Library Events
Join us for one of our upcoming library events.
All in-person events will be held at the Klau Library in Cincinnati.
Belonging in Biblical Narrative (Hybrid Event)
Dr. Steven Donnally
Date: Thursday, November 7th
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Klau Library and Online
This lecture will examine the biblical portrayal of the ancient Israelites’ relationships with their neighbors through the stories of Rahab, Samson, and David. It will explore how the concept of belonging can deepen our understanding of the complex and sometimes contradictory attitudes held by the Israelites toward other peoples.
Steven Donnally, Ph.D., graduated from HUC-JIR’s Pines School of Graduate Studies this spring and currently serves as an Academic Advisor in the Psychological Science department of Northern Kentucky University.
Literature as Politics: The Exodus Narrative (Hybrid Event)
Dr. Angela Roskop Erisman
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Klau Library and Online
The life of Moses begins in crisis, as his mother places him in a pitch-covered basket and abandons him to an uncertain fate in the river. The abandoned infant motif is attested in literature from across the ancient world, but the book of Exodus evokes a specific text: the birth legend of Sargon the Great. Scholars have long recognized the connections between these two texts. This talk will offer a new idea about why ancient Israelite scribes turned to this ancient Mesopotamian work of political allegory as a model for the Moses story and explore the implications for how we understand the exodus, as well as the character of its hero.
Angela Roskop Erisman is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specializes in the Torah. She earned her PhD at HUC-JIR Cincinnati in 2008. Her first book, The Wilderness Itineraries: Genre, Geography, and the Growth of Torah, won the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise in 2014. Her second, The Wilderness Narratives in the Hebrew Bible: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation, will be published in November 2024 by Cambridge University Press.
Explore the archive of past HUC-JIR Library events on our YouTube channel here: 
Check back here for info about our upcoming fall event series, or email us at klau@huc.edu to join our mailing list.