The Religion, Culture & Society department originally launched this unique program with a generous $50,000 grant from an anonymous donor. Annual funding from the Dean's Office in the College of Arts and Sciences now supports a three-day residency for a visiting scholar every fall semester. The Scholar-in-Residence program is named in honor of Alice Eckardt, who taught in our department from 1972 to 1987.
Past Eckardt Scholars in Residence have been:
First
William Hart, University of North Carolina Greensville – November 4-7, 2012
Second
Jeffrey Kripal, Rice University – October 20-23, 2013
Third
Russell T. McCutcheon, University of Alabama – October 26-30, 2014
Collaborations: Directions in the Study of Religion – (Plenary Address)
Panel Discussions:
“Tradition” – Vaia Touna, University of Alberta and Khurram Hussain, LU; Moderator: Chava Weissler, LU
“The Past” – Eva Mroczek, Indiana University and Benjamin Wright, LU; Moderator: Hartley Lachter, LU
“Identity” – Naomi Goldenberg, University of Ottawa and Christopher Driscoll, LU; Moderator: Lloyd Steffen LU
“Experience” – Kevin Schilbrack, Appalachian State University and Monica Miller, LU; Moderator: Terrance Wiley, LU
Fourth
Courtney Benter, Columbia University – October 28-29, 2015
Fifth
Stewart Hoover, University of Colorado – November 13-16, 2016
Sixth
Kathryn Lofton, Yale University – October 29-November 1, 2017
Seventh
Mary Jane Rubenstein, Wesleyan University – October 21-24, 2018
The 2019 Eckardt Scholar in Residence is David Morgan, professor of religious studies at Duke University, October 28-30, 2019
Alice Eckardt
Alice L. Eckardt, B.A., M.A., L.H.D., is Professor Emerita, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, where she taught in the Religion, Culture & Society Department. She was a member of the Board, Executive Comittee, and Program Committee of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (IJCU) at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA. She was a Senior Associate Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and a Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor for several years. She was a member of the Christian Scholars Group on Jewish-Christian Relations since 1974.
Her publications include:
Books - Co-Authored, and Edited:
Collecting Myself, by A. Roy Eckardt; Editor Alice L. Eckardt and Author of "Foreword." Scholars Press, 1993.
Burning Memory: Times of Testing and Reckoning, Alice L. Eckardt, Editor and Contributor. Oxford, NY, Tokyo: Pergamon Press, 1993. Includes by Alice L. Eckardt: "Memory: Blessing, Burden, or Curse? The Shoah as a Burning Memory," & "The Pogrom of Kristallnacht: Between Burning Books (1933) and Burning Bodies (1941)." Identity of 17 Contributors; Notes on Contributors; Index. 340 pp.
Long Night's Journey Into Day: A Revised Retrospective on the Holocaust, Alice L. and A. Roy Eckardt. "Forewords" by Franklin H. Littell, and Irving Greenberg. Detroit: Wayne State University Press & Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1988. Appendix 1-"The Christian World Goes to Bitburg," by A. Roy Eckardt; Appendix 2- "We Are Called to Remember in Worship: Creating Christian Yorn HaShoah Liturgies," by Alice L. Eckardt. 277 pp.
Jerusalem: City of the Ages, Alice L. Eckardt, Editor and Contributor. NY & London: University Press of America & American Academic Association for Peace in the Middle East. 1987; published in cloth and paperback. Includes by Alice L. Eckardt: "Introductory Note" & "Discerning Some Patterns in Jerusalem's History." Four Appendices: "List of Invasions, Conquests, and Uprisings"; "Protection of Holy Places Law 1967"; "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel 5740/1980"; Maps (7). About the 32 Contributors. Index. 407 pp.
Long Night's Journey Into Day: Life and Faith After the Holocaust, A. Roy Eckardt with Alice L. Eckardt. Foreword by Robert McAfee Brown. NY: Association Press, 1982. Preface; 10 Maps by Alice Eckardt; 7 Chapters; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index. 206 pp.
Encounter With Israel: A Challenge to Conscience, Alice and Roy Eckardt. NY: Association Press, 1970. Preface; 28 chapters; Appendix; Notes and References; Index. 304 pp. -- Review by Meron Medzini, Hadassah Magazine, May 1971, p. 18, along with review of James Parkes' Whose Land: A History of the Peoples of Palestine.
Oral Presentations - initially not published: listed first each year, followed by Publications in that same year
2018:
"Palm Sunday in Its Origin and Today," (10 minute sermon), Moravian Village, Bethlehem, PA. 26 March 2018
2017:
"Mid-Winter Holidays Explored," Moravian Village, Bethlehem, PA, 4 December 2017. (Title also publicized as "Solving the Many Strange Mysteries Embedded in Mid- Winter Holidays.")
"Judaism and Christianity -Alienation and Reconciliation Over Two Millennia," Friends of Southern Lehigh Public Library, Center Valley, PA, 8 May 2017.
"Unity in Diversity: Holy Times Converge" [Passover & Holy Week], Moravian Village, Bethlehem, PA, 12 April 2017.
"Hitler's Rise: Are There Parallels to the U.S. Election of 2016?" Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 8 February 2017.
2014:
"A Time of Turning: Three Major Themes in Protestant Documents," IJCU of Muhlenberg College, Muhlenberg's 225th Anniversary program "Words Matter," 2 November 2014. (4 pp; see 2003 entry for longer presentation)
"The Road to Reconciliation: A Protestant Perspective," Bridges: Documents of the Christian-Jewish Relationship, Franklin Sherman, ed., Vol. 2, Building a New Relationship (1986-2013), 2014, pp. 1-13.
2013:
"The 20th Century Crosses the Line into Genocide: Armenians and Jews," SAGES, Penn State-Lehigh Valley, 1 November 2013.
2011:
"A Protestant Perspective," Bridges: The Road to Reconciliation, Franklin Sherman, ed., Vol. 1, Documents of the Christian-Jewish Relationship (1945-1985), 2011, pp. 1-11. (Also as a Kindle book)
2010:
"Elie Wiesel: What His Writings Have Meant to Me," (a panel presentation focusing on aspects of his work prior to his Commencement address). Lehigh University, 14 April 2010.
"Jewish and Christian Music Over the Centuries," St. John's UCC, Coopersburg, PA, 31 January 2010.
"Has the Holocaust Been a Turning Point in Christian Theology about Judaism?" Continuity and Change: A Festschrift in Honor of Irving Greenberg's 7!11' Birthday, Steven T. Katz and Steven Bayme, eds. 2010. pp. 31-46.
2009:
Remarks to Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania on receipt of the Mortimer Schiff Award for Prejudice Reduction, 15 June 2007.
Remarks at Yorn HaShoah Service, Jewish Community Center, Allentown, PA, 20 April 2009.
2008:
"Founding Father of Jewish-Christian Relations: The Rev. Dr. James Parkes, (1896-1981)," Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, escholarship. Vol. 3, Issue 1, 2008, article 21.
2007:
"James Parkes: Pioneer in the Study and Thinking about Relations of the Christian Church to the Jewish People," First Friday, Muhlenberg College, 2 November 2007. (See 2008 for enlarged final format under different title.) (This lecture was a requested follow-up to a February 26, 2007 lecture by Haim Chertok, one of Parkes' biographers.)
"The Challenge and Hope of Remembering for the Future," St. John's UCC, Coopersbug, PA, 29 September 2007.
"Daring to Make a Difference," brief remarks for Yorn HaShoah, Allentown, 15 April 2007.
2006:
"Growing into a Daring and Questioning Faith," Berlin, Germany (for a group on tour of significant Jewish and Christian sites), 7 September 2006.
2005:
"Revising Christian Teaching: The Work of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations," in Seeing Judaism Anew: Christianity's Sacred Obligation, Mary Boys, ed. 2005, pp. 263-271 . (Earlier versions: "Working to Transform Christian Teaching" 2003, and "Struggling with the Past Transform the Future" 2004.)
Entries for Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations, Edward "Working to Transform Christian Teaching," and "Struggling with the Past to Transform the Future" are Kessler and Neil Wenborn, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2005: "Calvin, John"; "Calvinism"; "Judaism, Christian Perspectives on"; "Luther, Martin"; "Reformation."
"Remembering for the Future - Three International Conferences," in Witness (The Holocaust Centre, Beth Shalom), June 2005. (very brief)
2004:
"Growing into a Daring and Questioning Faith," with presentations from Franklin Sherman and John Merkle from and about Faith Transformed (2003), Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, 30 September 2004.
2003:
"Struggling With the Past to Transform the Future." [re Christian Scholars Group), Minneapolis MN, 30 Oct. 2003.
Meet with classes and speak to Literary Arts group at St. Benedict College, St. Joseph, MN, 27-29 October 2003.
"A Time of Turning: Three Major Themes in Protestant Documents," Institute of Jewish-Christian Understanding, Muhlenberg College, 2003.
"Growing Into a Daring and Questioning Faith," Faith Transformed: Christian Encounters with Jews and Judaism, John C. Merkle, ed. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, October 2003; pp. 17-36.
2001:
"How Are the Churches Meeting the Issue of Jews and Judaism Now?" High Neighbors Group, Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, PA, 15 March 2001.
"How Are the Protestant Churches Responding to the Holocaust 50 Years After?" in Remembering for the Future: The Holocaust in an Age of Genocide, Yehuda Bauer, Elisabeth Maxwell, eds., Vol. I of 3 volumes, UK & NY: PALGRAVE, 2001.
2000:
"How Are the Protestant Churches Responding to the Holocaust 50 Years After?" Plenary Address for Religion and Ethics subject at International Conference Remembering for the Future: The Holocaust in an Age of Genocide., Oxford, England, 18 July 2000. ·
"Women in the Third Reich and the Holocaust: Different Treatment? Different Response?" Gallery Lecture, Lehigh University, 9 March 2000.
"Dilemma of Forgiveness," The Holocaust and the Christian World, Carol Rittner, Stephen D. Smth, Irena Steinfeldt, eds. London: Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial Center & Yad Vashem International School for Holocaust Studies. 2000. pp. 228-230.
"Faith After the 'Final Solution'," 1 page (p.7) for large program announcement of "Remembering for the Future 2000: The Holocaust in an Age of Genocide," issued prior to the conference.
1999:
Spoke to an adult class (15-25) about Jewish-Christian relations: some historical background; what problems have there been, what has been done about them, and what remains to be done. - Mostly has little background or knowledge about any of this. St. Stephen's UCC, Perkasie, PA
*"Christian-Jewish Encounters Through the Centuries and Our Concerns Today," Adult Class, St. Stephen's UCC, Perkasie, PA, 18 April 1999.
1998:
"Leiden: Herausforderung des Glaubens - Herausforderung des Gottes," Kultur allein ist nicht genug: Das Werle von Elie Wiesel, Reinhold Boschki & Dagmar Mensink, eds., Munster, 1998, pp. 245-61. (Translation of "Suffering: Challenge to Faith, Challenge to God," at Colloquium [re Elie Wiesel] in Stuttgart, Germany, May 1995.)
1997:
"Looking Back Over What Christians Have Said, and Considering the Results," at "The Other as Neighbor, Stranger or Friend," Institute of Jewish-Christian Understanding, Muhlenberg College, 17 November 1997.
Lecture re Christian theology of Judaism & Jewish relations in early centuries & High Middle Ages, Asbury Methodist Church Adult Class, Allentown, PA, 26 Oct. 1997. [Robert Cohen covered first century]
"Looking at How Relations Have Changed in Christian-Jewish Relations," First Friday, Institute for Jewish and Christian Studies, Muhlenberg College, 7 March 1997.
"The Shoah-Road to a Revised/Revived Christianity," From the Unthinkable to the Unavoidable, John Roth and Carol Rittner, eds. Greenwood Press & Praeger (pb), 1997.
"Suffering, Theology, and the Shoah," The Holocaust Now: Contemporary Christian and Jewish Thought, Steven L. Jacobs, ed. N.Y: Cummings & Hathaway, 1997; pp. 71-95.
1996:
"Reformation Memories: Issues Still With Us," Jerusalem Convocation of the Christian Scholars Group and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity, Israel, 17 May 1996.
"Creating Christian Yorn HaShoah Liturgies," Liturgies on the Holocaust: An Interfaith Anthology, Marcia Littell & Sharon Weissman Gutman, eds., Trinity Press International, 1996, pp. 6-12. (Originally published in Shoah: Zachor, 1979; & republished in Christian Attitudes on Jews and Judaism,# 69, Dec. 1979; London),
1995:
"Suffering: Challenge to Faith, Challenge to God," Colloquium [re Elie Wiesel & his influence] in Stuttgart, Germany, 8/10 May1995. (Published in German translation as: "Leiden: Herausforderung des Glaubens - Herausforderung des Gottes," Kultur allein ist nicht genug: Das Werk von Elie Wiesel, Reinhold Boschki & Dagmar Mensink, eds., Monster, 1998, pp. 245-61.
Discussion of film "Schindler's List." Second Annual Conference on Youth and Prejudice, Muhlenberg College, 25 April 1995.
"The Significance of Denial: Armenian Massacre & the Holocaust." Conference on the Armenian and Jewish Genocides, New York City, 5 April 1995. (To be published in: Genocide and Holocaust: Armenian and Jewish Perspectives, Aram Arhun, ed. ?))
"Confronting the Unthinkable," discussion of the play "The Puppetmaster of Lodz," Performance Workshop Theater, Baltimore MD, 12 March 1995.
1994:
"Has the Holocaust Had Any [Real] Impact on Christian Life and Theology?" Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies Discussion Group, 17 April 1994.
"The Christian and Jewish Story: A Christian Historian's Reflections," Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 3 March 1994.
"The Holocaust, the Church Struggle, and Some Christian Reflections," Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, 27 February 1994.
1993:
"Reflections and Implications," Response to Abrahamic Accord program, Muhlenberg College, Allentown PA, 17 May 1993.
"The Courage to Hope and the Courage to Dare," Holocaust Memorial Service, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH, 27 April 1993;
Ibid., Raleigh, NC, 25 April 1993 [from Christian point of view] "The Courage to Hope and the Courage to Care and Dare," (re Holocaust, following Armenian speaker re the Armenian Massacre), Wayne State University, Detroit, Ml. 21 April 1993.
"How Do We Deal with God and Evil?" St. John's UCC, Coopersburg, PA, 15 February 1993.
"State of Israel: Just How Should Christians View It?," The Disciple, vol. 131, no. 4, April 1993, pp. 22-24.
"The Reformation and the Jews," Interwoven Destinies: Jews and Christians. Eugene Fisher, ed. Paulist Press, 1993, pp. 111-33. (Paper presented at 9th National Workshop on Jewish-Christian Relations, Baltimore, MD, 1986)
"Suffering, Theology, and the Shoah," Contemporary Christian Religious Responses to the Shoah," Steven L. Jacobs, ed. University Press of America, 1993; pp. 33-58 & 219-31. [see 1997 republication of this volume with new title and publisher]
"Memory: Blessing, Burden, or Curse? The Shoah as a Burning Memory," Burning Memory: Times of Testing and Reckoning, Alice L. Eckardt, ed. 1993, pp. 1-17.
"The Pogrom of Kristallnacht: Between Burning Books (1933) and Burning Bodies (1941)," in Burning Memory: Times of Testing and Reckoning, Alice L. Eckardt, ed. 1993, pp. 57-68.
"The Content of Jewish Education and Its Responsibility Within the Jewish-Christian Encounter," Alice L. Eckardt & A. Roy Eckardt, The Jewish Academy, Glenda Abrahamson, ed. (Reading, UK and Harvard) 1993.
1992:
Interfaith Circles Seminar, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, Fall semester: 8 October 1992 - 15 January 1993.
"The Protestant Churches During the Persecutions and the Holocaust,· Wheeling Jesuit College, W. VA, 26 April 1992.
"Theology of Suffering After the Shoah," Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto,, Canada, 24 March 1992. (Co-speaker A. Roy Eckardt, • Jews, Christians, and a Comic Vision; 'Why Is Israel So lmportant?9 St. John's UCC, Coopersburg, PA, 18 March 1992.
"A Partial and Annotated Bibliography for Rethinking the Christian-Jewish Relationship," Jewish-Christian Dialogue Project of the United Church of Christ, May 1992.
"The Place of the Jewish State in Christian-Jewish Relations,· European Judaism, 15, 1, 1992: 3-9. (See paper delivered in London at the World Gathering of Reform/Liberal Rabbis, 30 April 1990.)
1991:
"Tales of the Holocaust: Fear, Hope, Despair, Defiance," at Alpha Epison Pi, Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College, PA, 10 November 1991. (To raise money for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington.DC)
"The Religious Roots of the Holocaust [or. of Antisemitism?]," for German and U.S. students, Bryn Mawr College, PA, 31 July 1991. (Organized by Interfaith Council on the Holocaust, Philadelphia & Evangelische Akademy, Berlin)
(ALE meet with planning committee for Remembering for the Future Conference to be held later in Berlin, Germany, 20-22 June 1991.)
"The Ethics of Suffering and Powerlessness Reconsidered," Rollins College FL, 7:30 p.m. 15 April 1991. Scholar in Residence, Holocaust Resource and Education Center of Central Florida, Maitland, 14-15 April 1991: - "The Impact of Nazism and the Shoah on Palestine and the State of Israel,· 1 :00 p.m., 15 April 1991.(Lecture broadcast by central Florida radio station 15 April 1991.) And met two high school groups in afternoon. - "The Courage to Hope and the Courage to Care/Dare.· Interfaith service, Holocaust Center, Maitland, FL, 14 April 1991.
"The Pogrom of Kristallnacht in Christian Context," Holocaust Center, Maitland, FL, 14 April 1991.
"The Courage to Hope and the Courage to Care, Interfaith Yorn HaShoah service, Altoona PA, 10 April 1991.
Live radio interview with Clive Thomas, WNZ, Orlando, FL, 9 April 1991.
Spoke to Reconstructionist College class on Christian-Jewish Relations Philadelphia (Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer), 21 March, 1991.
“Annotated Bibliography on Jewish-Christian Dialogue Resources,” April 1991, for UCC-Jewish Christian Dialogue Project newsletter.
"Why Teach About Genocide?” Ararat, XXXII, Winter 1991: 43-46.
1990:
“Coming Clean on Our Relationship with Jews," East Berks UCC Association, 27 November 1990.
Scholar in Residence, Muhlenberg College, 29 October- 2 November 1990: - "Biomedical Issues after the Holocausr; ·what Judaism and Christianity Share"; "Repentance, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation"; "Power and Powerlessness in Jewish and Christian Experience·: "The Impact of Nazism and the Holocaust on Palestine and Israel"
“Repentance, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation," Smith College, 21 October 1990. "The Ethic, Rhetoric, and Reality of Suffering," Christian Scholars Group (CSG), St. Paul's College, Washington D.C., 13 October 1990.
"Power and Powerlessness: The Jewish Experience," for Dr. Geza Vermes' Seminar, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 22 May 1990.
“Post-Shoah Christian Theology"; & "The Place of the Jewish State in Jewish- Christian Relations" [&A.Roy Eckardt, ·Jewish Humor"]. Centre for the Study of Judaism and Jewish Christian Relations, Birmingham, UK, 21 May 1990.
"The Place of the Jewish State in Christian-Jewish Relations," Kai/ah prior to The World Gathering of Reform/Liberal Rabbis, London, 30 April 1990. (Subsequently published in European Judaism, 15, 1, 1992: 3-9)
"The Christian Communities and the Jewish State," The Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Studies in London, UK, 26 March 1990. "Jewish-Christian Encounters Through the Centuries" (after-dinner lecture), Yamton, UK, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, 8 February 1990.