On February 25, Vivian Liska, Professor of German literature and director of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, delivered the annual List Lecture in Jewish Studies at the CSWR.

The Jew as archetypal migrant is a pervasive trope in philosophy, politics, and the arts. Since Biblical times, the condition of exile was a source of discrimination, oppression, and suffering. Recent philosophical discourse, however, often regards it as the embodiment of a glorious deterritorialization that overlooks the hardship inherent in exile and migration....

On March 4-5, the Center hosted a small workshop, "Sacramental Presences: Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Daoist Perspectives." For two days we took up today's turn in comparative studies to ritual and liturgical practice as an important site for new learning that reaches beyond the study of texts and the exchange of ideas.

Convened by Matthew Potts and myself as members of the HDS faculty and Center, the participants included three other Harvard professors (Diana Eck, Kimberley Patton, Michelle Sanchez) and one Harvard doctoral student (Caley Smith), as well as ten professors from...

Professor Alexander Samely (University of Manchester) discusses new tools in analyzing ancient Jewish texts, including a database of comparative profiles of ancient Jewish texts.... Read more about Video: Written Religion: Some New Avenues in Analyzing Ancient Jewish Texts

Ronit Irshai, Assistant Professor at Bar Ilan University, visited HDS on December 11, 2013.... Read more about Video: Fertility and Jewish Law—Feminist Perspectives on Orthodox Response Literature