Nathaniel Berman is the Rahel Varnhagen Professor in Brown University's Religious Studies Department. The overarching theme in Berman's scholarship concerns the experiences of "otherness" in law, politics, and religion. For much of his career, Berman's scholarship focused on the construction of modern internationalism through its relationships to nationalism and colonialism. It identified early 20th century international law as one of the sites of the invention of cultural modernism. Berman's work on these issues has been broadly interdisciplinary, drawing on literary criticism, cultural studies, post-colonial theory, and religious studies. More recently, Berman's work has focused on the relationship between religion and legal and political discourse. For several years, he co-directed Brown's Religion and Internationalism Project, a joint venture between the Cogut Institute and Brown's Religious Studies Department. Berman has also embarked on several major projects in Judaic Studies. His work emphasizes the mythological strands of kabbalah's formative period in 12th and 13th century France and Spain. Pursuing his interest in "otherness," Berman has explored complex kabbalistic myths of the relationships between the divine and demonic realms. This scholarship has particularly focused on the "Sefer Ha-Zohar," the "Book of Splendor." In exploring these texts, Berman has used the methods of classical and modern rhetorical theory, as well as Freudian and poststructuralist psychoanalysis. A ''summa cum laude'' graduate of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, Berman received his J.D. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and his PhD in Jewish Studies from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Before teaching at Brown, Berman was a professor of law at

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

and

Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ed ...

. He began his teaching career as the Mellon Lecturer in Law and the Social Order at Amherst College. He has also held visiting appointments at institutions including

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

-I, and

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

Select Publications

* ''Divine and Demonic in the Poetic Mythology of the Zohar: the "Other Side" of Kabbalah''. Leiden:

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, 2018. * ''Passion and Ambivalence: Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law''. Leiden:

, 2012. * ''Passions et ambivalences. Le colonialisme, le nationalisme et le droit international.'' Paris: Pedone 2008, *‘The Devil’s Party: The Discourse of Demonisation in a Fracturing World’, in London Review of International Law 6:1 (2018) * ‘"In a Place Parallel to God": The Draft, the Demonic, and the Conscientious Cubist’, in Journal of Law and Religion, 32:2 (2017) * ‘Demonic Writing: Textuality, Otherness, and Zoharic Proliferation’, in Jewish Studies Quarterly, 24:4 (2017) * ‘ "The Sacred Conspiracy": Religion, Nationalism, and the Crisis of Internationalism’ , in Leiden Journal of International Law 25:9 (2012), reprinted in Silvio Ferrari & Rinaldo Cristofori (eds.), ''Current Issues in Law and Religion'' (London: Ashgate 2013)

References

Brown University faculty Brooklyn Law School faculty Harvard Law School alumni Yale College alumni Northeastern University faculty Amherst College faculty Stanford University faculty Columbia Law School faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{US-historian-stub