Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the Alliance Israélite Universelle School for Girls in the

302 Pages·2006·1.86 MB·English

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Title
Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the Alliance Israélite Universelle School for Girls
in the City of Tunis, 1882-1914
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6dr950wk
Author
Land, Joy A.
Publication Date
2006-05-11
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles

Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the Alliance Israélite Universelle
School for Girls in the City of Tunis, 1882-1914

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the

requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

in Islamic Studies

by

Joy Land

2006

i
The dissertation of Joy Land is approved.

_____________________________________
Arnold J. Band

_______________________________________
Ghislaine Lydon

_______________________________________
Yona Sabar

_______________________________________
Michael G. Morony, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles

2006

ii
DEDICATION

To the memory of my father and

To my mother

iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………v

Vita……………………………………………………………………………….vi

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..ix

Preface……………………………………………………………………………….1

Introduction: The Historical Context……………………………………………….18

PART I FEMALE EDUCATORS:
The Directrices of the AIU School for Girls in Tunis

Chapter 1 From Paris to Tunis and Back: Local Responses to European
Directives……………………………………………………………60

Chapter 2 From the Margins to the Center: The Directrice as Cultural
Intermediary of Language and Literacy……………………………95

Chapter 3 “This Little World”: Academic Politics in the Primary School…...132

PART II THE EDUCATION OF FEMALES:
Teachers, Students, Parents, and the Community

Chapter 4 Implementing the Curriculum: Workshops, World’s Fairs,
and Employment………………………………………………….176

Chapter 5 On the Verge of Modernity: The Voluntary Association…………231

Conclusion…………………………………………...............................................264

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………272

iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Of the many people involved at all stages of research and writing, my thanks first
go to my dissertation committee: to Michael Morony, Chair, for his patience and support;
to Arnold Band for his insight, guidance, and humor; to Ghislaine Lydon for her
assistance; and to Yona Sabar for his advice. A debt of gratitude goes to Dean John
Richardson of UCLA for granting me permission to resume graduate work after a hiatus
of many years. I thank Frances Malino of Wellesley College and Joel Blatt of the
University of Connecticut, Stamford, for discussions of my topic.
The librarians of Widener Library at Harvard provided access to primary and
secondary source material, for which I am grateful. The Chief Archivist at the Alliance
Israélite Universelle (AIU) in Paris, Jean-Claude Kuperminc, granted me authorization to
use the archives, which I appreciate. The untiring efforts of Laurent Zimmern, librarian at
the AIU Archives, were a boon to continued research, for which he deserves thanks.
Several surgeons, oncologists, and other physicians participated in my medical
care over the past fourteen months and enabled me to complete the dissertation. I am
especially indebted to Doctors Steven Bramwit, Peter Costantino, Cliff Connery, David
Harmon, John Levinson, John Munzenrider and Beverly Drucker. Their skill and
expertise saved my life.
Among the friends and family who provided invaluable editorial advice and
technical support I would like to thank Anne Aubrey, Anne-Marie Foltz, Margaret
Freiberg, and Hillel and Barbi Disraelly. Finally, I acknowledge the encouragement and
v
devotion of my family, Michelle and her husband, Matt David; Joshua; Abigail, and her
husband Doron Bracha; Eva; and my husband, Charles.

vi
VITA

Place of Birth New York, N.Y.

1967-68 New York University, New York, N.Y.: Arabic

Tuition Fellowship for Arabic, New York University in
collaboration with the Center for International Programs and
Services of the New York State Department of Education

1968 B.A., History
Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, N.Y.

1968-69 History of Islamic Countries, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Fellowship, American Friends of the Hebrew University

1969-1972 NDEA Title IV Fellowship for teaching on the university level

1971 M.A., Islamic Studies
University of California, Los Angeles

1972-73 NDEA Title VI Fellowship in Critical Languages: Arabic

1973 C. Phil., Islamic Studies
University of California, Los Angeles

1999-2004 Lecturer, University of Connecticut, Stamford

2004-05 The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Graduate
Consortium in Women’s Studies, Cambridge, MA: Workshop
for Dissertation Writers in Women’s and Gender Studies

vii
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Editor, Proceedings of a Seminar on Muslim-Jewish Relations in North Africa
(New York,1975).

Land, Joy (June 2004), Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the Alliance Israélite
Universelle (AIU) in Tunisia, 1882-1914. Paper presented at the American Institute
for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) 2004 Conference, Rethinking Jewish Culture and Society
in North Africa, Tangier American Legation Museum, Tangier, Morocco.

__, (April 2005). From the Margins to the Center: The Directrice as Cultural
Intermediary of Language and Literacy. Paper presented at the AIMS 2005
Dissertation Workshop, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

viii
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the

Alliance Israélite Universelle School for Girls in the

City of Tunis, 1882-1914

by

Joy Land

Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies

University of California, Los Angeles, 2006

Professor Michael G. Morony, Chair

The multiple roles of women educators as cross-cultural
intermediaries in the realm of language, literacy, dress, employment, and social action are
examined in the hybrid Muslim-Jewish culture of Tunisia. Educated in Paris, the women
served as catalysts of change at the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) School for Girls
ix