Author Archives: Fred Rowland

Translation Movement

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Great discussion of the 9th Translation Movement in Baghdad in which much of Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic. It’s a story of Arabs, Greeks, Persians; Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and pagans; philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astrology/astronomy, optics; Galen, Aristotle, Euclid; Al Kindi, Averroes, and Avicena. A menagerie of scholarship, a feast of knowledge, a heartwarming story of international cooperation. Go here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20081002.shtml. ————————————————————————————————————– Subject Guides Classics // Islamic Studies // Jewish Studies // Philosophy // Religion ————————————————————————————————————–

Exploring Race in Contemporary Judaism

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On October 6, 2008, The Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought at Temple University held its Second Annual Symposium on Race and Judaism in the Paley Library Lecture Hall. The program was entitled Exploring Race in Contemporary Judaism: A Symposium on Jewish Diversity [click here for PDF of flyer].

Before the symposium began, Professor Lewis Gordon, director of The Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought, sat down with three of the presenters, Edith Bruder, Avishai Mekonen, and Shari Rothfarb Mekonen to discuss their work. Edith Bruder has written a book entitled The Black Jews of Africa: History, Religion, Identity and her symposium presentation was entitled “African Judaism: Ancient Myths and Modern Phenomena”. Avishai Mekonen and Shari Rothfarb Mekonen screened and discussed their work-in-progress documentary, 400 Miles to Freedom, a “film [which] explores racial and ethnic diversity in Judaism through the story of Avishai Mekonen, whose disappearance in Sudan as a boy launches a quest that leads him to other African, Asian and Latino Jews in Israel and in the U.S.” John L. Jackson, who also presented at the symposium (“The Bodied Politic: Ethnobiology, Anti-Religiosity and the Reckoning of Black Hebrewism”) was not present for this recording (but we hope to record an interview with him at a later date).

[ensemblevideo contentid=mgtrjIiXtk6zj3iKadF-TQ audio=true showcaptions=true] (mp3, 22 MB)

iTunes U link (for downloads)

Subscribe to this podcast series

 

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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“Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public. It helps create history-centered schools, organizes seminars and programs for educators, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, sponsors lectures by eminent historians, and administers a History Teacher of the Year Award in every state through its partnership with Preserve America. The Institute also awards the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and George Washington Book Prizes, and offers fellowships for scholars to work in the Gilder Lehrman Collection.” Some great offerings on this web site: Document of the Week // Past Documents // Treasures of the Collection // Recommended Resources // Podcasts ————————————————————————————————————– Subject Guides Classics // Islamic Studies // Jewish Studies // Philosophy // Religion ————————————————————————————————————–

Islamic Calligraphy

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“This exhibition and its companion exhibition, Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy and the Qur’an, explore Islamic art’s quintessential art form: calligraphy. In the Islamic world, the practice of calligraphy constitutes an expression of piety. The writing of Arabic script was considered an exemplary activity for men and women of all stations due to its association with the Qur’an.” Traces of the Calligrapher at the Asia Society Museum.

Archimedes Palimpsest Project

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A palimpsest is a “a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing” (From The Oxford Dictionary of English). The Archimedes Palimpsest Project involves the rediscovery of seven texts of Archimedes scraped from the parchment later became a Byzantine prayer book. Advanced imaging techniques have been used to tease the ancient Archimedean texts from the parchment. This web site contains a wide rage of material–straightforward descriptions with video, scholarly analysis, and scientific details.

Louisiana Purchase Podcast

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Thumbnail image for Map-LA-Purchase-Territory-ARC594889.jpgUniversity of New Orleans has an excellent podcast on the Louisiana Purchase that covers the historical, military, diplomatic, and cultural aspects of Napoleon’s 1803 sale to Jefferson’s United States. It’s a great way to get a fresh perspective on American history, from the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of the inevitable push westwards from the Atlantic seaboard, it highlights the strong British, French, and Spanish presence in the center of the continent before the original thirteen colonies won their independence. It also highlights New Orleans’ role as the northernmost city of the Caribbean, often having much closer contact with Haiti, Cuba, and other Gulf countries than to areas to the north. The perspective here is somewhat like viewing European history from the point of view of the Byzantine empire. It’s eye-opening. Check it out.

Here’s the link to the podcast on iTunes U (need iTunes to load).

Subject Guides
Classics // Economics // Islamic Studies // Jewish Studies // Philosophy // Religion

Creation Museum

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A Year Later, Creation Museum Claiming Big Crowds

“LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The museum exhibits are taken from the Old Testament, but the special effects are pure Hollywood: a state-of-the-art planetarium, animatronics and a massive model of Noah’s Ark, all intended to explain the origins of the universe from a biblical viewpoint.”

Here’s the Creation Museum web site. Here’s the Exhibits page.

Subject Guides
Classics // Economics // Islamic Studies // Jewish Studies // Philosophy // Religion

Philosophers Annual “Ten Best Articles” of 2007

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Philosophers Annual “Ten Best Articles” of 2007: http://www.philosophersannual.org/.

Search by Citation for the full-text of the articles below.

“Reflection and Disagreement”
Adam Elga
from Nous 41 (2007), 478-502

“Why Nothing Mental is Just in the Head”
Justin Fisher
from Nous 41 (2007), 318-334

“Socrates’ Profession of Ignorance”
Michael N. Forster
from Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 3 (2007), 1-36

“When is a Brain Like a Planet?”
Clark Glymour
from Philosophy of Science 74 (2007), 330-347

“But Mom, Crop Tops are Cute!
Social Knowledge, Social Structure and Ideology Critique”
Sally Haslanger
from Philosophical Issues 17, The Metaphysics of Epistemology, pp. 70-91

“Innocent Statements and their Metaphysically Loaded Counterparts”
Thomas Hofweber
from Philosophers’ Imprint 7 (2007), 1-33

“Honest Illusion: Valuing for Nietzsche’s Free Spirits”
Nadeem Hussain
from B. Leiter & N. Sinhababu, eds., Nietzsche and Morality
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, 157-191

“Moral Responsibility and Determinism:
The Cognitive Science of Folk Intuitions”
Shaun Nichols & Joshua Knobe
from Nous 41 (2007), 663-668

“Covenants and Reputations”
Peter Vanderschraaf
from Synthese 157 (2007), 167-195

“Epistemic Modals”
Seth Yalcin
from Mind 16 (2007), 983-1026

Subject Guides
Classics // Economics // Islamic Studies // Jewish Studies // Philosophy // Religion