Phillip I. Lieberman

Phillip I. Lieberman is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Law, and Chair of the Department of Classics, at Vanderbilt University. He holds a Certificate in Museum Studies from Northwestern University, a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, and a MA in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Among his books are The Fate of the Jews in the Early Islamic Near East (2022), The Cambridge History of Judaism, Volume 5: Jews in the Medieval Islamic World (2021), and the co-edited (with Rakefet J. Zalashik) A Jew’s Best Friend: The Image of the Dog throughout Jewish History (2013). His translation (with Lenn E. Goodman) of Moses Maimonides’ philosophical classic The Guide to the Perplexed is forthcoming in 2024. From 2023 to 2026, he will serve as a visiting faculty member in the Department of History at the United States Naval Academy. Phil studies the interaction of Jewish communities with the broader cultures in which they have been embedded throughout history. His project at the White House Historical Association will explore events, traditions, and ceremonies to illuminate the relationship between the American Jewish community and the White House throughout history.