Asher Biemann

Associate Professor and Director of Jewish Studies

E-mail:
Phone: 434-924-3643

Address:
PO Box 400126
Department of Religious Studies
Charlottesville, VA 22903-4126

Research Interests

Modern Jewish thought and intellectual history; German-Jewish studies; Zionism and Jewish nationalism; dialogical philosophy; theories of Jewish history and Jewish renaissance; Jewish art and aesthetics; Israeli cinema.

Education

• Master of Arts (MA), Karl-Franzens Universitat Graz
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Karl-Franzens Universitat Graz

Research Projects

• AS-JWST AICE Scholar FY11-TRAVEL
  • Project Sponsored By: The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
  • Start Date: 6/16/2010 - End Date: 6/15/2011
  • Award Amount: $10,000.00
• AS-JWST AICE Scholar FY11-Salary & FB
  • Project Sponsored By: The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
• Start Date: 6/16/2010 - End Date: 6/15/2011
• Award Amount: $50,000.00
• Support for AICE Visiting Scholar AY 2011-2012
  • Project Sponsored By: The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
  • Start Date: 6/15/2011 - End Date: 6/15/2012
  • Award Amount: $50,000.00

Current Research and Publications

My areas of interest are modern Jewish thought and intellectual history, especially of the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of my research focuses on the modern Jewish experience in Central Europe and its interaction with continental thought and culture. I have a special interest in the intellectual formations of Jewish nationalism and Zionism, in Jewish art and aesthetics, dialogical thought, and theories of secularization and modernity. Recent books include The Martin Buber Reader (2001), Martin Buber: Sprachphilosophische Schriften (2003), David Aronson: Painting and Sculpture (2004), Inventing New Beginnings: On the Idea of Renaissance in Modern Judaism (2009). I am currently completing Dreaming of Michelangelo: Jewish Variations on a Modern Theme.