New Medieval Books: A Party
A reception to celebrate new books by the medievalist faculty in the Dept. of Religion:
Peter S. Hawkins was Professor of Religion and Director of the Luce Program in Scripture and Literary Arts at Boston University from 2000 to 2008. His work has long centered on Dante in such works as Dante’s Testaments: Essays in Scriptural Imagination (Standford, 1999) and The Poets’ Dante: Twentieth Century Reflections, co-edited with Rachel Jacoff (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002). His book, Dante: A Brief History, was published in 2006 as part of Blackwell’s Brief Histories of Religion series. Professor Rachel Jacoff(Italian Studies, Wellesley College) will introduce Professor Hawkins and his new book.
Deeana Copeland Klepper joined the Boston University Department of Religion in 2000. Professor Klepper’s research focuses on medieval Christian attitudes towards Jews and Jewish tradition. She has published articles on the medieval Christian study of Hebrew and use of Jewish traditon. Her first book, The Insight of Unbelievers: Nicholas of Lyra and Christian Reading of Jewish Texts in the Later Middle Ages, will be published in March 2007 as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jewish Culture and Contexts series. Professor Clifford Backman (History, Boston University) will introduce Professor Klepper and her new book.
Diana Lobel is Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University, where she joined the faculty in 2000. She has written extensively on the intertwined traditions of Jewish and Islamic mysticism and philosophy, particularly the impact of Sufi mysticism on Jewish thought. Her second book, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paquda’s Duties of the Heart was published in 2006 as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jewish Culture and Contexts series. Scott Girdner, PhD candidate, Division of Religious and Theological Studies, Boston University) will introduce Professor Lobel and her book.