Modern science, originating in the Renaissance, is essential to the self-image of the West. Though the modern distinction between East and West emerged during the Renaissance, countless contacts bely the distinction. Mobile, multi-lingual Jewish scholars translated Arabic science and philosophy texts into Hebrew and sometimes into Latin for Christians in the West. These scholars also brought Latin knowledge to the Ottoman Empire and translated from Latin into Hebrew and Arabic. These Jewish scholars were much more than an isthmus linking otherwise disconnected Islamic and Christian realms. They worked in vibrant, competitive settings and drew on texts in many languages to answer their own questions; they were cultural hybrids. Their identities, like that of many modern Jews, were multiply hyphenated.

Robert Morrison (Bowdoin College)
George Lincoln Skolfield, Jr. Professor of Religion and Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Director of Middle Eastern and North African Studies Program

Co-sponsors: Jewish Studies Program and the Religious Studies Initiative