WHO: Ross Brann, professor of Judeo-Islamic studies at Cornell University and adjunct fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

WHAT: Public lecture

WHERE:Penn Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, 420 Walnut St., Philadelphia

WHEN:Wednesday, Jan. 17, 7 p.m.

Ross Brann will discuss the most important Jewish cultural developments in Islam in Islam's classical age and will show how leading Jewish thinkers drew upon the Islamic intellectual culture to advance Judaism in ways that remain central to Jewish religion, philosophy and culture.

Brann is author of "The Compunctious Poet: Cultural Ambiguity" and Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain" and "Power in the Portrayal: Representations of Muslims and Jews in Islamic Spain."  He is also editor of four volumes and author of many essays on the intersection of medieval Jewish and Islamic culture.

David Ruderman, professor of modern Jewish history at Penn and director of Penn's Center for Advanced Judaic Studies will moderate the program, co-sponsored by the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and Middle East Center and made possible by an endowment from the Harry Stern Family Foundation.

The program is free and open to the public.  Seating is limited, and required reservations can be made with Elsie Stern at erstern@sas.upenn.edu or 215-238-1290, Extension 507.