Renowned Jewish Studies Scholar, Sander Gilman, to Deliver Second Annual JHFE Lecture at U of L.

Renowned Jewish Studies Scholar, Sander Gilman speaking at UofL November 8th at 1:00 in the Cochran Auditorium in Strickler Hall on:

“Circumcision: An Index of Difference and/or the Health Exception?”

What happens when religion and medicine compete or are allied? The United States is the nation in which infant male circumcision is the most widely accepted and practiced, but for “health” rather than for “religious” reasons. Immediately after birth 55% of infant male children have their foreskins surgically removed. The number of male infants circumcised in the USA for any reason has declined today from the 1970s and ’80s. In Europe, in contrast, only 10% of boys are circumcised. What happens when these two aspects of the public sphere overlap? In what contexts does circumcision occur as a health practice or risk? What are the implications of health-related/medically-indicated circumcision for religious practice?

For more information please contact Dr. Ranen Omer-Sherman at ranen.omersherman@louisville.edu.