Eric Lawee

York University

Eric Lawee teaches in Humanities and Religious Studies at York University. His primary research interests lie in the area of medieval and early modern Judaism and Jewish history, with an emphasis on intellectual history. His broader scholarly enthusiasms include the medieval Latin West, Muslim Spain, and political thought -- ancient and medieval especially. Much of his research has focussed on Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508), a courtier in three major European centres (Portugal, Spain, Italy) who stands out as one of Judaism's leading scholars at the turn of the sixteenth century. Among Professor Lawee's studies of Abarbanel are an article that appeared in Viator, which was co-recipient of the 1997 Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize of the Medieval Academcy of America (for a first article in the field of medieval studies judged to be of outstanding quality).  His book "Isaac Abarbanel's Stance Toward Tradition: Defense, Dissent, and Dialogue" won a Canadian Jewish Book Award for 2001 in the area of Biblical and Rabbinic Scholarship and it was a Finalist for a National Jewish Book Award (USA) for 2001 in the area of Scholarship.