Why I Teach
Stepping into the classroom at Stanford, part of my job is making the more-than-occasionally recondite ideas of Jewish mysticism accessible to a diverse range of students that are interested in the life of the mind. In striving to teach these Jewish sources as a humanist, I step beyond the boundaries of Jewish thought in order to show students that Jewish mystical texts speak to deeper, enduring questions of existential meaning. Since Stanford is a major research university without an affiliated divinity school, this puts an important role in the hands of the faculty: to create a space for the moral, ethical and spiritual reflection that is a critical component of the a quest for self-formation at the heart of liberal education.
We are happy to welcome Prof. Ariel Mayse to Stanford
Affiliated Faculty
Affiliated Faculty
Amir Eshel
Edward Clark Crossett Professor of Humanistic Studies and Professor of Comparative Literature
Charlotte Fonrobert
Associate Professor of Religious Studies and, by courtesy, of Classics and of German Studies
Avner Greif
The Bowman Family Endowed Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Professor, by courtesy, of History
Ari Y. Kelman
Jim Joseph Chair in Education and Jewish Studies and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Religious Studies
Norman Naimark
Robert & Florence McDonnell Professor of E. European Studies, Fisher Family Director of SGS and Professor, by courtesy, of German Studies and Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution
Reviel Netz
Suppes Professor of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy and Professor, by courtesy, of Philosophy and of History
Michael Penn
Teresa Hihn Moore Professor of Religious Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Classics
Nancy Ruttenburg
William Robertson Coe Professor of American Literature and Professor, by courtesy, of Comparative Literature and of Slavic Languages and Literatures
