Introduction

I teach a wide range of courses in Judaic Studies focusing on Modern Jewish Thought and methodological issues in the study of religion. My particular interests focus on modern Jewish conceptions of identity and authority, and material conceptions of self. I also read widely in political science, philosophy, and cultural studies where these disciplines intersect with religious questions concerning public religion, the politics of identity, and religious material practices. Presently I am working on a book on material Jewish identity in twentieth century America.

Research

Moses Hess and Modern Jewish Identity (Indiana University Press, 2001) draws together conceptions of identity in works from Moses Hess (1812-1875) and contemporary ethical reflections on identity, community, and tradition. Abraham Geiger's Liberal Judaism: Personal Meaning and Religious Authority (Indiana University Press, 2006) explores questions of authority relating to historical memory, ritual practices, tradition, identity, and hermeneutics. My new interests center on the ways in which American Jewish thinkers conceptualize materiality and the material self.  I am interested in how such thinkers as Mordecai Kaplan explore Jewish identity in and through the creation and production of material products, or how Joseph Soloveitchik creates sacred space and practice within an urban landscape.

Courses

I teach a wide range of courses in Jewish studies with particular attention to American Jewish thought and its relation to broader trends in cultural studies.

120 - Jewish Thought and Identity

130 - Material Religion in America

250 - Jewish Images, Imagining Jews

284 - American Judaism

305 - Jewish Thought in America
Department of Religion
Haverford College
370 Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041

Gest 201
610-896-1026
blocks_image
I will be teaching two courses during the academic year 2007-08: American Judaism (284a) in the Fall, and Jewish Images, Imagining Jews (250b), in the Spring. Please check out the syllabi under the Courses menu on this page or the Courses form below.