Laura Suzanne Lieber | Scholars@Duke

Laura Suzanne Lieber
Professor of Religious Studies

My primary area of research is in the area of synagogue poetry ("piyyut") from Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. I examine these works from a variety of perspectives, including literary, performative, and comparative (particularly with early Christian hymnography in Syriac and Greek), and also as a genre of early Jewish biblical interpretation. In recent years, I have begun to integrate the study of material culture into my analysis of these literary works, as part of taking a more fully "contextual" approach to literary analysis. My most recent work approaches late ancient hymnography through the lens of theater studies and performance.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Religious Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2016
Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019
Professor of Germanic Languages and Literature, Germanic Languages, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2016
Professor of Religious Studies in the Divinity School, Divinity School, Duke University 2017
Professor of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2018
Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, Duke Science & Society, Initiatives 2014

Contact Information

118B Gray Bldg, Durham, NC 27708
Box 90964, Durham, NC 27708-0964
laura.lieber@duke.edu (919) 660-3504

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of Chicago 2003
- M.A., Hebrew Union College 1998
- B.A., University of Arkansas at Fayetteville 1994
Duke Appointment History
- Director of the Jewish Studies Certificate Program, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015 - 2018
- Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011 - 2016
- Associate Professor in the Department of Germanic Language and Literature, Germanic Languages, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2012 - 2016
- Co-Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2015
- Interim Chair in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, Germanic Languages, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2015
- Assistant Director of the Program in Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2011
- Assistant Professor of Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2011
Recognition
In the News
- MAY 11, 2015
  
  Three Duke Scholars Receive National Humanities Center Fellowships
- FEB 11, 2013
  
  Flipping Teaching Around
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
  - Lieber, L. S. Songs from the Western Shore: Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Brill, 2016.
  - Lieber, L. S. The Vocabulary of Desire: The Song of Songs in the Early Synagogue. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
  - Lieber, L. S. Yannai on Genesis: An Invitation to Piyyut. Hebrew Union College Press, 2010.
  - Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. Scriptural exegesis: The shapes of culture and the religious imagination essays in honour of Michael Fishbane, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.001.0001.
    Full Text
  - Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. Scriptural exegesis: The shapes of culture and the religious imagination essays in honour of Michael Fishbane, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.001.0001.
    Full Text
  - Lieber, L. S. Study Guide to the JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002.
  - Lieber, L. S. The Poetry of Communal Lament in Late Ancient Judaism and Eastern Christianity, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. Staging the Sacred: Liturgical Poetry through the Lens of Theater, n.d.
- Academic Articles
  - Lieber, L. S. “Call and response: Antiphonal elements in jewish palestinian aramaic poetry.” Aramaic Studies 17, no. 2 (January 1, 2019): 127–44. https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-01702001.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “With One Voice: Elements of Acclamation in Early Jewish Liturgical Poetry.” Harvard Theological Review 111, no. 3 (July 1, 2018): 401–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816018000172.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Daru in the winehouse: The intersection of status and dance in the Jewish east.” Journal of Religion 98, no. 1 (January 1, 2018): 90–113. https://doi.org/10.1086/694658.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Aramaic poetry from late antiquity: Translations and commentaries.” Etudes Sur Le Judaisme Medieval 75 (January 1, 2018): 1–245. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004365896_002.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “On the road with the mater Dolorosa: An exploration of mother-son discourse performance.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 24, no. 2 (June 1, 2016): 265–91. https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2016.0021.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Stages of Grief: Enacting Lamentation in Late Ancient Hymnography.” Ajs Review 40, no. 1 (April 1, 2016): 101–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0364009416000064.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “From the Margins: A Response to ‘Schoeps on Schoeps’.” Nexus: Essays in German Jewish Studies 2 (2015): 33–36.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Theater of the Holy: Performative Elements of Late Ancient Hymnography.” Harvard Theological Review 108, no. 3 (January 1, 2015): 327–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S001781601500022X.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Setting the stage: The theatricality of Jewish Aramaic poetry from late antiquity.” Jewish Quarterly Review 104, no. 4 (September 1, 2014): 537–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/jqr.2014.0039.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “The Plot within the Piyyut: Retelling the Story of Balak on the Liturgical Stage.” The Journal for Textual Reasoning 8 (2014).
    Link to Item
  - Lieber, L. “Telling a Liturgical Tale: Storytelling in Early Jewish Liturgical Poetry.” Zeitschrift Fur Religions Und Geistesgeschichte 66, no. 3–4 (January 1, 2014): 209–32. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700739-90000128.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “The Play’s the Thing: The Theatricality of Jewish Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity.” Jewish Quarterly Review, 2013.
  - Lieber, Laura S. “The Aroma of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature.” Interpretation a Journal of Bible and Theology 66, no. 3 (July 2012): 334–35.
    Link to Item
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Deborah Green, The Aroma of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature.” Interpretation 66 (2012): 334–35.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Geza Vermes, Jesus in the Jewish World.” Theology 115 (2012): 53–54.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Essays on Michael Fishbane, Sacred Attunement: A Jewish Theology.” Edited by L. Edwards. The Ccar Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Themes and Variations: Yannai on Exod. 3:1 and Deut. 6:4.” Prooftexts 30 (2011): 180–213.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Isa Aron, Steven M. Cohen, Lawrence A. Hoffman, and Ari Y. Kelman, Sacred Strategies, Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary (Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2010).” Worship, 2011, 270–72.
  - Lieber, L. “Themes and variations: Yannai on exodus 3:1 and Deuteronomy 6:4.” Prooftexts Journal of Jewish Literature History 30, no. 2 (December 1, 2010): 180–216. https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.30.2.180.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “The rhetoric of participation: Experiential elements of early hebrew liturgical poetry.” Journal of Religion 90, no. 2 (April 1, 2010): 119–47. https://doi.org/10.1086/649845.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Song and Memory. Biblical Women in Syriac Tradition (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2010).” Zeitschrift Für Religions Und Geistesgeschichte 62 (2010): 393–393.
  - Lieber, L. S. “"You have skirted This hill long enough": The tension between rhetoric and history in a Byzantine Piyyut.” Hebrew Union College Annual 80 (December 1, 2009): 63–114.
  - Lieber, L. “Portraits of righteousness: Noah in early christian and jewish hymnography.” Zeitschrift Fur Religions Und Geistesgeschichte 61, no. 4 (September 1, 2009): 332–55. https://doi.org/10.1163/157007309789346461.
    Full Text
  - Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. “Introduction.” Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane, May 1, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.003.0001.
    Full Text
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of: Michael Satlow, Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, and Practice (Columbia UP: New York, 2006).” Hebrew Studies 49 (2008).
  - Lieber, L. S. “The Exegesis of Love: Text and Context in the Early Synagogue.” Review of Rabbinic Literature 11 (2008): 73–99.
  - Lieber, L. S. “There is None like You among the Mute: the Theology of Ein Kamokha Ba-Illemim in Context, with a New Edition and Translation.” Crusades 6 (2007): 15–35.
  - Lieber, L. “The poet and the tower-builders: A translation and analysis of Yannai's Piyyut for genesis 11.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 8, no. 1 (June 1, 2005): 163–88. https://doi.org/10.1163/157007005774513972.
    Full Text
  - Lieber, L. S. “The Generation that Built the Tower: Yannai on Genesis 11.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 8 (2005): 161–88.
  - Lieber, Laura Suzanne. “Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice. Mark Washofsky.” The Journal of Religion 82, no. 4 (October 2002): 670–71. https://doi.org/10.1086/491212.
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  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Mark Washofsky, Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice.” Journal of Religion 82 (2002): 670–71.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Samuel Balentine, The Torah's Vision of Worship.” Journal of Religion 82 (2002): 269–70.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Kissing Cousins: The Relationship of the Mekhilta and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Parashat Mishpatim.” The Journal of the Aramaic Bible 2 (2000): 89–119.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Review of Steven Fine, Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Toward a New Jewish Archaeology, 2nd ed.” Images: A Journal of Jewish Art and Visual Culture, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Theater of the Holy: Jewish Piyyut, Christian Hymnography, and the Rhetoric of the Late Ancient Stage.” Harvard Theological Review, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Teaching Jewish Berlin.” Andererseits: Yearbook of Transatlantic German Studies, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Singing the Body Organic: Corruption and Creation in Two Late Ancient Hymns.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “From Payyetan to Troubadour: Traces of Early Piyyut in Medieval Lyric Poetry,” n.d.
- Book Sections
  - Lieber, L. S. “Entering the High Holy Days.” In Mishkan Ha-Nefesh, xvii–xix. New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2015.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry).” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2015.
  - Lieber, Laura S. “The Piyyutim le-Hatan of Qallir and Amittai - Jewish Marriage Customs in Early Byzantium.” edited by S. Fine and A. Koller, 73:275–99. WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH, 2014.
    Link to Item
  - Lieber, L. S. “The Poetry of Creation: Zevadiah and Amittai’s Yotzerot le-Hatan (Groom’s Yotzers).” In Recent Developments in Midrash, edited by David Nelson and Rikva Ulmer. Gorgias Press, 2013.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Kedushah.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited by Lisbeth Fried, Nicola Denzy Lewis, and Michael Satlow. Cambridge UP, 2013.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Women: Texts and Contexts.” In A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, 329–42, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444355024.ch24.
    Full Text
  - Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford UP, 2012.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry).” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2012.
  - Lieber, L. S. ““Dew of Rest: The World of Nature in Qallir’s Gevurot shel Tal".” In Menachem Schmelzer Festschrift, edited by Debra Blank, 167–83. Brill, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Women.” In The Blackwell Companion to Women in the Ancient World, edited by Sheila Dillon and Sharon James, 329–42. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish Religion, History, and Culture, edited by Judith Baskin, 479–80. Cambridge UP, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. “The Song of Songs.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish Religion, History, and Culture, edited by Judith Baskin, 552–53. Cambridge UP, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. ““Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry)".” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, edited by Gideon Bohak. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2011.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Post-Biblical Exegesis: Parashat Tetzaveh.” In The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea Weiss, 490–91. URJ Press / Women of Reform Judaism, 2008.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Penitential Themes in Early Synagogue Poetry.” In Penitential Prayer: Origins, Development, and Impact, edited by Mark J. Boda, Daniel K. Falk, and Rodney Werline, 3:99–125. SBL / Brill, 2008.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Confessions from A-Z: Penitential Forms in Early Synagogue Poetry.” In Penitential Prayer: Origins, Development, and Impact, edited by M. Boda, D. Falk, and R. Werline, 99–125. Atlanta: Society of Bibilical Literature, 2008.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In The Encyclopedia of Judaism, 3:2000–2019. Leidden: Brill, 2005.
  - Lieber, L. S. “‘O, my dove in the cranny of the rocks, let me see your face!’ Targum, piyyut, and the literary life of the ancient synagogue.” In Paratext and Megatext As Channels of Jewish and Christian Traditions, edited by August A den Hollander, Ulrich B. Schmid, and Willem Frederik Smelik. BRILL, 2003.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Worship.” In The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media, edited by E. Stern, R. Person, C. Keith, and T. Thatcher. London: T&T Clark, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Stage Mothers: Performing the Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah and Yannai.” In Genesis Rabbah Conference Volume, edited by P. Schaefer, M. Himmelfarb, and S. Kattan. Berlin & New York: de Gruyter, n.d.
  - Lieber, L. S. “Kedushah.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, n.d.
Teaching & Mentoring
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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

In the News

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Recent Courses

Presentations & Appearances

Service to the Profession