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THE RABBI SIDNEY H. BROOKS LECTURE Guest Speaker: Leonard Greenspoon |
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A native of Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Leonard Greenspoon holds the Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization at Creighton University. On the Creighton faculty since 1995, Greenspoon is also Professor of Classical & Near Eastern Studies and of Theology.
From his
days at a graduate student at Harvard University (from which he received
his Ph.D., in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations), Greenspoon has
been interested in translations of the Bible. Many of his publications-he
has edited or
In his research and writing, Greenspoon is especially interested in the way Bible translators-acting as individuals or, more often, as members of a committee-reflect the historical, social, cultural, political, as well as religious environments in which they work. He also focuses on how specific Bible translations influence the communities for which they are intended, and how later translators and commentators make use of earlier versions While translation has been a prime focus of Greenspoon's scholarly work, he has a wide array of other interests, as reflected in articles he has written, for example, on the Jews of South Carolina, fairy tales, the ethical dimensions of being a parks or recreational professional, and effective ways to grade student essays. In recent years, he has become increasingly interested in religion and popular culture and has published articles on the Bible in comic strips as well as on the often-humorous use of the Bible in the daily press. In this connection, he is scheduled to give a public lecture on Jews in the comic strips next spring. A popular speaker, to both general and academic audiences, Greenspoon has made presentations throughout the United States as well as in Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic, Norway, Finland, and Israel. He has just returned from Philadelphia, where he gave the keynote presentation at the annual meeting of the Jewish Publication Society of America.
Title of his talk is "Hither, Wither, and Thou: Major Trends in Jewish
Translations of the Bible" |
authored
a dozen books, written more than a hundred articles and book chapters, and
penned almost 500 book reviews-deal with aspects of this fascinating
subject. He has written on topics ranging from the earliest translation
of the Bible, the Septuagint, to versions of the Bible composed as
recently as last year. He is recognized internationally as an expert on
the history of Jewish Bible translations, and he has been involved as
editor or consultant in two Bible translation projects.