Vanderbilt Divinity School plans community breakfasts

A session on life as an Arabic-speaking Jew and another on a premier archaeological site in Israel are the topics of the Fall 2008 Community Breakfasts sponsored by Vanderbilt Divinity School.

The breakfasts run from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. The cost is $10 and includes food. The public is invited, but must register in advance at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/divinity/breakfasts_register.php.

On Thursday, Sept. 25, Jack Sasson, the Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible Professor of Classics, will speak on "Atlantis and Beyond," his account of life as a Arabic-speaking Jew.

On Thursday, Nov. 13, Douglas Knight, the Drucilla Moore Buffington Professor of Hebrew Bible, will speak on "Digging Megiddo." Megiddo, in the northern part of Israel in the Jezreel Valley, contains more than 2,000 years of evidence of history including one of the most significant royal cities of Israel. Vanderbilt is part of the international consortium sponsoring its excavation. Knight and several students who have worked at the site will recount their impressions of the experience.

Vanderbilt Divinity School is one of only four university-based interdenominational institutions in the United States, and the only one in the South.

Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu