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CURRICULUM VITAE 2020 Richard Ira Sugarman Professor of Religion University of Vermont
EDUCATION
B.A., Yale College, 1966, cum laude (Philosophy).
M.A., Yale University, 1969 (Philosophy).
Ph.D., Boston University, 1976 (Philosophy). Doctoral Dissertation: "Toward the Phenomenology of Ressentiment"
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
1966-1967 Instructor of Philosophy, as Carnegie Fellow in Philosophy, Yale College.
1970-1971 Part Time Instructor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of Vermont.
1971-1974 Instructor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of Vermont.
1974-1976 Instructor, Department of Religion, University of Vermont.
1976-1985 Assistant Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, University of Vermont.
1978 Awarded Tenure, Department of Religion, University of Vermont.
1986-2002 Associate Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, University of Vermont.
2002- Professor of Religion, Department of Religion, University of Vermont.
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ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS (all at the University of Vermont)
1982 Associate Director, Experimental Program, College of Arts and Sciences
1980-1988 Associate Director, Integrated Humanities Program
1982-1983 Acting Director, Integrated Humanities Program
1982 Acting Chair, Spring Semester, Department of Religion
1989-2014 Director, Integrated Humanities Program
PUBLICATIONS
MAJOR WORKS:
Rancor Against Time: The Phenomenology of Ressentiment. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag, 1980.
Reclaiming the Humanities: The Roots of Self-Knowledge in the Greek and Biblical Worlds, co-authored with R.T. Simone. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1986.
Edition and annotation of John Wild, “Speaking Philosophy” (Commentary on E. Levinas, Totality and Infinity) in Phenomenological Inquiry 24 (2000), 205-92.
The Promise of Phenomenology: Posthumous Papers of John Wild, edited and annotated with R.B. Duncan. Lexington Books, 2006.
(2013) eBook, The Promise of Phenomenology: Posthumous Papers of John Wild
Levinas and the Torah: A Phenomenological Approach, Richard Sugarman, SUNY Press, 2019.
Levinas and the Torah: A Phenomenological Approach, Richard Sugarman, SUNY Press Paperback scheduled for July 2020.
ARTICLES:
"To Love the Torah More Than God," translation of a chapter of Emmanuel Levinas’ Difficile Liberté, with H.A. Stephenson, with a commentary by R. Sugarman, in Judaism, Spring, 1979, pp. 79- 86.
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"There Are Natural Rights Deserving of Legal Protection," Vermont Law School Publication Series, (Environmental Law Center) v. 1 no. 2, South Royalton, Vermont, Fall 1980, pp. 11-17.
"The Phenomenology of Disability," with W.D. Roth, Rehabilitation Literature, v. 45/11-12, (Nov-Dec 1984) 366-369.
"Questioning Levinas: A Response to Bezalel Naor, "Orot: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Judaism,” 1991, pp. 12-18.
"Introduction" to Leaping Souls: Rabbi Menachem Mendel and the Spirit of Kotsk by Chaim Feinberg. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, Inc, 1993, xv-xviii. Reprinted in The Bulletin for Orthodox Jewish Teachers, edited by R. Aaron Lichtenstein, Winter 1994.
“Between Philosophy and Chassidus; Questioning, Answering and Responding,” Jewish Journal, 11 (Fall 1999), p. 12.
“Introduction: Levinas in a Humanistic Context,” Phenomenological Inquiry (2000), vol. 24, pp. 7-13.
“Notes Toward a Metaphysics of Otherness: Reflections on Levinas and the Humanities,” Phenomenological Inquiry, (2000), pp. 65-80.
“A Jewish Response to Philosophical Questioning: Reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and the Holocaust,” in Reflections on the Holocaust: Festschrift for Raul Hilberg on his 75th Birthday, edited by Wolfgang Mieder and David Scrase. Burlington, VT: Center for Holocaust Studies, 2001, pp. 211-222.
“Emmanuel Levinas: The Ethics of “Face to Face”/ The Religious Turn,” Phenomenology World-Wide, ed. Anna Teresa Tymieniecka. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002. In vol. LXXX of Analecta Husserliana, pgs.409-430.
“Rabbi Michoel Dov Weissmandel and the Holiness of Rescue: Jewish Religious Perspectives and Responses,” Making a Difference edited by David Scrase, Wolfgang Mieder, and Katherine Quimby Johnson. The Center for Holocaust Studies, 2004. pp. 187-216.
“The Ethics of Mourning.” Book review. By R. Clifton Spargo. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Bulletin for Holocaust Studies, Vol. 10 no.1.
“Experience,” with WD Roth; “Encyclopedia of Disability,” Vol.2, Gary L. Albrecht, General Editor, 2006, Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA.
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“The Deformalization of Time in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas,” in The Logos of Phenomenology and the Phenomenology of the Logos, pgs 253-270, ed. Anna Teresa Tymieniecka. Springer, 2006.
“The Malach’s (Angel’s) Son: Rav Zalman Levine Ha Cohen.” Yated Ne’Eman Vol. 19 No.27, Monsey, NY. July 2007.
Book review. Samuel Moyn. Origins of the Other: Emmanuel Levinas Between Revelation and Ethics. Cornell University Press. 2005. Journal of Modern History. March 2008.
“Making Time for Others.” N’Shei Chabad Magazine. Published Summer 2008.
“Recollections of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.” Kafar Chabad Magazine. Interview (In Hebrew) Winter 2009. Kafar Chabad, Israel.
“Wild and Levinas:” Legacy and Promise Continental Philosophy Review” #44 Springer Verlag Summer, 2011, 309-316
“Messianic Temporality: Preliminary Reflections on Ethical Messianism and the Deformalization of Time in Levinas” appearing in Recherches Levinassiennes; ed. R. Burrggreave et.al. Series Bibliotheque Philosophique de Louvain, 82, 421- 436, Peeters Publishers, Leuven, Belgium, 2012
“The Breakup of Totality and the Promise of Time in Thought of Emmnanuel Levinas” appearing in Levinas Autrement, ed. R. Burggreave et. al. Series Bibliotheque Philosophique de Louvain, 83, 445-460. Peeters Publishers, Leuven, Belgium, 2012
"The Notion of the 'Face' in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas." Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception for "Verlag Walter de Gruyter." Editors Hans-Josef Klauck et al., 2013
“Through the Lens of Levinas: Reflections on Holiness” In Levinas Studies: an Annual Review, Volume 8, 129-143, 2013
“Toward a Rationality of Transcendence: The Importance of Emmanuel Levinas to Contemporary Jewish Thought” A Perennial Spring, Downhill Press: Jerusalem, New York, Feschrift in honor of Rabbi Norman Lamm, ca. 20 printed pages. Published 2014, 2015
“Political Phenomenology- Pure and Applied: John Wild and Emmanuel Levinas on the Political.” Political Phenomenology, pp. 145-170 Hwa Yol Jung & Lester Embree, eds. Center For Advanced Research in Phenomenology, Springer Verlag. Published 2016.
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“The Importance of Alphonso Lingis in Introducing Levinas to America.” Pp. 77-90 Passion in Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Alphonso Lingis. Ed. Randolph Wheeler Lexington Books. Published 2017.
“Is Ethics Possible in Contemporary American Political Life?” Sociology n.3 / 2017 Quarterly magazine of Historical and Social Sciences Edited by Andrea Bixio. Published 2017.
“On the Importance of Importance” found in The Event of the Good, Essays in Honor of Richard A. Cohen, ed. Prof. James McLachlan at Western Carolina University. Submitted to SUNY Press for review.
ACADEMIC LECTURES:
"Ressentiment in Dostoevsky's Notes From the Underground," Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Spring, 1977.
"In Defense of the Concept of Natural Right," Vermont Council on the Humanities, Vermont Law School, Spring, 1978 (televised).
"Is Ethics First Philosophy?: Reflections on the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas," Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Ottawa, November 1980.
"The Jewish Concept of Time," Middlebury College, March 1981.
“A Comment on Plato’s Alcibiades II,” University Seminar with Michel Foucault, 1983.
"Work and Religion in Israel," Keynote Address, International Convention of Poale Agudath Israel, New York City, February, 1984.
"The Exodus as a Paradigm for Revolution," Opening Address, University of Vermont Colloquium on "Religion and Revolution: Compatible or Contradictory?" October, 1984.
"Religion in the Age of Nihilism," New York State Center for Government, Albany, New York, April 1987.
"The Philosophy of Infinity," Division of Humanities, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, April 1987.
"Philosophy, Society, and the Environment," John F. Kennedy School for Government, Harvard University, November 1989.
"On the 50th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," University of Vermont, April 1993.
"Time and the Other in Judaism," U.S. Military Academy at West Point, September 1994. 6
“Biography and the Paradox of Self-knowledge; a Phenomenological Approach,” Colloquium on the Phenomenology of Boundaries, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, April 1998.
“Reflections on the Study and Teachings of the Humanities in Undergraduate Education,” The Sixth National Conference on Residential Colleges and Living/Learning Programs, Burlington, Vermont, October 1998.
“The Metaphysics of Diversity: Emmanuel Levinas and the Future of Humanities,” Conference on Emmanuel Levinas and the Future of the Humanities, University of Vermont, March 7, 2000.
“The Breakup of Totality and the Promise of Time in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas.” International Conference "Levinas in Jerusalem. Philosophical Interpretations and Religious Perspectives," Hebrew University, May 20-23, 2002.
“Preliminary Reflections on the Deformalization of Time,” (Moderator-“Alterity, Subjectivity, and Time in Levinas”) International Conference “Third World Conference of Phenomenology,” Oxford University, August 18-21, 2004.
“Preliminary Reflections on Ethical Messianism and the Deformalization of Time in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas”; Institute for Advanced Study, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, January 16, 2006 for “Emmanuel Levinas: Resonances of a Philosophy: On the Centenary of Emmanuel Levinas.”
“Preliminary Reflections on Generational Responsibility in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas” for “Levinas and the Law” Centennial Conference, McGill University, September 17, 2006
“Time and Transcendence” (CAS: The Dean’s Lecture), University of Vermont, October 24, 2006
“On John Wild and the Promise of Phenomenology.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP). Chicago, IL, November 9, 2007.
“The Scandal of Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas’s Rehabilitation of Continental Philosophy” David Blitzer Lecture Series in Jewish Studies SUNY Buffalo, April 2010
“In the Absence of Theodicy: Levinas and the Holocaust” Major Plenary presentation for Conference on A Difficult Freedom (Difficile Liberte), Societe International de Recherche Emmanuel Levinas, Toulouse, France, July 7, 2010.
“Levinas and Exegesis, A Trace of Transcendence; Notes Toward a Levinasian Reading of the Jewish Bible” Association for Jewish Studies. Boston, Massachusetts, December 19, 2010. 7
Max Wall Lecture series, “The Phenomenon of Generational Responsibility.” St. Michaels College, Winooski, VT, 2011.
“Through the Lens of Levinas: On Holiness” Corcoran Chair Conference on Levinas and Biblical exegesis, Boston College, March 19, 2012
“Reflections on Levinas and the Torah, Book by R. Sugarman”, North American Levinas Society, Zoom Conference originally scheduled at St. Michael’s College, Winooski, VT, July, 2020.
“Emanual Levinas and the Biblical Sources of Ethical Generational Responsibility”, Keynote Speaker, North American Levinas Society, St. Michael’s College, Winooski, VT, scheduled July 2020, postponed to July 2021.
PUBLIC/ COMMUNITY LECTURES:
"Judaism and Secularism in the Modern World," Fifth Avenue Synagogue, June, 1980.
"Three Discourses on Judaism: Between Time and Eternity, A Psalm of Time, and The Revolutionary Aspects of Contemporary Chassidism," Shar Ha Shamayim Synagogue, Montreal, Canada, December, 1981.
“Understanding DeSica’s Garden of the Finzi Continis” Vermont Council on the Humanities, – five public lectures, 1982.
"Philosophy, Sophistry, and Politics: Machiavelli and the Birth of Modern Political Philosophy.” For the Vermont Council on the Humanities Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, Vermont, 1992.
"Exile and Redemption," N'shei Chabad, Burlington, May, 1993.
"Ten Years of Lubavitch in Vermont," Keynote Speaker Regional Shluchim (Rabbinical)* Convention, Burlington, June, 1993 (televised).
"And Jacob Went on His Way," Congregation Nusach Ari, Spring Valley, New York, November, 1994.
"In the Absence and Presence of the Lubavitcher Rebbe," Congregation Tzemach Tzedek, Monsey, New York, November, 1994.
"The Paradox of the Red Heifer," Congregation Nusach Ari, Spring Valley, New York, March, 1995.
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"Judaism and Philosophy: Questioning, Thinking and Believing," Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, Vermont, March, 1996.
“Between Philosophy and Chasidus; Questioning, Answering and Responding,” Thirty- eighth Annual N’shei U’bnos Chabad Convention, Radisson Hotel, Burlington, Vermont, November 19, 1999.
“The Kabbalah and the Sabbath,” Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, Burlington, Vermont, October, 2003.
“Politics, Religion, and the Upcoming Presidential Election.” Panelist, University of Vermont. March, 2004.
“Between Philosophy and Judaism” and “Philosophic Questions and Jewish Responses,” Chabad-Lubavitch of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, March 4-6, 2005.
“Israel in the Context of the Middle East,” Burlington High School, November 2005.
“Exploring Judaism: A First Look.” OSHER Institute. St. Albans Historical Society. October 10, 2007
“What does in mean to be Pro Israel?” Israel center of Vermont, Summer 2007, Burlington, Vermont
“Reflections on the Humanities; Past, Present, and Future.” (UVM’s “finest hour”) October 3, 2008, UVM, Burlington, Vermont
“Reflections on Religion and the Humanities in a Time of Crisis.” April 2009, Boston University to the UVM Alumni association and the New England Hillel Foundation, Boston, MA
“On Generational Responsibility.” Spring 2010 David Blitzer Lecture Series in Jewish Studies, SUNY Buffalo, April 2010
“Three lectures on critical issues facing Jewish Life,” Hillel Foundation, UVM, September/October 2011
“On the Importance of Aristotle to Western Thought,” Hudson High School, New York City at University of Vermont, Living and Learning Center, October 2013
“On Viktor Frankl’s Meaning of Life” to the Support Staff of the Living and Learning Center, November 2013
“Responsa, Resistance & Rescue During the Holocaust,” Yom Hashoah Lecture, Holocaust Center, University of Vermont, April 12, 2018
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TEACHING:
COURSES TAUGHT:
Jewish Studies:
Hebrew Scriptures, Judaism, Hasidism, Jewish Mysticism, Judaism and the Modern World, Gateway Course: Introduction to Jewish Studies Minor, Moral and Religious Perspectives on the Holocaust. Studies in Judaica--Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels.
Religion and the Humanities:
Year Long Course: Integrated Humanities Program Semester I: The Roots of Self-Knowledge in the Greek and Biblical Worlds Semester II: Philosophy, Religion, and the Search for Meaning in the Modern World
Western Religious Thought:
Justice and Existence; Philosophy of Human Existence; Religious Existentialism; The Literature of Human Suffering; Seminars on Plato; Nietzsche, Marx, Buber, Levinas. On the Nature and Meaning of Time.
Crisis of Values and the Search for Meaning in the Contemporary World; Intellectual and Moral Foundations of Western Culture; Levinas, Religion, and the Humanities; On the Meaning of Life.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE AND ACTIVITIES (all at University of Vermont):
1971-73 Head Faculty Resident, Experimental Program, College of Arts and Sciences
1972 Chair, Curriculum Committee, Experimental Program
1971-73 Associate Director, Hillel Foundation
1972 Dean of Students Search Committee
1972-74 Chair, University Cross-College Committee for Establishment of the Living/Learning Center
1973-74 Experimental Program Director Search Committee 10
1976-79 Faculty Representative to the University Senate, Department of Religion
1980-84 Faculty Representative to the University Senate, Department of Religion
1980-88 Associate Director, Integrated Humanities Program
1982-83 Acting Director, Integrated Humanities Program
1985-89 Affirmative Action Representative, Department of Religion
1988 Consultant, Humanities Center
1989-14 Director, Integrated Humanities Program
1992-93 Advisor, Readings and Discourse, Living/Learning Center Program
1994 Academic Steering Committee for Holocaust Studies
1996-97 College Honors and Independent Design Committee
1998-01 Advisor, Jewish Action Coalition
2000 Organizer and Chair of Conference, “Emmanuel Levinas and the Future of the Humanities”
2001 Spring Advisor, VISA (Vermont-Israel Student Alliance)
2002-07 Faculty Advisor, Chabad Student Organization, Fall 2002
2003-06 Religion Department Representative to the Faculty Senate
2009 Across the Fence WCAX T.V., On Seasonal Holidays and their meaning, with William Paden, December 2009.
2014 Committee to Establish a Jewish Studies Minor at UVM
2015 Chair, Subcommittee to establish a Jewish Studies Minor curriculum UVM .
2018- Advisor, Chabad at UVM
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AWARDS AND GRANTS
Carnegie Teaching Fellow in Philosophy, Yale University, 1966-67.
Yale University Graduate Fellowship, 1967-69.
NEH Grant for Curriculum Development at University of Vermont, 1972-73.
Summer Research Fellowship, University of Vermont, 1977.
NEH Summer Seminar in Continental Philosophy for College Teacher, Purdue University, 1978.
Instructional Incentive Grant, with R.T. Simone, Summer, 1981.
NEH Summer Institute on Judaica, Brown University, Summer, 1985.
Summer Research Fellowship, University of Vermont, 1987.
Instructional Incentive Grant, Summer, 1989.
Kroepsch-Maurice Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Vermont, 1989.
Appointed Member of the Board of the Levinas Ethical Legacy Foundation, 2004.
Dean’s Lecture Award, Fall 2006.
George V. Kidder Award – Outstanding Faculty Member, UVM 2007.
Program Director Living Learning Center Award, to be called “The Richard Sugarman Program Awards”, Spring 2011
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
ROFEH International Health Care Assistance, Vermont State Representative, Brookline Massachusetts, 1980-present.
Appointed by Mayor as Liason for Special Projects Between the City of Burlington and the University of Vermont, 1981-86.
Mayor’s Task Force on acquiring Minor League baseball for Burlington, Vermont, 1981- 82.
President, Ahavath Gerim Synagogue, Burlington, Vermont, 1982-86.
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Secretary, Vermont Organization of Jewish Education-Lubavitch, 1983-85.
Third Constable, City of Burlington, 1983-85.
Appointed by Mayor to Task Force on Health Care, 1986-88.
Advisor to U.S. Representative Bernard Sanders, 1990- 2006.
“An Alternative: Otherwise than War or Appeasement,” Dissent Magazine. www.dissentmagazine.org. March 11, 2003. (Post)
“Is a Just Peace in the Middle East Possible?” Panelist, Channel 17, Burlington, VT, November 17, 2004.
Board of Directors: Levinas Ethical Legacy Foundation, 2005-present
Referee: Social Sciences and Humanities: Research Council of Canada-Philosophy, Religion and Film, 2006.
Referee: Duquesne University Press, 2012.
Referee: Czech National Science Foundation: Pedagogy and the Holocaust, 2012.
Referee: SUNY Press, 2013
Referee: SUNY Press, 2014 Referee for Duquesne UP, 2014 Referee for New Academic Publishers, 2015, 2016
Referee: University of Macau (Department of Philosophy and Religion: Academic Promotion), February, 2013.
Consultant and Referee: Targum Shlishi (Jewish Philanthropic Organization, Aventura, FL), 2007-2015
Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Bernard Sanders, 2007- 2016
PERSONAL:
Richard Sugarman University Address: Department of Religion University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 (802) 656-3080 13
Integrated Humanities Program D-170 Living and Learning Center University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 (802) 656-4383
Personal Address: 71 S. Williams St. #5 Burlington, VT 05401 (802) 863-1222