In this article I make a case for an analytic of atmospheres as a way to understand the seemingly ineffable yet powerful effects of vocal sound on listeners in an Islamic setting. Focusing on the recitation of devotional poetry in honor of the Prophet Muhammad among Mauritian Muslims, I seek to bring together neo-phenomenological approaches to…[Read more]

In the summer of 1704, Antonio Vallisneri (1661–1730), the preeminent Italian physician and natural philosopher of his time, traveled with a “daring soul” and “trembling feet” across the “silent horrors” of the northern Apennines: down the hills south of Reggio Emilia to northern Tuscany and the western edge of his native land, the Province of G…[Read more]

in: Nel nome di Lazzaro. Saggi di storia della scienza e delle istituzioni scientifiche tra il XVII e il XVIII secolo, edited by Centro Studi Lazzaro Spallanzani, Bologna, Edizioni Pendragon, 2014, pp. 207-220.

Scholarship on the Pearl-poem has seen a significant jump in recent years, due largely to the influx of eco-critical readings throughout Medieval studies. Gillian Rudd’s recent book Greenery: Ecocritical Readings of Late Medieval English Literature explores a new and exciting reading of the poem’s natural environment, claiming that the rose met…[Read more]

הדרת נשים מהמרחב הציבורי הדתי היא תופעה נרחבת ומוכרת. מתחילת שנות האלפיים אלפי נשים יהודיות, חילוניות, מסורתיות, דתיות וחרדיות, מרקעים סוציו־אקונומיים מגוונים, מתמודדות עם הדרה זו. הן יוצרות ומחדשות ריטואלים דתיים, וכך מפלסות מקום במרחב שהיה סגור בפניהן. השאלה הניצבת בבסיסו של מאמר זה היא מה הן האסטרטגיות שנשים משתמשות בהן כדי ליצור לעצמן ולחדש…[Read more]

מחקר זה מבקש לתאר ריטואלים הקשורים לאוכל שנשים יוצרות ומחדשות לעצמן. שאלת המחקר היא כיצד ומדוע נשים יוצרות ומחדשות ריטואלים. התשובה מבוססת על ניתוח דוגמאות של טקסים הקשורים באוכל שהתפתחו בישראל והתפשטו בקרב נשים יהודיות ברחבי אירופה וארה”ב מאז שנת 2000: “סעודות א ֵמנים” וטקסי הפרשת חלה ציבוריים. המתודולוגיה שננקטה היא איכותנית אתנוגרפית, ומבוס…[Read more]

New ritual practices performed by Jewish women can serve as test cases for an examination of the phenomenon of the creation of religious rituals by women. These food-related rituals, which have been termed ‘‘amen meals’’ were developed in Israel beginning in the year 2000 and subsequently spread to Jewish women in Europe and the United States.…[Read more]

This study shows how Old Order Amish and ultra-Orthodox women’s discourse about television can help develop a better understanding of the creation, construction, and strengthening of limits and boundaries separating enclave cultures from the world. Based on questionnaires containing both closed- and open-ended questions completed by 82 p…[Read more]

This study explores how women in two devout religious communities cope with the Internet and its apparent incompatibility with their communities’ values and practices. Questionnaires containing both closed and open-ended questions were completed by 82 participants, approximately half from each community. While their discourses included similar f…[Read more]

Syllabus for an undergraduate course on Erving Goffman.

A syllabus for an undergraduate animal studies course.

How does capitalism work through the web of life?

An MA thesis discussing the role of vegetal offerings in Roman religion, and the shift in attitudes towards them in the first centuries CE

The promulgation of pollution control regulations governing factory farms has led to a striking new way of representing and intervening in the bodies of farmed animals: the body is being represented as a source of pollution, and various technological interventions, from genetic engineering to dietary changes, are being deployed to reduce pollution…[Read more]

This article examines Farm Sanctuary’s failed effort to save the Enviropigs. In the Spring of 2012, after losing the main source of funding for its Enviropig project, the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, killed the last sixteen members of this line of transgenic pigs, despite Farm Sanctuary’s offer to place them in permanent homes. The…[Read more]

An examination of taxonomic bias in the field of animal studies.

Roadkill is disgusting. Many people just want it removed from the roads as quickly as possible, and they don’t care where it goes. In Pennsylvania, most of the deer carcasses that are collected from the roads end up in landfills. But is this a respectful way to treat the dead? And what about the vultures and other scavengers who would otherwise e…[Read more]

Review of the book “The Vesuvian Eruption of 1631: an Early Modern History” (by Alfonso Tortora)

By the end of the sixteenth century, many Jesuit colleges had become centers of excellence all over Europe for such disciplines as mathematics, astronomy, hydraulics, and mechanics. Not a few members of the order provided influential contributions to science: in the case of the study of waters, the inquisitive eye of Jesuits took part in the l…[Read more]

Since its first attempts to understand natural phenomena, early modern science devoted great attention to the problematic issue of the origin of springs. This essay examines the lively debate that emerged from the studies on fresh water during the years spanning from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth. By focusing on the…[Read more]