Ori Z. Soltes, Goldman Professorial Lecturer in Theology and Fine Arts, Georgetown University, will compare and contrast the two key Spring holidays in Jewish tradition. He will address history, myth, theology and art in the narrative context of both festivals, the importance of each in shaping Judaism and Jewish identity, and the reflection of these issues in the rich visual traditions of the Haggadah and the Megillat Esther.
Nelson Goodman, one of the 20th century's foremost philosophers, believed in the cognitive nature of art and viewed the arts as partners with the sciences. Pictures, the performing arts, and architecture shape our understanding just as mathematics and the sciences do. In his lecture, Ivan Gaskell will provide insights on Nelson's question, "When is art?"
