Faculty Profile

Andrea Lieber

(she/her/hers)Professor of Religion; Sophia Ava Asbell Chair in Judaic Studies (1998)

Contact Information

lieber@dickinson.edu

East College Room 210
717-245-1482

Bio

Her courses explore the transformations of Judaism as a living religion and evolving culture from its origins in antiquity through its varied manifestations in the 20th century. Special interests include: Judaism and early Christianity, Jewish mysticism (kabbalah), women and gender in Jewish tradition.

Education

  • B.A., Vassar College, 1989
  • M.A., Columbia University, 1993
  • M.Phil., 1995
  • Ph.D., 1998

2023-2024 Academic Year

Fall 2023

MEST 200 Hebrew Scriptures in Context
Cross-listed with JDST 203-01 and RELG 203-01.A critical examination and attempt to understand the literature and the antecedent traditions remembered and formulated by the ancient Israelites in terms of their own views of God. This literature is interpreted in the context of events and cultures of the ancient Near East.

JDST 203 Hebrew Scriptures in Context
Cross-listed with MEST 200-02 and RELG 203-01.

RELG 203 Hebrew Scriptures in Context
Cross-listed with JDST 203-01 and MEST 200-02.

JDST 250 Beyond Belief: Jewish Sec Cltr
Cross-listed with RELG 260-01.

RELG 260 Beyond Belief: Jewish Sec Cltr
Cross-listed with JDST 250-01.Many Jews nowadays define themselves in secular or cultural terms rather than religious ones. But how did the tradition of secular Judaism come to be? This course will survey the development of secular Jewish identity through an examination of key thinkers over the last three and a half centuries, including Spinoza, Freud, Marx and Einstein. The course will conclude with an examination of secular Judaism in American culture - the drama of Clifford Odets and Arthur Miller, the films of Mel Brooks and Sidney Lumet, and the television shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

RELG 550 Independent Research

Spring 2024

RELG 101 Religion: What it is
The course introduces students to methods in the study of religion and to major world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The approach in the course is comparative and interdisciplinary.

WGSS 201 Women, Gender and Judaism
Cross-listed with JDST 240-01 and RELG 240-01.

JDST 240 Women, Gender and Judaism
Cross-listed with RELG 240-01 and WGSS 201-08.

RELG 240 Women, Gender and Judaism
Cross-listed with JDST 240-01 and WGSS 201-08.

JDST 500 Independent Study

RELG 550 Independent Research