Temple in brief

Art and Religion Discussion

The Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance will present “No Graven Image: Judaism and the Rise of Abstraction in Modern Art and Music,” a collaborative event combining musical performance and scholarly discussion. The March 21 event will examine the emergence of abstraction in art and music and whether it is rooted in the fundamental ideas of Judaism.
“Musical abstraction is difficult to define and doing so will be one of our challenges,” noted program curator Marshall Taylor, a lecturer in saxophone at Boyer.
“Since the Hebrew Bible proscribes the making of any sculptured representation of God (or of gods) for the purpose of worship, one question we will consider is whether this proscription-No Graven Image-might be the source or one of the sources of abstraction by Jewish painters and composers and by painters and composers subsequently influenced by them, or whether it arose elsewhere and was taken up and developed by Jewish artists,” he said.
Jointly sponsored by the composition department in the Boyer College and Temple’s Jewish Studies program, the program will be presented in Rock Hall at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Temple’s Main Campus. The event is free and open to the public.
“This is an important event because it marks an unusual moment of convergence. This is one of the first events of this kind that really brings Jewish Studies scholars and musicians together to address these questions,” added Laura Levitt, associate professor of religion and director of Temple’s Jewish Studies program.
For more information, call the Boyer College general information line at (215) 204-8307.

Friday Teach-In

Every Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Professor Ralph Young and the students in his Dissent in America class hold a weekly teach-in in Gladfelter 914 to discuss the historical background to current political issues.
The March 19 teach-in will feature Dr. Gerda Lerner, who will lead a presentation and discussion on “Problems of Biography and Autobiography in History.”
Before attending, pick up and read chapter five of Lerner’s autobiography. The text is available in Young’s office, Gladfelter 950, or in the History Department Office, Gladfelter 913.
For information on Gerda Lerner, check out www.nwhp.org.