Session Readings & Focus Questions

9/18 — Translation and Sh’mitah: Jewish Philosophy, Rest, and the Land

• Readings:  Leo Strauss, “On the Interpretation of Genesis,” Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Architecture of Time,” and Nigel Savage, “Resetting the Planet through Sh’mitah”
• Core questions:  How might Hebraic ideas inform philosophy? Are they philosophical or solely religious ideas? Can those ideas have any meaning outside of their cultural context? What is the meaning of rest in an age of industrialization and unrelenting resource extraction?

10/2 — Between Home and Exile 

• Readings:  Daniel Delgado, “You are but Tenants and Settlers” (supplemental/optional: Susannah Heschel, “An Exile of the Soul”)
• Core question:  What role might the Jewish notion of exile hold for an environmental ethic?

10/16 — Jewishness and Montana: Bison and the Soul (with guest scholar James Hatley)

• Readings:  James Hatley, “Living with Ghosts”
• Core question:  In Montana, how ought we respond to a history of violence against buffalo and Indigenous peoples and what could Jewish traditions teach us about these responses?

10/30 — Blessing the World: Jewish Philosophy and Practice in Montana

• Readings:  TBD
• Core Question:  How could the deeply Jewish practice of blessing be a practice of environmental responsibility?

Kaleb Cohen’s work sits at the intersection of philosophy, environmental studies, and critical theory. He has presented and published papers on various topics, including the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, settler colonialism and environmental responsibility, and the importance of oral traditions. He holds an MA in Environmental Philosophy from the University of Montana. His graduate work culminated in developing a distinctly Jewish and anti-colonial relationship with land. He also has a background in farming, gardening, ecological restoration, and conservation. Kaleb lives in Missoula, where he teaches for the Wild Rockies Field Institute, makes bread, and hibernates during the winter.

Mitchell Conway is a Community Philosopher at Merlin CCC, an adjunct philosophy instructor at Carroll College, and serves on the Academic Advisory Board & Questions? Journal for The Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization. A student of philosophy, a theater maker, and a teacher who cares ardently about empowering young learners, his work has often been an interweaving of education, story, and inquiry.  He also relishes walking in the forest.  Mitchell has a Bachelor’s degree in Theater from Skidmore College and a Master’s degree in Philosophy & Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.