Religious Studies in the News

Judeo-Arabic Linguistics Expert, Benny Hari, to Speak at UT Aug. 29

Linguistics scholar Benjamin Hary of Emory University will kick off the newly-created Karen and Pace Robinson Lecture on Modern Israel at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, in the McClung Museum auditorium at UT Knoxville.

Hary's lecture is titled "The Politics of Judeo-Arabic: Israel as a Bilingual State" and is being presented by the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies in UT's Department of Religious Studies.

"We are fortunate to have a scholar as accomplished as Dr. Hary help us begin this new lecture series," said Gilya Schmidt, a professor in Religious Studies and director of the Steinfeld program. The lecture was made possible through the Karen and Pace Robinson Enrichment Fund which was created to support public lectures and scholarship on the state of modern-day Israel, Schmidt said.

Hary is a professor of Hebrew, Arabic and linguistics at Emory University. His books include "Multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic," "Translating Religion," and "Daily Life in Israel." He has published more than fifty articles and book reviews on Arabic and Hebrew linguistics as well as Judeo-Arabic, which is a continuum of Arabic dialects spoken by Jewish people living in the Arab world.

Following the presentation, a reception will be held upstairs at McClung Museum. Both events are free and open to the public. Free parking will be available at Circle Park and in the C-8 commuter parking lot next to the museum.