Shari Lowin

Associate Professor of Religious Studies

B.A., Columbia College, Columbia University, 1993
Ph.D., Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 2002


E-mail: slowin@stonehill.edu
Phone: (508) 565-1285
Office: Student Union, 206

Shari Lowin does research on comparative aspects of early Islamic and rabbinic intellectual thought, focusing mainly on scriptural exegesis. Her book, The Making of a Forefather: Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives(2006), traces the mutual influences the traditions exerted upon one another as each created the forefather Abraham in their own image. Her current project, Sex and God, examines the use of Biblical and Qur`anic characters made by erotic poetry-writing Jewish and Muslim religious scholars in medieval Andalusia.

At Stonehill, she teaches various courses on Islam and Judaism, including a team-taught LC course that travels with the students to Europe.

Dr. Lowin also directs the Middle East Studies Minor.

Research Interests:
Early Islamic Intellectual Thought, namely: Islamic exegesis (hadith, qisas al-anbiya); Midrash and Rabbinic Scriptural exegesis; Islamic-Jewish intertextuality; Andalusian Hebrew and Arabic poetry

Selected Publications, Articles & Presentations:
The Making of a Forefather: Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives (Brill, 2006)

Courses Taught:

GR 100 Critical Encounters - Religious Studies
LC 228-A: Uncovering Judaism and Nazism in Europe (Spring '07)
LC 264-A: Experiences of Memory and Jewish Rebirth in Post-Holocaust Europe (Spring '08)
RS 206 Islamic Traditions
RS 209 Religion and Culture of the Jewish People
RS 275 Hard Rockin' Jews: Judaism and Pop Culture in Israel
RS 301 Islam and the Bible: Islamic and Jewish Ethical Narratives
RS 336 Women in the Islamic Tradition
RS 338 Sex and God: Jewish and Muslim Erotic Love Poetry