Jewish Studies Today—Antiquity | April 6, 2021
Originating in the 1820s, the study of Judaism is a well-established academic discipline that transcends boundaries of the humanities of the social sciences (e.g., history, philosophy, religious studies, sociology, literature, political science, film and media, art and music, and more). Jewish studies scholars, who are not necessarily Jewish, investigate Jewish civilization from antiquity to the present and have transformed our understanding of Judaism and the Jews. These sessions will address the question “Why, how, and to whom is scholarship of Jewish Studies relevant today?”.
Antiquity (roughly from 1200 BCE to 500 CE) is the period during which the canonic sources of Judaism—the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Midrashim—were generated. Scholars of antiquity study how these texts have emerged, how Jews responded to Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman cultures, and how Jewish societies in the Land of Israel, Babylonia, Egypt and Persia related to the geopolitics of the ancient Middle East. This webinar explores how new scholarship on ancient archeology, literature, and social organization helps us to understand the treasures of the Jewish tradition.
moderator: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Director of Jewish Studies
panelists:
• Joel Gereboff, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
• Timothy Langille, Lecturer – Religious Studies
• Francoise Mirguet, Jess Schwartz Memorial Professor/Associate Professor of Hebrew
