22 February, 2024
We are deeply honoured to welcome Professor Alan Cooper, the Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, to lead a session of the Psalms in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group.
Here are the details of this fascinating session.
Topic: Psalm 40 and Messiness of Prayer
Abstract: coming soon.
Speaker: Professor Alan Cooper, the Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary, USA.
Speaker’s biography: Professor Alan Cooper is the Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies. He joined the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1997 as a professor of Bible. From 2007 to 2018, he served as a Provost of the seminary. In 1998, he was appointed professor of Bible at the Union Theological Seminary, a nondenominational Christian seminary, becoming the first person to hold concurrent professorships at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Union Theological Seminary. Previously, he was a professor of Bible at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, where for six years he was director of its School of Graduate Studies. He also taught religious studies for ten years at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Professor Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in Religion at Columbia University. He went on to do his graduate work at Yale University, earning a master of philosophy degree and doctorate in Religious Studies. His doctoral dissertation was on the linguistic structure of biblical poetry. He also spent a year in Jerusalem as a Hebrew University postdoctoral fellow.
Professor Cooper’s publications include a monograph on Canaanite divine names that appear in the Hebrew Bible, and many articles on biblical poetics and the history of interpretation. Recent articles include “Once Again Seething a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk” (in JSIJ [Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal]); “Some Aspects of Traditional Jewish Psalms Interpretation” (in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms); and “Introduction to Leviticus” (in Engaging Torah: Modern Perspectives on the Hebrew Bible). His work in progress includes a commentary on Psalms 31 through 60 for the Jewish Publication Society.
Chair: Professor Aaron Koller, Senior Fellow of the Oxford Interfaith Forum and Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Yeshiva University, USA
Time: 18:00-19:00 GMT | 19:00-20:00 CEST | 10:00-11:00 PT | 13:00-14:00 ET
Venue: online
If you would like to join the Psalms in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group, please sign up here.
Related Sessions
- Was Genesis 1 Dependent on Psalm 104?
- The Seven Penitential Psalms in the Allegorist’s Hands
- Beyond Exegesis: The Psalm Cultures of Ancient Jews and Early Christians
- Psalm 40 and Messiness of Prayer
- Psalm 109: The Prayer No One Wants
- Psalmody as an Alternative to Theodicy
- Psalm 44 and the Book of Job: God on Trial
- Exile and Restoration in the Psalms
- ‘Deep cries unto deep’: Julian of Norwich and Psalm 42
- Ancient Versions of Psalms in Dialogue: Psalms 49 and 104
- Awake, My Soul! Psalms: 44; 57; 133; 143
- Psalm 106: Fall of Jerusalem and Lamentations Ch. 3
- Psalm 37:25, Innocent Suffering, and Divine Recompense
- Spurring Colonialism and Slavery: Protestants and Catholics United in their Use of Psalm 132
- Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 24
- Psalm 19: Muslim Reflections on Creation
- Psalm 46: Singing in Hope and Defiance
- When Music Meets Psalms: Psalm 130
- Psalm 131: How I Weaned Myself from the Breast of God
- Psalm 132: A Song of Ascents
- Psalm 88: ‘Fists Flailing at the Gates of Heaven’
- Psalm 82: Demanding Justice
- Psalm 51: Contemporary Multifaith Interpretations
- Comparative Reading of Psalms and Abrahams’ Prayers in the Quran
- Psalm 33: Mystical Reading
- Psalm 139
- Psalm 1: Inaugural Session by Revd Dr John Goldingay