Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies is an interdisciplinary program whose purpose is to explore the historical experience; literary, religious and cultural expression; and political and material life of the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern civilizations. Our program is unique in the United States because it integrates Islamic studies and Jewish studies. Whether students favor the study of ...

To account, in a proper epidemiological way, for the nation’s births and deaths as well as cases of cancer has, until recently, been a hallmark of our Nordic civilization, if we can use such a term. Today, I have an increasing feeling that this is not the case any more. Unfortunately, we have seen examples in our countries that would support such a feeling. The title represents a challenge to t...

This article approaches the topic of civilizations and economies through a discussion of two key texts that appeared during the first wave of interest among social scientists for the phenomenon of civilization: ‘Note on the Notion of Civilization’ ([1913] 1998) by Emile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss, and ‘Author’s Introduction’ ([1920a] 1930) by Max Weber. Durkheim and Mauss were of the opinion tha...