Lecture: How Much Islam is in Medieval Jewish Thought?

Dr. James T. Robinson gave an insightful talk entitled, “How Much Islam is in Jewish Medieval Thought?” on Tuesday, the 9th of October at the American Islamic College Academic Lecture Forum. Dr. Robinson presented three examples in which Jewish writings have been influenced by Islamic texts. The three examples he pulled from include, 1) The Qur’an, 2) Post Qur’anic tradition, and 3) Ibn Tufayel. Dr. Robinson’s research focuses on medieval Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and biblical exegesis in the Islamic world and Christian Europe.

Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Time: 6:00pm Light Refreshments; 6:15pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Dr. James T. Robinson, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Judaism, Islamic Studies, and the History of Religions; also in the Program on Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, Fundamentals: Texts and Issues, and the Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies; Associate Faculty in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

MPhil (Oxford University)
MA, PhD (Harvard University)

James Robinson’s research focuses on medieval Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and biblical exegesis in the Islamic world and Christian Europe. His main interests lie in the literary and social dimensions of philosophy, and the relation between philosophy and religion. Specific areas of expertise include ethics, political philosophy, and psychology; the history of philosophical-allegorical exegesis; Karaites and Rabbanites; the translation and reception of Greek and Arabic philosophy and science; Jewish Sufism and Neoplatonism; Maimonides, Maimonideanism, and the Maimonidean controversies; religious polemic; sermons and homiletical literature; and the interactions between the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian intellectual traditions.

Prof. Robinson has published three books and one edited volume: Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes, The Book of the Soul of Man (Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism 20. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007); The Cultures of Maimonideanism: New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, 2009); Asceticism, Eschatology, Opposition to Philosophy: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Salmon b. Yeroham on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), a critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text with annotated English translation and introduction (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies, 2012); and The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet b. ‘Eli the Karaite on the Book of Joshua (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies, 2014).