ד"ר ג'ולי אליזבת קופר

Julie E. Cooper is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Political Science Department at Tel Aviv University. Her research interests include the history of political theory; early modern political theory (especially Hobbes and Spinoza); secularism and secularization; Jewish political thought; and modern Jewish thought. She is the author of Secular Powers: Humility in Modern Political Thought (Chicago, 2013). Her work has appeared in journals including Review of Politics, The Historical Journal, Political Theory, and Jewish Quarterly Review. She is currently working on a book project, tentatively entitled Politics Without Sovereignty? Exile, State, and Territory in Jewish Thought, that examines modern attempts to reimagine and rehabilitate Judaism’s national and political dimensions.

Julie E. Cooper

Department of Political Science Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv P.O.B. 39040 Tel Aviv 69978 Israel cooper@post.tau.ac.il

Education 2003 Ph.D. in Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley 1998 M.A. in Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley 1994 A.B. in Literature, summa cum laude, Harvard University Academic Appointments

2014- Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), Department of Political Science, Tel Aviv University

2007-14 Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

2005-07 Assistant Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

Publications

Books

2013 Secular Powers: Humility in Modern Political Thought (University of Chicago Press)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

2015 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism: The Question of Jewish Political Agency,” Political Theory, 43, 1 (February), pp. 80-110

2010 “Vainglory, Modesty, and Political Agency in the Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes,” Review of Politics, 72, 2 (Spring), pp. 241-269.

2007 “Thomas Hobbes on the Political Theorist’s Vocation,” The Historical Journal, 50, 3 (September), pp. 519-547.

2006 “Freedom of Speech and Philosophical Citizenship in Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise,” Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 2 (February), pp. 91-114.

Essays and Chapters in Edited Volumes

Invited “Statesmen vs. Philosophers: Experience and Method in Spinoza’s Political Treatise,” Spinoza’s Political Treatise: A Critical Guide, eds. Hasana Sharp and Yitzhak Melamed (Cambridge)

Invited Essay on Jewish Political Thought, Annual Review of Political Science

Book Reviews and Review Essays

2015 Lars Tonder, Tolerance: A Sensorial Orientation to Politics, Perspectives on Politics, 13, 1

2014 “The Politics of (Jewish) Revelation” (review essay), Jewish Quarterly Review, 104, 4 (Fall), pp. 613-22.

2014 Ted H. Miller, Mortal Gods: Science, Politics, and the Humanist Ambitions of Thomas Hobbes, Perspectives on Politics 12, 1 (March), pp. 227-229.

2014 Eyal Chowers, The Political Philosophy of Zionism: Trading Jewish Words for a Hebraic Land, Political Theory 42, 2 (April), pp. 232-236.

2010 J.G.A. Pocock, Political Thought and History: Essays on Theory and Method, Political Theory, 38, 3 (June), pp. 442-446.

2007 Leora Batnitzky, Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas: Philosophy and the Politics of Revelation, Perspectives on Politics, 5, 2 (June), pp. 341-342.

2007 ed. Michael Walzer, Law, Politics, and Morality in Judaism, Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 3 (June), pp. 353-355.

2005 eds. Michael Walzer et al., The Jewish Political Tradition, Vol. II Membership, AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies, 29, 2 (November), pp. 407-409.

2003 Menachem Lorberbaum, Politics and the Limits of Law: Secularizing the Political in Medieval Jewish Thought, Political Theory, 31, 4 (August), pp. 604-607.

2001 eds. Michael Walzer et al., The Jewish Political Tradition, Vol. I Authority, Tikkun: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, and Society, 16, 4 (July/August), pp. 70-71.

Critical Essays

2014 “The Land vs. the land,” AJS Perspectives, (Spring), pp. 12-13.

2012 Response to “Drought: Confronting Vulnerability,” by Jonathan Schofer. The Religion and Culture Web Forum (http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/webforum)

Work in Progress

Politics Without Sovereignty? Exile, State, and Territory in Jewish Thought (book manuscript)

Presentations

Invited Presentations

2015 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer,” University of California, Davis, Political Theory Workshop

2015 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer,” University of California, Berkeley, Comparative Literature Workshop

2015 “Statesmen vs. Philosophers: Experience and Method in Spinoza’s Political Treatise,” McGill University

2015 “Hobbes and Spinoza in the 21st Century: Method, Morality, and Politics,” Queen’s University

2014 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer,” Ben Gurion University, Department of Politics and Government

2014 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer,” Placing Space Colloquium, Kahn Liberal Arts Institute, Smith College

2013 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer” and “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University, Bloomington

2013 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Political Theory Workshop, Northwestern University

2013 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Political Theory Workshop, University of Wisconsin, Madison

2013 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Jewish Studies Workshop, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

2012 “Secular Powers,” Workshop on the Politics of Time and Value, Yale University

2012 Commentator, Yale Representative Institutions Conference on Teaching Political Philosophy

2012 “Secular Powers: Humanity and Humility in Modern Political Thought,” Practical Philosophy Workshop, University of Chicago

2012 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Jewish Studies and the Hebrew Bible Workshop, University of Chicago

2012 “Secular Powers: Humanity and Humility in Modern Political Thought,” Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago

2011 “Thomas Hobbes: A Surprising Chapter in the History of Modesty and Humility,” Chicago Area Renaissance Seminar

2010 “Spinoza’s Critique of Humility,” Spinoza Day, Princeton University

2009 “Spinoza’s Critique of Humility,” Columbia University Political Theory Workshop

2009 “Spinoza on Modesty, Humility, and Self-Esteem,” Modern Philosophy Workshop, University of Chicago

2008 “Vainglory, Modesty, and Political Agency in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan,” Political Theory Workshop, University of Wisconsin, Madison

2008 “Spinoza on Modesty, Humility, and Self-Esteem,” Princeton Workshop on Jewish Thought

2007 “Spinoza on the Politics of Self-Esteem,” Spinoza and Modernity Colloquium, Colgate University

Conference Presentations

2014 “Democracy and Theocracy in Jewish Political Thought: From Baruch Spinoza to Michael Walzer,” American Political Science Association

2013 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Association for Political Theory

2013 Roundtable, “Force and Persuasion in the Thought of Hobbes,” American Political Science Association

2013 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Western Political Science Association

2012 “A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism,” Association for Jewish Studies

2012 Commentator, “Adam Smith: Philosophical Perspectives,” Institute for the Humanities at the University of Illinois, Chicago

2012 Panelist, “Author Meets Critics: Frederick Neuhouser’s Rousseau’s Theodicy of Self-Love,” Midwestern Political Science Association

2011 “Was Spinoza Intolerant of Atheists or the Religious,” Midwestern Political Science Association (Discussant)

2010 “The Question of Unity in Moses Mendelssohn’s Thought,” Princeton University (Respondent)

2009 “Spinoza and Rousseau on Vanity and Self-Esteem,” American Political Science Association

2008 “Vainglory, Modesty, and Political Agency in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan,” Renaissance Society of America

2008 “Vainglory, Modesty, and Political Agency in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan,” Western Political Science Association

2007 “Amour-propre, Amour de Soi, and Autobiography in the Texts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau,” American Political Science Association

2007 “Amour-propre, Amour de Soi, and Autobiography in the Texts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2006 “Maimonides and Spinoza on the Politics of Self-Esteem,” Hebraic Political Studies Conference, Jerusalem

2006 “Spinoza on the Politics of Self-Esteem,” American Political Science Association

2006 “‘You Are Not Yet Humble Enough For Me’: Self-Assertion and Self-Effacement in Nietzsche’s Ecce Homo,” American Political Science Association

2006 “Hobbius de se: Thomas Hobbes on the Political Theorist’s Vocation,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2006 Panelist, “Roundtable on Shai Levi’s The Modern Art of Dying,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2004 “Moses: The Politics of Modesty,” Association for Jewish Studies

2004 “The Modesty of Mosaic Politics,” American Political Science Association

2004 Panelist, “Roundtable on the Jewish Political Tradition, Vol. II,” American Political Science Association

2004 “Spinoza: Freedom of Speech as a Philosophical Ethos,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2002 “Nietzsche’s ‘Art of Silence,’” American Political Science Association

2002 “Moses the Modest Law-Giver,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2001 “Coercion and Consent at Sinai: Reading the Sinai Covenant as a Problem of Political Obligation,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

2000 “Prophecy, Philosophy, and Political Theory in Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise,” Beyond Understanding: Reconsidering Knowledge and Belief, University of California, Berkeley

2000 “Vainglory, Modesty, and Negative Theology in Hobbes’ Leviathan,” Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities

Awards and Fellowships

2013 Folger Institute Faculty Seminar on Political Theologies in Early Modern Literature

2013-14 Co-PI, Working Group on Political Theology, Neubauer Collegium ($10,000 seed grant)

2013-14 Social Sciences Divisional Research Grant ($3000) to fund advanced Talmud study and research for Politics Without Sovereignty?

2012-13 Social Sciences Divisional Research Grant ($3000) to fund advanced Talmud study and research for Politics Without Sovereignty?

2010-11 Social Sciences Divisional Research Grant ($2000) to fund a book manuscript workshop for Secular Powers: Humility in Modern Political Thought

2009-10 Member, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science

2006 Appleby-Mosher Grant, Legacy Heritage Jewish Communal Scholarship to fund advanced Talmud study at the Conservative Yeshiva, Jerusalem

2003-4 Mellon Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Columbia University

2003-4 Academic Year Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (declined)

2002-3 American Association of University Women American Dissertation Fellowship

2002-3 Dissertation Fellow, Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities

2002-3 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (declined)

2002-3 Chancellor’s Dissertation-Year Fellowship (declined)

2002 William Andrews Clark Memorial Library/Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies Predoctoral Fellowship

2001 Summer Merit/Need Fellowship and Departmental Block Grant to fund intensive Latin language study

1999 Dorot Foundation Israel Travel Grant, Newhouse Travel Grant, to fund study in Hebrew language and Jewish political thought at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

1998 Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, Wollenberg Grant, to fund Hebrew language study at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York

1994 Phi Beta Kappa Professional Activities and Service

2014- Member, Steering Committee, Secularism and Secularity Group, American Academy of Religion

2013-14 Faculty coordinator, Jewish Studies workshop

2011 Faculty Member, Tikvah undergraduate summer seminar in Jewish Thought and Enduring Human Questions, Princeton University

2011 Center for Jewish Studies undergraduate prize essay committee; Fuerstenberg Fellowship selection committee

2010-14 Senior Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts

2010-14 Co-Placement Director, Department of Political Science

2009-14 Member, Center for Jewish Studies

2009 SSDR Selection Committee

2008-9 Graduate Admissions Committee, Political Science

2008-9 Working Group on Jewish Studies

2008 Goettler Prize Selection Committee

2006-7 Committee on Promotions and Tenure, Department of Political Science, Syracuse University

2005-6 Graduate Studies Committee, Department of Political Science, Syracuse University

2005-7 Advisory Committee for Jewish Studies, Syracuse University

2005 Member, Selection Committee, Columbia University Society of Fellows in the Humanities fellowship competition

2002-3 Graduate Student Representative to the Search Committee for a Tenure-Track Appointment in the History and Theory of Rhetoric

2002 Graduate Student Representative to the Department of Rhetoric’s Graduate Admissions Committee

Manuscript referee for: Law, Culture, and the Humanities; Feminist Theory; PSC-CUNY Awards – Women’s Studies Panel; American Political Science Review; Law and Social Inquiry; AJPS; Epoche; Review of Politics; Journal of Moral Philosophy; Constellations; Journal of Politics; Oxford Bibliographies in Jewish Studies

Languages

Hebrew: Reading and speaking proficiency

French: Reading proficiency, speaking ability Latin: Reading knowledge German: Reading knowledge

 

Books

Secular Powers: Humility in Modern Political Thought (University of Chicago Press, 2013)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

“A Diasporic Critique of Diasporism: The Question of Jewish Political Agency,” Political Theory, 43, 1 (February 2015), pp. 80-110.

“Vainglory, Modesty, and Political Agency in the Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes,” Review of Politics, 72, 2 (Spring 2010), pp. 241-269.

“Thomas Hobbes on the Political Theorist’s Vocation,” The Historical Journal, 50, 3 (September 2007), pp. 519-547.

“Freedom of Speech and Philosophical Citizenship in Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise,” Law, Culture, and the Humanities, 2 (February 2006), pp. 91-114.

Selected Essays

“The Politics of (Jewish) Revelation,” Jewish Quarterly Review, 104, 4 (Fall 2014), pp. 613-22.

“The Land vs. the land,” AJS Perspectives (Spring 2014), pp. 12-13