Itstheendoftheworldasweknowit: PerspectivesonMessianism,Utopia,the ApocalypseandtheEndoftheDays

Tuesday,February12thCDaySchedule:
10:3511:15Period4:Introductorysessionintheauditorium 11:2012:00Period5:SessionA 12:0512:45Period6:SessionB 12:501:30Period7:Lunch 1:352:15Period8:KeynoteAddress 2:203:00Period9:RegularClasses
SessionsGeneralStudies 1. Ms. Susan Litwack Summerhill: Utopian education where students make the policy andtheteachersfollow 2. Dr.AriSclar Whydo 90millionChristians wantJewstoreturntoIsrael? 3. Mr. Ira Miller Poet as Prophet: Across CulturesandTime 4. Mr. Jay Klotz Not with a bang, but a whimper 5. Dr.JoshGaylord : TheWalking Dead 6. MrMichaelLupinacci"TheSingularity" 7. Dr. Ethan Rotenberg: Deep Impact: How meteoriteshaveshapedtheEarth SessionsJudaicStudies 1. R Effie Kleinberg "Can Mashiach be sitting in the room right now?" Chassidic approaches to the possibility of Mashiach beingbornineverygeneration. 2. R.HillelRapp"DawnOfOurDeliverance: ModernIsraelandMessianicMoment 3. Ms Miriam Krupka Utopias and Dystopias inJewishThought 4. R Ilan Schimmel: Will nonJews be saved during the Apocalypse and do they have a placeintheworldtocome? 5. R Kenny Schiowitz Why I don't care about theApocalypse 6. R Shlomo Stochel Olam Haba, Yemot HaMashiach, Techiyat HaMeitim: What HappensWhenandtoWhom?

KeynoteSpeaker:

ProfessorHartleyLachter

AssociateProfessorofReligionStudies DirectorofJewishStudies MuhlenbergCollege,Allentown,PA

MessianismintheMiddleAges: PhilosophicalandKabbalistic Approaches.

Hartley Lachter received his Ph.D. in Medieval Jewish Mysticism from New York University in 2004. Before arriving in Muhlenberg College as an Associate Professor and the director of Jewish Studies, he taught at Vassar College and Rutgers University. Professor Lachter has published numerous articles that deal with numerous aspects of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. He is currently working on a book entitled, Kabbalistic Revolution: Re-imagining Judaism in Medieval Spain which is an examination of the proliferation of kabbalistic literature in late 13th century Castile and its relationship to esoteric discourse and Jewish-Christian polemics. His courses include Jewish Traditions, Gender and Sexuality in Judaism, Understanding the Hebrew Bible, Jewish Mysticism: Kabbalah, Mystical Encounters among others. His most recent article is The Politics of Secrets: 13th Century Kabbalah in Context, Jewish Quarterly Review, 101:4 (Fall 2011).