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LUNCHEON LECTURE/DISCUSSION WITH BARD PROFESSORS BRUCE CHILTON AND JACOB NEUSNER, FOLLOWED BY BOOK SIGNING, ON APRIL 7 Topic of discussion is “What’s Next—We Get to Pick Your Brains: A Conversation on the Coming Attractions of the

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—On Friday, April 7, at 12 noon, in the multipurpose room of the Bertelsmann Campus Center, the Institute of Advanced Theology (IAT) presents a luncheon lecture/discussion, followed by a book signing, by Bard professors Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner. Admission is $15, or $12 for members of the IAT. Reservations are requested. During the discussion, professors Chilton and Neusner address IAT members and friends with the question, “What do you advise us to do next?” In the past, they have organized seminars for Bard undergraduates and conferences for students, as well as IAT members and friends, on fundamental questions of the history of Christian and Judaic beginnings. In a few weeks the conference on historical issues and methods will take place. They would like to find out what’s on the minds of the IAT members and friends for the planning of future conferences and seminars. In addition, the program is a celebration of the publication of Neusner’s book, Religious Foundations of Western Civilizations: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This book was compiled from Bard undergraduate seminars that he organized in fall 2002 and spring 2004. According to John L. Esposito, professor and founding director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, “This is the right book at the right time. Globalization, religious revivalism, and international politics have made it more important than ever to appreciate the significant contributions of the Children of Abraham to the formation and development of Western civilization.” For further information and for reservations, call 845-758-7279, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.bard.edu/iat. # About the Presenters Bruce Chilton—Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion, executive director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, and chaplain of the College—is a scholar of early Christianity and Judaism, and the author of the first critical translation of the Aramaic version of Isaiah (The Isaiah Targum, 1987). He has written academic studies that put Jesus in his Jewish context (Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, 2000; Pure Kingdom, 1996; The Temple of Jesus, 1992; and The Galilean Rabbi and His Bible, 1984). Doubleday recently released his book Mary Magdalene: A Biography, and Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography, is now in paperback. Chilton has taught in Europe at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, and Münster, and in the United States at Yale University (as the first Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament) and Bard College. Throughout his career, he has been active in the pastoral ministry of the Anglican Church; he is currently rector of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Barrytown, New York. Jacob Neusner, senior fellow of Bard’s Institute of Advanced Theology and Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard, received a Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary and a rabbinical degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also holds seven honorary doctorates and numerous other academic honors. He has published more than 975 books and articles. He has taught at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and the University of South Florida, among others. He is a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, and life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, in England. Neusner was president of the American Academy of Religion, a member of the founding committee of the Association for Jewish Studies, and founder of the European Association of Jewish Studies. He served on the National Council on the Humanities under President Carter and National Council on the Arts under President Reagan. Neusner’s research professorship at Bard College is supported, in part, by a grant from the Tisch Family Foundation of New York City. The Institute of Advanced Theology (IAT) was established to foster critical understanding based on scholarship, which aims to make true religious pluralism possible. Since its inception in 1996, the Institute’s work has focused on how religions influence history, society, and other religions, and are in turn influenced by them. The Institute gratefully acknowledges support from members of the Institute, the Crohn Family Trust, and Tisch Family Foundation, as well as grants from The Levy Economics Institute and Bard College. # # # (3/31/06)

This event was last updated on 04-07-2006

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