Sam Brody, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Kansas, will be the featured speaker for Southwestern College’s 2021-22 Smith-Willson lecture Wednesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. in Wroten Hall.  There is no admission charge and the public is invited to attend.

The title of the lecture is “The Pyramid or the Campfire? Moses and Monotheism in Martin Buber and Sigmund Freud.”

Samuel Hayim Brody studied political and social thought and Middle-Eastern studies at the University of Virginia before turning his attention to the study of traditional Jewish sources at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received his master of arts degree. His Ph.D. in the History of Judaism is from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he focused on the modern German-Jewish intellectual tradition while also studying philosophical hermeneutics, Christian exegesis, and varying conceptions of the relationship between religion and politics. He has previously taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of the award-winning book, “Martin Buber's Theopolitics” (Indiana University Press, 2018).

“I have known Sam Brody since 2005, when we were both at the University of Virginia,” says Jacob Goodson, associate professor of philosophy at Southwestern.  “I recently read his award-winning book, and knew that I needed to bring him to SC so our students could hear his insights on the wisdom Martin Buber's philosophy still offers us today. In his Smith-Willson Lecture, he will be comparing and contrasting how Buber understands the character of Moses in relation to Sigmund Freud's last published book. Few people realize that Freud's last book, published in 1939 (the year Freud died), was a book on Moses. Dr. Brody will walk us through the differences and similarities between Buber's and Freud's interpretations of the character of Moses.”

The Smith-Willson lectureship was established by Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson to call attention to the important moral and religious aspects of education.  National leaders on various related topics are asked to speak at the annual lecture.