The lectures are "Zionism and Religion: Paradoxes of Contemporary Jewish Messianism" on Wednesday, Sept. 23, "When Prophecy Fails and When It Comes True: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel and America" on Thursday, Oct. 1 lecture and "The Return to the Bible" on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Aran is a visiting professor at Knox College this academic term teaching the Sociology-Anthropology course "Judaism and the State of Israel."
Aran, who has done most of his research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, received his MA in sociology from the University of Chicago. His research focuses on political and religious radicalism in the contemporary Israeli society. He is the author of a forthcoming book Zealotry: A Study in Religious and Political Extremism.
The lecture series is made possible by gifts from the Rose L. and Mitchell Rudman Endowment Fund for Judaic Studies, a Knox College Endowment Fund for Judaic Studies, the Jewish Chautauqua Society and the Nixon Fund for Religious Life and an anonymous donor.
Founded in 1837, Knox is an independent, four-year, liberal arts college, located in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,100 students from 42 states and 33 nations. Knox's "Old Main," a National Historic Landmark, is the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.
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