Sarah Pessin

Professor; Director of Spiritual Life

Interfaith Chair

Faculty
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Philosophy
Center for Judaic Studies
Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality
Gender and Women's Studies

sarah.pessin@du.edu

https://sarahpessin.com/

Personal

Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208

What I do

I explore paradoxes of 'hard hope', democracy, religious inclusivity, and racial justice at the intersection of ethics, equity, and authenticity.

Specialization(s)

Philosophy, Religion, civics

Professional Biography

Sarah Pessin is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought. She holds an Interfaith Chair, and works in areas of phenomenology, existentialism, Neoplatonism, interfaith civics, philosophy of religion, ethics, and social justice. She has won a teaching award from the graduate student council of the DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion, has served as a Fellow with the American Council on Education, and is the new Director of Spiritual Life for DU's Student Affairs and Inclusive Excellence. She has previously served as the Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and as the Faculty Senate President.

Learn more about her current projects at sarahpessin.com

Degree(s)

Ph.D., Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2000
MA, Philosophy, Columbia University, 1994
BA, Philosophy, Yeshiva University, Stern College, 1991

Media Sources

Colorado Matters, Colorado Public Radio

Research

Sarah is currently

Areas of Research

interfaith civics

ethics

phenomenology

Neoplatonism

social and political philosophy

existentialism

public good

comparative Greek-Islamic-Jewish-Christian philosophy and mysticism

antisemitism

race and racism

diversity and inclusion

religious freedom

religious inclusivity

belonging and expression

Key Projects

Interfaith Youth Core
Engaging the History of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society

Featured Publications

Pessin, S. (2013). Ibn Gabirol's Theology of Desire: Matter and Method in Jewish Medieval Neoplatonism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pessin, S. (2019). The Jewish Tradition. (B. Foltz, Ed.), Medieval Philosophy: A Multicultural Reader. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Pessin, S. (2018). America's Love Problem: How Oprah's Call to Friendship Feeds Bannon's Call to Racism (or: On Three Strains of Liberal Lovesickness). Political Theology Network. Retrieved from https://politicaltheology.com/americas-love-problem/

Pessin, S. (2014). Islamic and Jewish Neoplatonisms. In P. Remes & S. Slaveva-Griffin (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism (pp. 541-58). Durham: Acumen Press/ Routledge.

Pessin, S. (2021). Emanationist Powers: Plotinus, Theology of Aristotle, and Ibn Gabirol. In J. Jorati (Ed.), Powers: A History (pp. 56-81). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Presentations

Pessin, S. (2022). Mercy Without Cheer?: Towards a Phenomenology of "Difficult Politics" & "Uncomfortable Virtues" in Levinas, MLK, and Marx. 18th Psychology for the Other Conference. Seattle: Seattle University.

Pessin, S. (2022). Heideggerian and Levinasian Traces in Wolfson's Phenomenology of Life. Association for Jewish Studies Annual Meeting. Boston: Association for Jewish Studies.

Pessin, S. (2018). Past, Pause, Paradox, Pardon [and Method] in Early Levinas. Jewish Thought Workshop. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.

Pessin, S. (2019). Powers and Receptivities in Ibn Gabirol and Maimonides. Conference for contributors to Oxford University Press volume on powers. Columbus, OH: Department of Philosophy, The Ohio State University.

Pessin, S., & Tuitt, F. (2018). Difficult Conversations: Race in the Classroom. ODI, OTL.