Tag Archives: Oregon Humanities Center

The Pen versus the Sword: What a difference a diaspora makes

Posted on February 23, 2011 by David Wacks

The debate over the relative roles of military force and political rhetoric in governance is very, very old. And while the familiar dictum “the pen is mightier than the sword” may now be received wisdom, for hundreds of years it … Continue reading →

Posted in Double Diaspora | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

A Hebrew Troubadour in Spain?

Posted on January 28, 2011 by David Wacks

Troubadours were Western Europe’s first highbrow poets to sing in the vernacular (French, Portuguese, German, etc.) as opposed to in Latin. Troubadours did not invent vernacular poetry. People have always sung in whatever language they spoke. What has new about … Continue reading →

Posted in Double Diaspora | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Whose Todros is it anyway? A medieval Hebrew poet between Europe and Israel

Posted on January 21, 2011 by David Wacks

Todros Ben Yehudah Halevi Abulafia (1247- ca. 1295) lived and wrote in Toledo in the second half of the thirteenth century. He was active at the court of King Alfonso X “the Learned.” Among Hebrew poets in Christian Spain, Abulafia … Continue reading →

Posted in Double Diaspora | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

On Openness and Interdisciplinarity

Posted on January 16, 2011 by David Wacks

One of the bugaboos troubling the discussion of openness at MLA11 has been the question of whether making one’s work available via social media does anything to raise the profile of the (digital) humanities on and/or beyond campus. Maybe it … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Professoriate | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments