writings," which frequently address antisemitism, Jewish politics, Zionism and the situation in Palestine, within their historical context. What conditions did Arendt work under, and how did these short writings align with her previous and ongoing work? For example, how did they relate to her unfinished book on The Origins of Totalitarianism? How did she build local, national and transnational networks? What impact did the ongoing Second World War have on her work?

The seminar will be held in English.