U of A welcomes Belzberg Scholar Dr. Alexander Marcus

By Regan Lipes

(AJNews) – In early March, as part of the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies’ Jewish Studies Week, Dr. Alexander Marcus visited a mix of students, faculty, and some community members at the University of Alberta: soon to be his new home institution. His talk, titled “Travels in the Jewish/German Orient: Histories and Historiographies,” was enthusiastically received, and served as an exciting prelude for the many years to come as he assumes his role as the incoming Belzberg Family and Jewish Federation of Edmonton Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies.

Marcus will be relocating to Edmonton with his wife, Rachel Colwell, and young daughter, Lilah, during the summer to acclimate before the upcoming Fall 2025 semester. It is not just a win for the U of A’s Department of History, Classics, and Religion to have secured this Stanford University PhD graduate, but also for the broader Jewish community. For many years, the U of A’s offerings in Jewish Studies have been quite limited. It has been up to a few faculty to support this diverse and nuanced discipline. Now, with Marcus on their team, U of A students will be able to engage in additional varied topics relating to Jewish Studies, from the Babylonian Talmud to present day sociocultural and geopolitical topics to investigations of Jewish identity and representation.

In a phone interview with the Alberta Jewish News, when asked what he hopes to offer in terms of academic inquiry for non-Jewish students specifically, Marcus replied: “That’s a tough one to think through; nowadays certain issues can present themselves because of what’s happening in the world, and as a Jewish person and someone who has a level of observance and connection to Israel,  there is a certain perceived image to account for and address directly or indirectly. You end up feeling like you become a spokesperson for who Jews really are, whether that’s appropriate or not. There can be a lot of subtext in the conversations you have with people in and out of class.”

Marcus, in his past positions, has been a successful ambassador of Jewish Studies, introducing his pupils to the diversity of Jewish thought, practice, and identity. He has experience facilitating interfaith dialogue and conducting workshops on conflict transformation, and he teaches courses broaching contemporary issues of Jewishness within a global context. In the Winter term he will be teaching a course entitled ‘Israel-Palestine in the Religious Imagination.’ “I also have experience teaching about gender and sexuality in Judaism, and helping Jewish communities find productive ways to have those kinds of conversations,” he elaborated.

Marcus explained that, generally speaking, Jewish students have only made up approximately one third of his pupils, and with the modest community in Edmonton, that number might be smaller. In the past he has also worked closely with Hillel, Chabad, and other Jewish student groups. Having Marcus as a permanent scholar at the U of A will provide a valuable resource for Jewish students who face struggles of feeling marginalized and targeted by the proliferation of antisemitic sentiment. From a primary vantage point, such benefits would manifest as simply having greater access to Jewish religion and culture in a scholarly setting. Perhaps equally as valuable, though, will be the greater opportunities for non-Jewish students to be meaningfully immersed in Jewish topics from an academic perspective, and through Marcus’ broader campus engagement. In that regard, Jewish students at the U of A will hopefully feel less isolated.

Outside of the scholarly sphere, Marcus is also enthusiastic about contributing to the larger Edmonton Jewish community. “We try to be part of the Jewish community wherever we go.”  The Marcus-Colwell family lived in Tunis for a year, for example, and found ways of enhancing Jewish connectivity and engaging with the local Jewish population there. While living in Pennsylvania for the past two years, Marcus has volunteered to coordinate and lead a weekly Talmud study at his local shul. “It was well attended, although we would have liked to draw out some more younger participants too,” he mused.

On previous visits to Edmonton, Marcus enjoyed meeting prominent members of the community at the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, and all the local synagogues. He and his family are eager to start integrating themselves into Edmonton’s Jewish life, holiday gatherings, and simchas. In fact, his wife Rachel will also be teaching at the U of A in her area of expertise: ethnomusicology. In the Fall, she will be teaching a course on Jewish Music. The Marcus-Colwell duo will surely be able to enrich both the U of A and broader Jewish community with all they have to offer.

Those studying at the U of A, or who have children matriculating, should definitely investigate the range of courses that Dr. Alexander Marcus has planned. In addition to exploring the Torah and rabbinic texts through a historical and literary lens, he will also be tackling immediate questions of Judaism in contemporary society, including relations with Muslim and Christian communities on the local and international stage.

Students, U of A faculty, and the Edmonton Jewish community eagerly anticipate the arrival of this distinguished scholar. His forthcoming edited volume, The Aramaic Incantation Bowls in their Late Antique Jewish Contexts, will be available this summer, with more significant works to come. He brings with him an impressive dossier of accolades and distinctions, including having been the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Postdoctoral Associate in Jewish History at Yale University and a researcher in Ancient Judaism at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Soon, Marcus and his family will call Edmonton home, and they will no doubt become fixtures both at U of A and within the mosaic of the Jewish Edmonton. Edmontonians look forward to the exciting developments to come, and to getting to know the family better: a hearty welcome to the Marcus-Colwells!

Regan Lipes is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.