Heidi M. Ravven, an associate professor in the Religious Studies department at Hamilton College, has been promoted to full professor. Promotion to full professor is based on recommendations of the dean of faculty, the committee of appointments and senior departmental colleagues. The college president makes the final decision on promotion to full professor and in the case of tenure, presents the final recommendation to the board of trustees.
Ravven, who joined the Hamilton College faculty in 1983, teaches Jewish studies, Hebrew bible, and the philosophy of religion. Her fields of interest are Jewish philosophy, feminist ethics, and G.W. F. Hegel. She holds both undergraduate degrees and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University. Since 1987 her research has focused primarily on the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Her edited volume (with Lenn E. Goodman of Vanderbilt University), Jewish Themes in Spinoza's Philosophy, will be published by SUNY in 2001.
Ravven's articles on Spinoza, feminism and Jewish philosophy, and on Hegel, have appeared in edited volumes and in many journals including, The Journal of the History of Philosophy, The Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly, The Owl of Minerva, Philosophy and Theology, The Journal of Religious Studies, International Studies in Philosophy, Jewish Quarterly Review, and Judaism. Articles by Ravven on both Hegel and on Spinoza have been republished in the Critical Essays in the History of Philosophy Series. She is near the completion of a book on Spinoza's ethical theory titled, Spinoza and the Liberation of Desire.
Hamilton College is a highly selective, residential liberal arts college of 1,700 students located in Central New York. The college is known for the rigor of its academic programs, especially its emphasis on oral and written communication.
