“Biblical Politics” is the Topic of Third Annual Silberman Symposium at Middlebury College on Jan. 11

Middlebury College will host a symposium titled “Biblical Politics” on Tuesday, Jan. 11. The event is the third annual Silberman Symposium in Jewish Studies and will feature Robert Alter, the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, as the keynote speaker. All symposium events are free and open to the public.

At 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11, Alter will deliver the keynote lecture, “The Politics of Monarchy in Samuel.” Alter, who is visiting the College as a Bicentennial Scholar-in-Residence, has taught at the University of California at Berkeley since 1967. He is the author of numerous books on the European novel, contemporary American fiction, modern Hebrew literature, and literary aspects of the Bible. Among his recent works are “The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age” (1989); “Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka, Benjamin, and Scholem” (1991); “Genesis: Translation and Commentary” (1996); and “The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel” (1999). The lecture will take place in the library of the Geonomics Center on Hillcrest Road, off College Street (Route 125).

At 7:30 p.m., Middlebury College Professor of Religion Larry Yarbrough will give a lecture titled “Of Character and Kings,” which will be followed by a panel discussion with Professors Alter and Yarbrough, and Middlebury College faculty Paul Monod of the history department, Marc Witkin of the classics department, and Robert S. Schine, Silberman Professor of Jewish Studies. Schine will serve as moderator for the panel discussion. Both lecture and panel discussion will take place in the library of the Geonomics Center on Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125).

Following the symposium, at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13, Professor Alter will give an additional lecture with a focus on modern literature titled “Franz Kafka: Wresting Scripture,” in the Abernethy Room of Starr Library on Route 30.

For more information, contact the office of the dean of the faculty at 802-443-5391.

More on the Silberman Symposium

The Silberman Symposium is supported by the fund for the Curt C. and Else Silberman Chair in Jewish Studies. Establishing the fund in 1994, Curt Silberman said, “Our intention is not to sponsor a chair for Jewish students and Jewish studies per se. What is intended is the creation of a forum for students of all creeds and religions and even non-believers, which would become at the same time a kind of community forum with scholars, professors, lecturers, and citizens at large as participants.” Its goal is universal: to contribute “toward better understanding of each other.”

Schedule for “Biblical Politics,” Middlebury College’s Third Annual Silberman Symposium

TUESDAY, JAN. 11

4:15 p.m. Keynote lecture: “The Politics of Monarchy in Samuel” by Robert Alter, the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. Location: library of the Geonomics Center on Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125).

7:30 p.m. Lecture and Panel Discussion: “Of Character and Kings.” Middlebury College Professor of Religion Larry Yarbrough will give a lecture, to be followed by a panel discussion with Robert Alter, the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and Middlebury College faculty Paul Monod of the history department, Marc Witkin of the classics department, and Robert S. Schine, Silberman Professor of Jewish Studies. Schine will serve as moderator. Location: library of the Geonomics Center on Hillcrest Road off College Street (Route 125).

THURSDAY, JAN. 13

4:15 p.m. Lecture: “Franz Kafka: Wresting Scripture” by Robert Alter, the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. Location: the Abernethy Room of Starr Library on Route 30.