Gould Center Sponsors Visit By
William Kolbrener, Feb. 9

William Kolbrener, a professor in the English department at Bar Ilan University in Israel, and an internationally acclaimed authority on early modern English literature, will visit the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Tuesday, Feb. 9 to discuss, "The Materialist Modern: Theology, Politics and Community in Thomas Hobbes and John Milton." The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m. with free seating on a first-come basis. Kolbrener's visit is sponsored by The Gould Center for Humanistic Studies at Claremont McKenna College.
Born and raised in Roslyn, New York, Kolbrener has written widely on the literature, politics, and philosophy of the Renaissance in England. His recent works include, Milton's Warring Angels, published by Cambridge University Press in 1997, and a more recent collection on the 18th Century proto-feminist Mary Astell (Ashgate, 2007).
He has also written extensively on Jewish philosophy, with several scholarly articles on the interpretive methodologies of the Talmud and the works of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.
In his forthcoming book, From Athens to Jerusalem, Kolbrener provides an account of a personal and unconventional synthesis of secular study and Jewish learning. It details a story beginning in the halls of the Ivy League and Oxford University, and leading, eventually, to houses of study in Jerusalem. More than an autobiographical account, Kolbrener's writings and lectures elaborate the relationship between Athens (Western philosophy and literature) and Torah.
A graduate of Columbia College, Kolbrener received his master's from Oxford University, and a doctorate from Columbia University. He is a former Mellon Fellow of the Humanities, a Lady Davis Fellow at Hebrew University, and an Israel Science Foundation Fellow.
Kolbrener lives in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife and children.