Wednesday, May 10, 2000
Professor: Book overstates lack of objectivity
By Ben L. Kaufman
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When he speaks Friday at the University of Cincinnati, a professor of Judaic studies will explore a China specialist's provocative reinterpretation of ancient Greece history.
Jacques Berlinerblau's focus will be Black Athena, the book that suggests modern European scholars were so racist and anti-Semitic that they deliberately rewrote ancient Greek history to eliminate Egyptian/African and Phoenician/Israelite influences.
Dr. Berlinerblau, who heads Hofstra University's department of Hebrew and Judaic studies in Hempstead, N.Y., and specializes in the sociology of antiquity, said Black Athena's author, sinologist Martin Bernal, overstates the racist/anti-Semitic intention.
Rather, Dr. Berlinerblau said in a recent interview, scholars in certain periods share common assumptions and see things in a certain way, even when they believe themselves to be objective.
That's why his talk is entitled “Black Athena and the Sociology of Knowledge.”
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when contemporary understanding of Greek history was shaped, he said “those common assumptions weren't very pretty” when it came to Jews and blacks.
Dr. Berlinerblau said his assessment of Black Athena and the subsequent academic furor draws on his new book, Heresy in the University.
His talk, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Classics Department and will be at 4 p.m. in 308 Blegen Library.
At 7:30 p.m. Thursday Dr. Berlinerblau will speak on “Popular Religion and the Goddess Worship in Ancient Israel,” sponsored by the Judaic Studies Department, in Room 112 of Lindner Hall.
Both buildings are on the main Clifton Avenue campus.
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