As the end of his year-long Cook-Crone Research Bye-Fellowship draws near, Professor Aaron Koller took the opportunity to address colleagues at Gonville & Caius and reflect on his time in Cambridge.
Aaron travelled to Cambridge with his family last August for 12 months’ research leave from Yeshiva University in New York City. They immersed themselves in collegiate Cambridge; his partner, Shira Hecht-Koller, often joining for College events, and two of the couple’s four children, enjoying school and living in the city. Their two adult children did not travel with them to the UK.
As many of his insightful discussions happened over lunch or dinner, Aaron chose to speak to colleagues after dinner at Caius.
“A year and a half ago I applied for a position as something I didn’t understand, a ‘bye-fellow’, at a place whose name I mispronounced,” said Aaron, pictured below with Shira in front of Caius' Great Gate.
“Shira and I didn’t know quite what we were getting in to in coming here, but it has been a remarkable year, thanks to the College.”
A professor of Near Eastern Studies at Yeshiva University, where he studies Semitic languages, Aaron’s research is focused on the history of the alphabet, crossing lines of Near Eastern history, linguistics, writing systems, Mediterranean studies, and the history of Arabia.
While his primary reason for coming to Caius was to work on a book, Aaron reflected on the interdisciplinary joys of being part of Caius.
“I’ve discovered that crossing disciplines is the most interesting, most exciting, and most productive part of intellectual life here, and it is to the College that I am most grateful for that,” he added.
Aaron outlined his gratitude to colleagues, including the Master, Professor Pippa Rogerson, and Fellows Professor David Abulafia, Dr John Casey, Dr Zoe Fritz and another Bye-Fellow, Acting Dean The Revd Dr Megan Daffern. He spoke of regular interactions with Professor Ian Henderson, Professor John Mollon and Professor Rafi Blumenfeld, plus his first lunch at Caius, alongside historians Professor Peter Mandler and Professor Sujit Sivasundaram. On that lunch, he says: “I came back thinking: (1) wow, everyone here knows a lot; (2) I can’t come back with such a long reading list after every meal; and (3) there are some exciting new ways to think about history.”
The intellectual collaboration with Professor Mollon, Professor of Visual Neuroscience, was described by Aaron as “the most productive interaction, thanks to John’s endless generosity”.
His work involved collaborations and talks within the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Faculty of Divinity and across libraries and collections of medieval Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts held across Cambridge. Aaron also had access to Dr Caius’ own Hebrew bible, perhaps from 13th Century Italy and bought by Dr Caius in the 1530s.
He has explored beyond his anticipated academic research, visiting an archive in University College London to explore Cambridge’s Reader in Rabbinic from 1873 to 1890, a Hungarian man named Solomon Schiller-Szinessy.
Aaron said: “It is clear to me that a fellowship in the greatest reading room would have been less stimulating, less interesting, and ultimately less productive than the opportunity to meet the many wonderful people in Caius. Shira and I will always feel that we have gained a home here.”
Patricia Crone was an Honorary Fellow of Caius whose bequest enabled the Cook-Crone Bye-Fellowship to be awarded. The Bye-Fellowship is not being awarded for 2023-24.
