Reed College author, scholar to present Perlow Lecture

"The Hedgehog's Dilemma: On the Necessity and the Impossibility of Understanding Religion" is the title of the spring Jacob Perlow Lecture at Skidmore, to be presented at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, by Steven M. Wasserstrom, author and scholar.

	Steven Wasserstrom

Free and open to the public, the talk will be in Emerson Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Sponsors are the Office of the Dean of Special Programs and the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Skidmore.

Wasserstrom is Moe and Izetta Tonkon Professor of Judaic Studies and the Humanities at Reed College. He is a well-known scholar of both Judaism and Islam, and of the history of theory in religious studies. He is the author of Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam, which received the Award for Excellence in Historical Studies from the American Academy of Religion, and Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem, Mircea Eliade, and Henry Corbin at Eranos. His archival work exposing the fascist and nationalistic political affiliations of these influential 20th-century theorists of religion is well regarded in the field of religious studies.

A generous grant from the estate of Jacob Perlow?an immigrant to the United States in the 1920s, a successful businessman deeply interested in religion and philosophy, who was committed to furthering Jewish education?supports the annual lectures and presentations to the Skidmore and Capital District communities on issues broadly related to Jews and Judaism. Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Special Programs, two Perlow presentations are offered each year, one in the late spring and another in July.