Medieval History
Adam Shear, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh, is the winner of the Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book in intellectual history published in 2008. The prize is awarded by the Journal of the History of Ideas.
Shearer's book, The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900
(Cambridge University Press, 2008), follows the influence of the Kuzari and the way it has been read and understood over the years.
As research for his book, Shear surveyed the activities of readers, commentators, copyists, and printers that have taken place over 700 years to trace the ways the ?Kuzari? became a classic of Jewish thought. He found that views of the work before the 19th century differed greatly from those of the 20th century. In modern Jewish thought, the ?Kuzari? has often been contrasted with Moses Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed.
The Forkosch Prize committee said Shear's ?highly original book is able to combine scholarly depth and historical breadth without sacrificing accessibility to the non-specialist reader-a rare achievement.? The prize includes an award of $2,000.
Shear joined the Pitt religious studies faculty in 2001. His areas of expertise include medieval and early modern Jewish cultural and intellectual history, the impact of print on Jewish culture and thought in the early-modern period, and the cultural role of Jewish philosophy in the formation of early-modern Jewish identities.
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Medieval History
Award for book 'The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900 '
Adam Shear, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh, is the winner of the Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book in intellectual history published in 2008. The prize is awarded by the Journal of the History of Ideas.
Shearer's book, The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900
As research for his book, Shear surveyed the activities of readers, commentators, copyists, and printers that have taken place over 700 years to trace the ways the ?Kuzari? became a classic of Jewish thought. He found that views of the work before the 19th century differed greatly from those of the 20th century. In modern Jewish thought, the ?Kuzari? has often been contrasted with Moses Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed.
The Forkosch Prize committee said Shear's ?highly original book is able to combine scholarly depth and historical breadth without sacrificing accessibility to the non-specialist reader-a rare achievement.? The prize includes an award of $2,000.
Shear joined the Pitt religious studies faculty in 2001. His areas of expertise include medieval and early modern Jewish cultural and intellectual history, the impact of print on Jewish culture and thought in the early-modern period, and the cultural role of Jewish philosophy in the formation of early-modern Jewish identities.
- Birds? Head Haggadah ? Scholar Gives New Insights Into Jewish Medieval Text
The Birds? Head Haggadah, a manuscript dating from around the year 1300, is considered one of the most interesting and mysterious pieces of Jewish art from the Middle Ages. In ?Birds Head Revisited: Identity, Politics and Polemics the Birds? Head Haggadah?,...
- Becoming The People Of The Talmud: Oral Torah As Written Tradition In Medieval Jewish Cultures Wins 2011 National Jewish Book Award
A University of Pennsylvania professor has been recognized by the Jewish Book Council for her work this past year. Last Monday, Talya Fishman was awarded a 2011 National Jewish Book Award for her book Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written...
- The Sephardic Frontier: The Reconquista And The Jewish Community In Medieval Iberia
When Jonathan Ray looks at history, he?s not looking for easy answers. In his efforts to piece together the daily lives and identities of medieval Jews living in Christian and Muslim territories, he?s found that ?the norm is something a little bit messier,...
- Medieval Anti-judaism In The Crucible Of Modern Thought
the following colloquium, to be held at the University of Pittsburgh in April 2012, may be of great interest to some of you [I should add, too, that Nina Caputo and Hannah Johnson are co-editing a special issue of "postmedieval" on this topic, to be published...
- Cfp: Picturing The Medieval And Pre-modern Jewish Woman
Call for Papers (2010) ? 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 13-16, 2010, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA ?Picturing the Medieval and Pre-Modern Jewish Woman?This panel seeks papers that examine visualizations...