By Way of Introduction: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies

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By Way of Introduction: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies – A Personal Memoir

Leonard H. Ehrlich

This chapter is part of: Leonard H. Ehrlich et al. 2004. Textures and Meanings: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

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In teaching “Philosophy in the Middle Ages” I had always included Jewish philosophy, even though this was never a topic worth mentioning wherever I studied that area at the graduate level, whether at Basel, Columbia, or Yale. Around 1960 I began to introduce philosophical problems of “the Holocaust” in some of my philosophy courses. Soon graduate philosophy students suggested I teach a course on the subject, which I did, the first in the Pioneer Valley. I also taught a course on recent Jewish philosophy. Thus Judaic Studies as an academic field of research and teaching was not unfamiliar to me. When New York organizations began sending teams to hold two-day seminars “in the provinces” to demonstrate the feasibility and timeliness of establishing the field as a secular discipline at colleges and universities, I took up the challenge.

Description

In teaching “Philosophy in the Middle Ages” I had always included Jewish philosophy, even though this was never a topic worth mentioning wherever I studied that area at the graduate level, whether at Basel, Columbia, or Yale. Around 1960 I began to introduce philosophical problems of “the Holocaust” in some of my philosophy courses. Soon graduate philosophy students suggested I teach a course on the subject, which I did, the first in the Pioneer Valley. I also taught a course on recent Jewish philosophy. Thus Judaic Studies as an academic field of research and teaching was not unfamiliar to me. When New York organizations began sending teams to hold two-day seminars “in the provinces” to demonstrate the feasibility and timeliness of establishing the field as a secular discipline at colleges and universities, I took up the challenge.

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Published	Published By
Aug. 1, 2004	University of Massachusetts Amherst
Citation
Ehrlich L. 2004. By Way of Introduction: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies – A Personal Memoir. In Leonard H. Ehrlich et al. 2004. Textures and Meanings: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst