Benjamin wins book award
Mara Benjamin, chair of the Jewish Studies department at Mount Holyoke College, has won an award for her book “The Obligated Self”
Mara Benjamin, chair of the Jewish studies program and the Irene Kaplan Leiwant Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, has won an award from the American Academy of Religion for her book “The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought.”
The book has been bestowed with the Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Constructive–Reflective Studies. The organization said in its award, “In this strikingly original book, Mara Benjamin opens readers’ eyes to new theological perspectives by making a compelling argument that maternal experience affords a distinctive lens on how to imagine the divine and how to reimagine self, other, neighbor and outsider.”
The annual competition recognizes new scholarly publications that make significant contributions to the study of religion. The awards honor books of distinctive originality, intelligence, creativity and importance — books that affect decisively how religion is examined, understood and interpreted.