Sam Brody to Speak at Smith-Willson Lecture
Winfield, Kan., April 7, 2022 — Sam Brody, associate professor of
religious studies at the University of Kansas, will be the featured speaker for
Southwestern College’s 2021-22 Smith-Willson lecture Wednesday, April 20, at 4
p.m. in Wroten Hall. There is no admission charge and the public is
invited to attend.
The title of the lecture is “The Pyramid or the Campfire? Moses and
Monotheism in Martin Buber and Sigmund Freud.”
Samuel Hayim
Brody studied political and social thought and Middle-Eastern studies at the
University of Virginia before turning his attention to the study of traditional
Jewish sources at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received
his master of arts degree. His Ph.D. in the History of Judaism is from the
University of Chicago Divinity School, where he focused on the modern
German-Jewish intellectual tradition while also studying philosophical
hermeneutics, Christian exegesis, and varying conceptions of the relationship
between religion and politics. He has previously taught at the University of
Chicago and the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of the award-winning
book, “Martin Buber's Theopolitics” (Indiana University Press, 2018).
“I have known Sam
Brody since 2005, when we were both at the University of Virginia,” says Jacob
Goodson, associate professor of philosophy at Southwestern. “I recently
read his award-winning book, and knew that I needed to bring him to SC so our
students could hear his insights on the wisdom Martin Buber's philosophy still
offers us today. In his Smith-Willson Lecture, he will be comparing and
contrasting how Buber understands the character of Moses in relation to Sigmund
Freud's last published book. Few people realize that Freud's last book,
published in 1939 (the year Freud died), was a book on Moses. Dr. Brody will
walk us through the differences and similarities between Buber's and Freud's
interpretations of the character of Moses.”
The
Smith-Willson lectureship was established by Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson to call
attention to the important moral and religious aspects of education.
National leaders on various related topics are asked to speak at the annual
lecture.
