The Golem is one of the most fascinating creatures in literature: part human, part beast. An object of mystery, pity, fear, and contempt. In this seminar, we will explore traditional versions of the Golem story in Jewish sources alongside selections from more modern Golem tales by authors such as Terry Pratchett, Mary Shelley, and Michael Chabon. Students will consider these different depictions of artificial humans as a way of exploring some deep questions: what it means to be human, what it means to create, and what fears and desires the figure of the Golem represents for Jews throughout history. We may even try writing some Golem tales of our own!
Dr. Sarah Skwire
Dr. Sarah Skwire is a Fellow at Liberty Fund, Inc., a non-profit educational foundation and the author of the college writing textbook, Writing with a Thesis, which is in its 12th edition. Sarah has published a range of academic articles on subjects from Shakespeare to zombies and the broken window fallacy, and her work has appeared in journals as varied as Literature and Medicine, The George Herbert Journal, and The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. She writes a regular book review column, Book Value, for the Freeman Online and blogs at Bleeding Heart Libertarians. Sarah’s work on literature and economics has also appeared in Newsweek, The Freeman and in Cato Unbound, and she is an occasional lecturer for IHS, SFL, and other organizations. Her poetry has appeared, among other places, in Standpoint, The New Criterion, and The Vocabula Review. She graduated with honors in English from Wesleyan University, and earned a MA and PhD in English from the University of Chicago.