James Theodore Robinson
The University of Chicago
The Divinity School
Swift Hall, 1025 E. 58th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
773-702-8241, jtr@uchicago.edu

Associate Professor of the History of Judaism
The University of Chicago, The Divinity School, 2010-.

Affiliations: History of Religions, Islamic Studies, Center for Jewish Studies, Program in Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, Fundamentals: Texts and Issues.

Assistant Professor of the History of Judaism
The University of Chicago, The Divinity School, 2003-2010.

Visiting Research Fellow
The Institute for Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Summer 2007.

Dorot Junior Faculty Fellow
New York University, Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, 2000-2003.

Ph.D. with distinction, Harvard University, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 2002
Ph.D. Dissertation: "Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Commentary on Ecclesiastes" (awarded the Harry and Cecile Starr Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in Jewish Studies). Advisor: Bernard Septimus; Readers: Alfred Ivry, Robert Wisnovsky.

M.A., Harvard University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,1996
Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Exegesis

Master of Philosophy, Oxford University, Faculty of Oriental Studies (Modern Jewish Studies),1990

Visiting Student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990-1991

Visiting Research Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1991-1992

Bachelor of Arts, The University of California at Berkeley, Applied Mathematics, 1988

Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Commentary on Ecclesiastes, The Book of the Soul of Man. Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism 20. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.

The Cultures of Maimonideanism: New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought, editor. Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, 2009.

Asceticism, Eschatology, Opposition to Philosophy: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Salmon b. Yeroham on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes).Critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text with annotated English translation and introduction.Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies, 2012.

Sefer Nefesh ha-Adam: Perush Qohelet le-Rabbi Shemuel b. Yehudah Ibn Tibbon. Critical edition of the Hebrew text with introduction, notes, apparatus, and indices. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, The David and Amalia Rosen Foundation, Sources for the Study of Jewish Culture. (forthcoming)

Establishing the Way of Peshat: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet b. 'Eli on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes). Critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text with annotated English translation and introduction. Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies. (in preparation)

"Scholastic" Exegesis in Tenth-Century Jerusalem: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of David b. Boaz on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes). Critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text with annotated English translation and introduction. Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies. (in preparation)

Articles, Chapters, Reviews, Encyclopedia Entries

CONFERENCES, COLLOQUIA, WORKSHOPS (*Invited Lectures)

*"Language, Logic, and Exegesis: Classical Rhetoric and Poetics in Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Commentary on Ecclesiastes." Symposium on Cross-Cultural Poetics. Harvard University, Center for Cultural and Literary Studies. May, 1997.

*"Moses Maimonides and the Culture of Islamic Spain." Harvard University, Hebrew Language Summer School. July, 1997.

*"Gershom ben Solomon's Sha'ar ha-Shamayim: Its Sources and Use of Sources." International Conference on Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy. Bar-Ilan University, Israel. January 11, 1998.

*"Samuel Ibn Tibbon, Disciple of Maimonides?" Faculty Colloquium, "Authority and Challenges to Authority." Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. New York University. January 22, 2001.

*"The Ibn Tibbon Family: A Dynasty of Translators in Medieval Provence." French Accents Symposium, "Jews and Judaism in Medieval France." New York University. April 26, 2001.

"Natural Science in Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Commentary on Ecclesiastes." Oxford Colloquium on Jewish Philosophy. European Association of Jewish Studies and Center for Jewish Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Oxford, England. July 25, 2001.

"Some Remarks concerning Samuel Ibn Tibbon's Theory and Method of Translation" [in Hebrew]. 10th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Judaeo-Arabic. Beer Sheva, Israel. August 9, 2001.

"Samuel Ibn Tibbon on the Garden of Eden." 33rd Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. Washington, D.C. December 17, 2001.

*"Arguments against Immortality in Medieval Jewish Philosophy." Dorot Symposium. New York University. March 22, 2002.

"Averroes' Treatises on Conjunction in the Hebrew Tradition." 34th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies. Los Angeles, California. December 15, 2002.

*"Science in Medieval Jewish Commentaries on the Bible." Medieval Judaism and Science: A Synoptic View. Colloquium sponsored by the Institute of Jewish Studies. London, England. June 15-17, 2003.

"Exegesis and Esoteric Writing: Samuel Ibn Tibbon on the 'Art of Concealing'." 35th Annual Conference of the Association of Jewish Studies. Boston, Massachusetts. December 22, 2003.

"Samuel Ibn Tibbon (ca. 1165-1232): Founder of Medieval Maimonideanism." Medieval Academy of America, 79th Annual Meeting. Seattle, Washington. April 1, 2004.

"Exegetes as Epigones in the Maimonidean Tradition: Samuel Ibn Tibbon and Immanuel of Rome." Oxford Colloquium on Jewish Philosophy. European Association of Jewish Studies. Oxford, England. July 6, 2004.

*"Maimonides, Samuel Ibn Tibbon, and the Construction of a Jewish Tradition of Philosophy." Maimonides: Between Tradition and Revolution, International Conference on the 800th Anniversary of His Death. Harvard University, The Center for Jewish Studies. October 12-13, 2004.

*"Maimonides and Maimonideanism in Southern France, 1200-1306: On the Growth and Development of a Philosophical-Literary Tradition [Part I: Commentary on the Bible; Commentary on Rabbinic Literature; Reasons for the Commandments]." The Legacy of Maimonides: 1204-2004. A colloquium sponsored by the Melton Center for Jewish Studies at The Ohio State University. October 31, 2004.

*"Maimonides and Maimonideanism in Southern France, 1200-1306: On the Growth and Development of a Philosophical-Literary Tradition [Part II: The Rhetoric of Maimonideanism; The Method of Exegesis; Creating a Hebrew Philosophical Library]." Maimonides: Philosopher and Scientist. Colloquium on the Philosophy of Science, sponsored by Boston University. November 8, 2004.

*"Secondary Forms of Transmission: Teaching and Preaching Philosophy in Thirteenth-Century Provence." Exchange and Transmission across Cultural Boundaries: Philosophy, Mysticism, and Science in the Mediterranean World. A Workshop in memory of Shlomo Pines (on the fifteenth anniversary of his death) sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. February 28 - March 2, 2005.

*"Michael Scot and His Jewish Colleagues." Michael Scot - Translator and Philosopher at the Court of Frederick II. Workshop at the Warburg Institute. London, England. April 22, 2005.

*Dean's Forum, Respondent: Winnifred Sullivan's The Impossibility of Religious Freedom (Princeton University Press, 2004). May 18, 2005.

*"Jacob's Ladder of Ascent: Medieval and Modern Perspectives on a Biblical Motif." Conversations in Divinity, The University of Chicago Divinity School, September 15, 2005.

*"Methods of Instruction and Modes of Transmission in Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Science." Pratiques de l'enseignment universitaire dans l'Antiquité et le Moyen Age. Colloquium sponsored by CNRS. Paris, France. October 6-8, 2005.

*"Spiritualizing the Law: Prayer, Ritual, and the Holy Days in Medieval Jewish Philosophy." Disciples Divinity House, The University of Chicago, November 7, 2005.

*"The Argument from Barking Dogs: Ruminations on Bibfeldt and the Theology of Subaltern Species." The Annual Franz Bibfeldt Lecture, April 1, 2006.

*"Stealing Wisdom: Remarks on the Use of 'Foreign' Sources in Medieval Jewish Thought." Via Contemplativa: A Conference on Medieval Islamic and Jewish Thought in Honor of Alfred L. Ivry. New York University, May 9, 2006.

*Dean's Forum, Respondent: Dan Arnold's Buddhists, Brahmans, and Belief (Columbia University Press, 2005). May 17, 2006.

*"Jacob's Ladder of Ascent: Medieval Perspectives on a Biblical Motif." Illinois Freemasons, Feb 1, 2007.

*"Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes in Hebrew: Remarks on the Indirect Transmission of Arabic Philosophy in Medieval Judaism." The Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Heritage: Philosophical and Theological Explorations in the Abrahamic Traditions. Marquette University, March 2, 2007.

*"Secondary Forms of Philosophy: On the Transmission of Greek and Arabic Ideas Indirectly through Non-Traditional Literary Genres." Vehicles of Transmission, Translation, and Transformation. McGill University, the Institute of Islamic Studies, and the Departments of History, English, Philosophy, and Jewish Studies. April 26-28, 2007.

*"That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?? Respondent in the session "Worlds Apart and Together: Science and Society." Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Thirteenth Annual Gruss Colloquium in Jewish Studies, "Religious Communities in Islamic Empires." April 30-May 2, 2007.

*Dean's Forum, Respondent: Lucy Pick's Conflict and Coexistence: Archbishop Rodrigo and the Muslims and Jews of Medieval Spain (University of Michigan Press, 2004). May 9, 2007.

*"Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes in Hebrew: Remarks on the Indirect Transmission of Arabic Philosophy in Medieval Judaism." Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem. Research Group: Transmission and Appropriation of the Secular Sciences and Philosophy in Medieval Judaism. July 9, 2007.

*"Closing Remarks." The Cultures of Maimonideanism: New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought. EAJS Summer 2007 Colloquium, Organized by Gad Freudenthal and James T. Robinson. Wolfson College, Oxford, July 16-19, 2007.

*Panel Session: "Maimonides - Aristotelian or Neoplatonist?" XII International Congress of Medieval Philosophy, Société Internationale pour l'Étude de la Philosophie Médiéale. Palermo, September 16-22, 2007.

*"An Aristotelian Defense of Biblical Poetry: On the Influence of al-Farabi's Kitab al-Shi'r in Medieval Jewish Thought." Poetics Workshop, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, July 28, 2009.

*"Reading other People reading other People's Scripture: On Religious Polemic as Cause of Cultural Change." Deconstructing Dialogue: New Perspectives on Religious Encounters, Ancient, Medieval and Modern. The Divinity School, The University of Chicago, January 21-23, 2010.

*"Creating Hebrew Bellettres in Thirteenth-Century Europe." Creation Symposium in Honor of the Founding of the Center for Jewish Studies, The University of Chicago, February 15, 2010.

*"Prophets as Imposters, Religions as 'Innovation,' Religious Leaders as Corrupt - Jewish Sources," The Transmission of Subversive Ideas from the Islamic World to Europe, c. 1200-1650 (Part 1), Institute for Advanced Studies Workshop, Princeton, NJ, February 14-15, 2011.

*"The Social and Political Utility of Religion - Jewish Sources," The Transmission of Subversive Ideas from the Islamic World to Europe, c. 1200-1650 (Part 2), Institute for Advanced Studies Workshop, Princeton, NJ, April 4-5, 2011.

*"Lost (and Found) in Translation." Disciples Divinity House, The University of Chicago, April 16, 2012.

*"An Aristotelian Defense of Biblical Poetry: On the Influence of al-Farabi's Kitab al-Shi'r in Medieval Jewish Thought." Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, December 10, 2012.

*"The Secrets of Qohelet: Medieval Perspectives on a Biblical Text." Tel Aviv University, Department of Bible, December 18, 2012.

New York University
2000-2003
Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages
The Jews in Medieval Spain
Graduate Tutorial: Readings in Samuel Ibn Tibbon
Undergraduate Tutorial: Medieval Commentaries on Mishnah, Avot

The University of Chicago
2003-2004
Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages
Readings in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
Medieval Commentaries on Ecclesiastes
Abraham in History, Literature, and Thought (with Hans-Josef Klauck)

2004-2005
The Jewish Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages
The Jews in Medieval Spain
Interactions between Jewish Philosophy and Literature in the Middle Ages
Abraham in History, Literature, and Thought (with Hans-Josef Klauck)
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in al-Farabi

2005-2006
Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages
Jewish Heretics and Apostates in the Middle Ages
Soul, Intellect, and Immortality in Medieval Jewish Thought
Abraham in History, Literature, and Thought (with Hans-Josef Klauck)
Undergraduate Tutorial (Fundamentals) - Readings in Genesis

2006-2007
Science and Scripture: Jewish Philosophical Exegesis in the Middle Ages
Interactions between Jewish Philosophy and Literature in the Middle Ages
Medieval Hebrew Texts: Jacob's Ladder of Ascent
A Medieval Menagerie: Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in Isaac Poliqar's 'Ezer ha-Dat
Graduate Tutorial - Joseph b. Shem Tov's Commentary on Aristotle's Nic. Ethics

2007-2008
Medieval Jewish Thought: Philosophy, Theology, Sufism, Kabbalah
Readings in Abraham Ibn Ezra, Twelfth-Century Renaissance Man
Readings in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
The Buddha in Barcelona, The Brauer Seminar (with Matthew Kapstein)
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in Arabic-Islamic Neoplatonism
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in Judaeo-Arabic Neoplatonism

2008-2009
Reading Hayy b. Yaqzan, A Twelfth-Century Philosophical/Mystical Romance
The Jewish Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages
Medieval Commentaries on Ecclesiastes
Jerusalem during the Middle Ages: Conquest, Pilgrimage, and the Imaginaire
Graduate Tutorial - Rabbinic Literature in Provence
Graduate Tutorial - Islamic Philosophy

2009-2010
Reading Hayy b. Yaqzan, A Twelfth-Century Philosophical/Mystical Romance
Reading Other People's Scriptures (with Lucy Pick)
Islamic and Jewish Neoplatonism
Interactions between Jewish Philosophy and Literature in the Middle Ages
Jerusalem during the Middle Ages: Conquest, Pilgrimage, and the Imaginaire
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in the Guide
Graduate Tutorial - Maimonides' "Eight Chapters"

2010-2011
Reading Hayy b. Yaqzan, A Twelfth-Century Philosophical/Mystical Romance
Maimonides as Mystic? (A study of Guide 3:51)
A Medieval Menagerie: Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages
Seminar in Comparative Scriptural Interpretation (with Margaret Mitchell)
Graduate Tutorial - Readings in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
Graduate Tutorial - Medieval Hebrew Texts on the Temple and Sacrifice

2011-2012
The Jewish Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages
Maimonides, Eight Chapters and Commentary on Avot
Medieval Commentaries on Psalms
Readings in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed

2012-2013
Introduction to Judaeo-Arabic Literature and Thought
Aristotle in the Middle Ages
Jewish Sufism
Ibn Tufayl's Hayy b. Yaqzan

FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, PRIZES

Interuniversity Fellowship Program in Jewish Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1991-2
Sidney L. Solomon Endowed Fellowship, Harvard University, 1993-4, 1994-5, 1998-9
Edward H. Kavinoky Fellowship, Harvard University, 1994-5
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (Middle East, Arabic), United States Department of Education, 1994-5, 1995-6
The Anna Marnoy Feldberg Fellowship, Harvard University, 1996-7
National Foundation for Jewish Culture, Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, 1997-8
Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, Harvard University, 1997-8
Harvard-Hebrew University Fellowship, Harvard University, 1997-8 [declined]
Alan M. and Katherine W. Strook Fellowship, Harvard University, 1999-2000
Isadore Twersky Fellowship, Harvard University, 2000-2002
Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Yale University, 2003-5 [declined]
American Academy for Jewish Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 2003-5 [declined]
Kreitman Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2003-5 [declined]
The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Hebrew University, 2003-4 [declined]
The Harry and Cecile Starr Prize for the best doctoral dissertation in Jewish Studies, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University, 2004
Holder of the Donnelley Stool of Bibfeldt Studies, 2006
Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, June-August 2007

Primary research languages:
Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval Hebrew; Biblical and Talmudic Aramaic; Philosophical Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic
Modern scholarly languages:
Hebrew, French, German

Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Science
Medieval Islamic Philosophy and Science
Jewish Intellectual History in the Islamic World and Christian Europe
Jewish Sufism and Neoplatonism
Jewish Aristotelianism and anti-Aristotelianism
The Relation between the Jewish, Islamic and Christian Intellectual Traditions
Religious Polemics
Ethics, Political Philosophy, Psychology
Messianism and Eschatology
The History of Biblical Exegesis
Philosophical-Allegorical Exegesis
Sermons and Homiletical Literature
Karaites and Rabbanites
Maimonides, Maimonideanism, and Maimonidean Controversies
The Guide of the Perplexed and its Interpreters
The Translation, Transmission, Reception, and Transformation of Greek and Arabic Philosophy and Science

Teaching Clinic, 2003, 2009
Orientation Day, faculty panel, 2004
Ministry Colloquium, Discussion of the History of Judaism: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Jewish Studies Colloquium, Discussion of Medieval Jewish Philosophy: 2006
Chair of History of Judaism: 2004-5, 2007-8, 2010-11
Committee on Admissions and Aid: 2005, 2008, 2013
Searches - Islamic Studies: 2003-4; History of Christianity: 2005-6; Islamic Studies: 2010-11
Academic Disciplinary Committee: 2005
Committee on Undergraduate Studies: 2005-7
MA Curriculum Committee: 2006-7
Visiting Committee: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011
University Professorship Committee: 2009-2011
Ministry Committee: 2009-2011
Academic Policy Committee: 2005-7, 2010-2012
Committee on Tenure and Promotion: 2010-2012
University Library Committee: 2010-2013
Marty Center - Faculty Fellow: 2005-7; Faculty Advisor: 2007-9; Faculty Fellow: 2010-11; Assistant Director: 2011-2012

Co-editor of the book series "Bordering Religions," Fordham University Press.
Editorial Board, The Journal of Religion, 2006-2011
Editorial Board, Aleph: Historical Studies in Science and Judaism
Referee of Papers for Aleph, European Journal of Jewish Studies, Harvard Theological Review, History of Religions, Jewish Quarterly Review, Jewish Studies Quarterly, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Journal of Religion, Medieval Studies
Evaluation of Book Manuscripts for Blackwells, Brill, Indiana University Press, Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press
Evaluation of Research Proposals for the Canadian Government and the Israel Science Foundation

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