Leading expert to present Lefkowitz Lecture: 'Capitalism and the Jews' 10/21/14
Dr. Jerry Z. Muller, a prominent economic historian and leading scholar on capitalism, will deliver the 2014 Leonard and Saradona Lefkowitz Lecture in Jewish Studies at Alfred University (AU) on Monday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m. The public lecture will be held in Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center; admission is free.
Entitled “Capitalism and the Jews,” Muller&s talk will draw on his study of “economic, social, political, and
intellectual history from medieval Europe through contemporary America and Israel,” to illuminate “why Jews have tended to be disproportionately successful in capitalist societies.”
The Lefkowitz Lecture is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at AU.
Two of Muller&s most recent books related to capitalism are available in the AU bookstore and will also be on sale at the lecture. Muller will sign copies of his books at a reception following the program.
Muller&s book, “Capitalism and the Jews” (Princeton University Press, 2010), has been translated into several
languages while generating lively discussions among political scientists, historians, and economists. Catherine Rampell described Muller&s book in the “New York Times Book Review” as “a provocative and accessible survey of how Jewish culture and historical accident ripened Jews for commercial success and why that success has earned them so much misfortune.”
Adam Sutcliffe, reviewing Muller&s book in the Jewish Quarterly, states that “Muller provides a refreshingly frank account of the major role of Jews on both sides of capitalism's ideological barricades. His brisk and lively book is a welcome sign that historians are moving beyond a stale preoccupation with challenging stereotypes, and are now more willing to engage candidly and directly with the economic dimension of Jewish history.”
Chairman and professor of history at Catholic University of America, where he has been on the faculty since 1984, Muller is the author of several other books, among them, “The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought”
(Knopf, 2002) and “Adam Smith in His Time and Ours: Designing the Decent Society” (Princeton, 1995). His essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic, the Times Literary Supplement, and Foreign Affairs.
Muller earned a bachelor&s degree from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and his master&s and doctoral degrees in history from Columbia University. In addition to teaching at Catholic University, he has lectured broadly, and has been a visiting scholar at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
He serves on the Board of Advisors of the Critical Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Politics and Society and is an advisory editor to Social Science and Modern SOCIETY. His research has been funded by numerous foundations and scholarly societies and he has been recognized for his teaching. His course, “Thinking about Capitalism” is featured by The Great Courses.com.
The annual Lefkowitz Lecture in Jewish Studies at Alfred University began in 2010 as a result of a gift from Leonard and Saradona Lefkowitz. Dr. Leonard Lefkowitz is a 1957 graduate of AU. Following medical school, a residency in pediatrics, and service in the U.S. Air Force, he established a private practice in pediatrics in Montgomery County, MD. After 32 years he retired from his private practice, choosing to work part-time as a clinician at The George Washington University Student Health Clinic.
Dr. and Mrs. Lefkowitz have had a lifelong devotion to Jewish heritage, culture, and study. Their shared devotion to Jewish heritage and AU led to the creation of the endowed Lefkowitz Lecture in Jewish Studies, which provides the opportunity for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences to bring distinguished scholars and speakers to campus to deepen students& knowledge and understanding of Jewish cultural and historical experiences.
