In his public lecture, Daniel Boyarin will address the question of the meaning of the Midrash for the interpretation of the Torah. His proposed reading of the Midrash as a poetic text opens up fresh approaches in this area. Held in English, his lecture “Towards a Poetic of Midrash: Skepticism and the Reading of Torah” will take place on Wednesday May 15, 2024 from 11 am to 1 pm in the Grand Hall of University Main Building, Am Hof 1. Prior registration is not required.
Biography
Prof. Dr. Daniel Boyarin is Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor Emeritus of Talmudic Culture at the University of California, Berkeley. As a philosopher and scholar of religion, language and literature, he has exercised a significant influence over debates held over the last decades on ancient Biblical and Talmudic literature, methods of textual criticism and exegesis and a range of historical, sociological and gender-theory issues. He is one of the best-known experts on Talmudic literature, the concept of religion in antiquity and Jewish-Christian relations in late antiquity.
Daniel Boyarin studied at Goddard College and Columbia University and was awarded his doctorate at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. He has taught as a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University Tel Aviv, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley and Yeshiva University New York. He has held numerous prestigious fellowships during the course of his career, including one at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2012/2013.
Before the public lecture, Daniel Boyarin will hold a workshop for students and members of the teaching staff on Tuesday May 14. Titled “The Ambivalence of the Historian: Between Accommodation and Andreia”, it will take place between 2 pm and 4 pm (prior registration required).
Cooperation with Luxembourg
The University of Bonn and the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society (LSRS) have signed a cooperation agreement to make the LSRS an An-Institut, a private institution affiliated with the University of Bonn. This cooperation seeks to develop a theology characterized by interdisciplinary exchange and interfaith dialog. As a key actor in both academia and wider society, the LSRS seeks to contribute to a range of contemporary debates.
The Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn
Basing its teaching on a strong track record of research in all the theological disciplines, the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn is one of the most prestigious faculties of its kind in Germany. Closely networked with a wide range of projects and institutions, its students benefit from the interdisciplinary and international focus offered by Germany’s most successful University of Excellence and the UN city Bonn.
About the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society
Established under public law and maintained by the Roman Catholic Church, the LSRS is an internationally-networked center of research and education that brings together a range of researchers from different disciplines and religions to conduct joint projects. It seeks to re-invigorate theological debate and religious practice while remaining conscious of the nature and needs of the relevant contexts.