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"Ishmael on the Border between Judaism and Islam"
In this
lecture Prof. Bakhos will examine the ways in which both the Jewish and
Islamic
traditions treat Abraham's firstborn son. She will begin by exploring
how
the rabbinic traditions handled Ishmael’s marginal status, and then
examine his role in Islamic genealogies that trace Muhammad’s
decent back
to Ishmael. What role does Ishmael as the first Arab play
in both
Judaism and Islam? What is his significant in each tradition?
Dr. Bakhos is
Associate Professor of Late Antique Judaism at
University of California, Los
Angeles. Prior to her tenure at
UCLA, she taught at Middlebury College, Vassar College, and New York
Theological Seminary. She has been a Visiting Fellow at Princeton
University and a Lady Davis Fellow at the Hebrew University. She has won
several prestigious research grants including ones from the Mellon,
Dorot, Koret and Memorial foundations. In addition to many scholarly
articles, she has authored or edited several important books, including
Judaism in its Hellenistic Context (2004), Ishmael on the
Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arab (2006), and Current
Trends in the Study of Midrash (2006). |
