Yonatan Shemesh
Visiting Instructor of Religious Studies
Benedict Hall 108315-859-4136
yshemesh@hamilton.edu
Yonatan Shemesh studies intellectual history and the reception of philosophy and science in medieval Jewish cultures. His research traces texts and ideas that originated in the Islamic world and later transformed the Jewish communities of Christian Europe. Shemesh is a co-editor of Maimonides’ “Guide of the Perplexed” in Translation: A History from the Thirteenth Century to the Twentieth (University of Chicago Press, 2019). He is currently completing a Ph.D. in the history of Judaism at the University of Chicago, where he previously earned a Masters in Religion. His dissertation examines Moses Narboni’s fourteenth-century commentary on Maimonides’ Guide and demonstrates the many ways in which Islamic philosophy shaped the interpretation of the Guide in late medieval Judaism.
Recent Courses Taught
Ancient Jewish Wisdom
Islamic and Jewish Political Philosophy
Philosophy and Revelation
Modern Jewish Thought
Professional Affiliations
Medieval Academy of America
Association for Jewish Studies
Middle East Studies Association
American Academy of Religion
Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies
Appointed to the Faculty: 2020
Educational Background
M.A., University of Chicago Divinity School
M.S., Fordham University Graduate School of Education
B.A., Bowdoin College