Where did Jerusalem come from? Obviously, Jerusalem is a real city one can find on a map, inhabited by real people (though even saying this we must ask questions about which maps and which people). But often, Jerusalem is imagined to be other than it is: some say it is the center of the world, or the home of God; the site of Adam’s first step or where the world comes to an end. Our all-too-human projections onto Jerusalem have made tension—between its inhabitants, between those who lay claim to the city and its surroundings, or between those who seek to control the narrative of the city—erupt into violence for three millennia. While the price paid for this violence can be measured in human lives, what is being fought for is often an idea, and an illusory and elusive one at that. How might we better understand our role, human and flawed, in creating the grounds for Jerusalem’s plight?

Martyn Oliver is the Faculty Chair of the AU Core and Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies at American University. He was previously the Director of the Arab World Studies program and Religious Studies. A specialist in cultural constructions of Islam, Dr. Oliver’s teaching and research engage a variety of approaches to understand how religion creates and is created by historical, social, philosophical, and literary forces. He is the author the Great Courses lecture series Introduction to the Qur’an and most recently published the essay “Reading Sacred Texts: ‘Who Taught by the Pen.’” 

This talk is cosponsored by the Middle East and Islamic Studies (MIST) program and the Department of Religion.