Art and Psyche Artists and Authors

artists and authors

Contributing authors to Illuminating Letters: Paintings and Essays on the Kabbalah

Alphabet Magic
CHRISTINE DOWNING, PHD, noted religious and depth psychology author was the first woman president of the American Academy of Religion, the primary professional association for religious studies scholars. She has been an influential teacher and educational advocate for over 40 years; for a large portion of that time, as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. Currently she is a core faculty member and Professor of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. Her internationally significant books include: The Goddess; Journey Through Menopause, Psyche's Sisters, Myths and Mysteries of Same-Sex Love, Mirrors of the Self, Women's Mysteries, Gods In Our Midst, The Long Journey Home, The Luxury of Afterwards and Preludes: Essays in the Ludic Imagination.

Introduction
JOHN FERGUS-JEAN has been a nationally recognized professor of media studies and art for over 25 years. Currently he is an Associate Professor at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Fergus-Jean has also been a university art gallery director, director of the Ross Center at the Columbus Museum of Art, and museum curator, organizing over 60 exhibitions for museums, corporations and galleries across the country. Further, he has organized several important national symposia that have helped define the national discourse on the changing role of the media arts. He has authored several essays in publications such as: The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography; numerous museum catalogues such as Poetics of the Real: American Landscape Photography, A Salute to Daguerre, and Columbus Collects: American Painting, Sculpture, Photography; and Slipping Man for the Cygnet Foundation.

The Hebrew Letters
RABBI MEL GOTTLIEB, PHD, is currently the President and Dean of the Rabbinical and Chaplaincy Schools of the Academy for Jewish Religion, Ca. This is a Rabbinical, Cantorial, and Chaplaincy School, which is pluralistic and textually based. Rabbi Gottlieb is a highly respected teacher and counselor in the fields of Religion and Psychology, where he has taught a variety of courses including: The Spiritual Dimension of Jewish Texts, Medieval Biblical Commentary, Hassidic Biblical Commentary, The Wisdom of the Zohar and Kabbalah, Teachings of Rav Kook and the Mussar Masters, etc. In addition to serving as Hillel Director at M.I.T. and Princeton University, Rabbi Gottlieb has held several Rabbinical positions including leading Cong. Kehillat Ma'arav in Santa Monica for ten years from 1985-1995. He is a popular lecturer and teacher in many educational and religious institutions in the Los Angeles area, and is a respected psychotherapist in private practice for over 20 years.

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