Witches: Then and Now

Be sure not to miss our guest speaker, Dr. Matt Goldish from OSU, as he talks all about witches and their presence throughout history and modern culture.

Witches, witchcraft, magic, and mystics, parts of our past and pieces of our present. What makes this side of ourselves, shrouded in mystery and superstition, just so pervasive and ever-present? What was, is, the reality of witches, and why were they hunted? 
We hope you will join us for an evening with Ohio State University professor Dr. Matt Goldish, as he explores the ancient history of witches, focuses on the turmoil of the witch-hunt fever of the 15th-17th centuries, and examines contemporary phenomena.  

Matt Goldish joined the Department in 1999 as a specialist in Jewish and European History, with interests in Messianism, Jewish-Christian intellectual relations, and Sephardic studies. He holds the Samuel M. and Esther Melton Chair in Jewish History. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1986. His Ph.D. (1996) is from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Goldish has published Judaism in the Theology of Sir Issac Newton (Dordrecht: Kluwer-- International Archives of the History of Ideas, 1998), The Sabbatean Prophets (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004), Jewish Questions: Responsa on Sephardic Life in the Early Modern Period (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), and several edited collections, as well as articles and book reviews. Professor Goldish is active as an invited lecturer in various academic and community environments.

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