randy l. friedman
randy l. friedman
curriculum vitae
curriculum vitae
Embedded Files
Position
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Associate Professor of Judaic Studies
Affiliated faculty: Department of Comparative Literature,
Center for Israel Studies, Center for Middle East and North Africa Studies
Education
2005 Ph.D. Brown University, Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies
2001 M.A. Brown University, Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies
1993 – 1996 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Philosophy
1993 B.A. Yale University, Philosophy
Areas of Research Specialization and Teaching Interests
Modern Jewish Thought
American Philosophical and Religious Thought
Continental Philosophy of Religion
Selected Publications
Articles in Refereed Journals
“Alterity and Asymmetry in Levinas’s Ethical Phenomenology,” Journal of Scriptural Reasoning 13, 1 (2014).
“Levinas’s Empiricism and James’s Phenomenology,” Special issue on “Levinas and Philosophy,” Journal of Scriptural Reasoning 11, 2 (2012).
“Religious Self-Reliance,” The Pluralist 7, 1 (2012): 27-53.
“Dewey’s Naturalistic Metaphysics: Expostulations and Replies,” Education and Culture 27, 2 (2011): 48-73.
“Traditions of Pragmatism and the Myth of the Emersonian Democrat,” Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 43, 1 (2007): 154 – 184.
“Deweyan Pragmatism,” William James Studies 1, 1 (2006).
“The Challenge of Selective Conscientious Objection in Israel,” Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Thought 109 (2006): 79 – 99.
Work in Progress
“The Method of Kaplan’s Pragmatic Theology”
Gods of Becoming
Selected Presentations
“Mismeeting: Mordecai Kaplan and Martin Buber in Jerusalem,” Binghamton University Hillel, September 2025.
“Israel: Jewish and Democratic?” Center for Israel Studies Roundtable, Binghamton University, April 2025.
“US-Israel Relations after the Election,” Center for Israel Studies Roundtable, Binghamton University, November 2024.
“Israel on October 6,” Center for Israel Studies Roundtable, Binghamton University, October 2024.
“Zionisms,” Center for Israel Studies Roundtable, Binghamton University, September 2024.
“In the Shadow of October 7,” Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton, Binghamton JCC, Vestal, NY, April 2024.
“Atonement, Redemption, and Justice,” T’shuva Lecture, Congregation Or Zarua, New York, NY, September 2023.
“It is not in Heaven,” Beth David Synagogue, Binghamton, NY, November 2022.
“Gods of Becoming,” Pragmatism and Jewish Thought: Workshop at Yale University, New Haven, CT, April, 2019.
“Partnerships between Jewish Studies Programs and Off-Campus Jewish Organizations,” Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, Washington, DC, December, 2017.
Panel Moderator, “Israel in the Modern Middle East,” with Michael Koplow (Israel Policy Forum) and Michael Eisenstadt (Washington Institute for Near East Peace), Center for Israel Studies Symposium, Binghamton, NY, April 2017.
Panel Respondent, “Deploying and Critiquing the Continental Tradition,” Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Academy of Religion, New Brunswick, NJ, March 2017.
“Why Make Deep Reasonings Public?” Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Academy of Religion, New Brunswick, NJ, March 2017.
Administrative Experience
Administrative Experience
Chair, Department of Judaic Studies, Binghamton University, 2015 – 2021.
Chair, Department of Judaic Studies, Binghamton University, 2015 – 2021.
Chair of three tenure-track Israel Studies faculty search committees.
Creation of three funded Summer internships with partner institutions, including the Jewish Women’s Archive (Boston), Museum at Eldridge Street (NYC), and the Israel Policy Forum (NYC).
Re-established Judaic Studies Council, with over twenty alumni members. The mission of the Judaic Studies Alumni Council is to advise the Department in developing strategic partnerships and long-term planning, to expand the network of opportunities for current students and recent graduates, to provide learning opportunities for alumni and friends, and to assist in recruiting students to Binghamton.
Work with the Division of Advancement to engage donor support for the Department. We have raised over $600,00, including the creation of a named endowment.
Founding Director and Grant Lead, Center for Israel Studies, Division of Research, Research Foundation, Binghamton University, 2015 – 2024.
$462,000 seed funding for faculty lines in Israel Studies.
$70,000 in grant funding to support programming and research.
Secured over $150,000 in alumni support and commitments, including a naming donation for our Seminar Room.
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