Religion professor emeritus Charles Vernoff dies
March 12th, 2013Charles Vernoff, emeritus professor of religion, died March 11 at his home in West Hollywood, Calif. He was 71. Vernoff taught at Cornell College for 28 years, from 1978 until his retirement in 2006.
Charles Vernoff, emeritus professor of religion
Vernoff’s emeritus citation stated that he helped to reshape the curriculum of the religion department by adding depth and intercultural breadth to the course offerings, and brought a thoughtful, acute voice to faculty deliberations.
Best known for his courses Mysticism East and West, The History and Theology of the Holocaust, and Contemporary Jewish Literature, Vernoff was also a scholar whose work appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Jewish Civilization: Essays and Studies and many others.
Vernoff was also known on campus for his classroom teaching, his embrace of One Course At A Time, his fierce intellect, and his commitment to community. In his remarks at Vernoff’s retirement, Dean Dennis Moore said: “Charles’ sensibility has led him to care enormously about the concept of campus engagement in our setting, and over the years he has been an avid participant in our ongoing conversations about community at Cornell.”
Vernoff did his undergraduate work at the University of Chicago, and graduate work at Harvard University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Jerusalem, and earned his Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara.
The college will hold a story telling-based memorial service during Homecoming at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Allee Chapel.
A full obituary will be published in the summer edition of the Cornell Report. A column remembering Vernoff was published in the Intermountain Jewish News.
From the late 1970s to the turn of a new century Charles Vernoff was a vivid presence in the Department of Religion at Cornell College, where, with his long-time colleague David Weddle, he built an appealing and wide-ranging program of study. Charles regularly taught courses in Judaism, Mysticism, and the religions of ancient Mexico, but he was also a student of popular culture and the American West. Intellectual and imaginative, Charles brought interesting ideas, strong opinions, and a ringing laugh to the Hilltop, where I worked with him as academic dean for almost two decades. In the early years of American higher education, religion and religious studies anchored the liberal arts curriculum. In 2013 this is assuredly not the case, but the religion program at Cornell continues a lively tradition, and Charles Vernoff’s contribution will remain memorable for all who knew him there.
Charles shaped generations of Cornellians as a mythic thinker in the genre of a Joseph Campbell or Mircea Eliade. He also shaped the ethical thinking of many students through his teaching on post-Holocaust religious thought and the history of Jewish-Christian relations. He had a playful side including when playing his guitar. When as students we gathered at his feet in his Collin House apartment we soaked in just about anything he’d say with reverent awe. Charles had an incredible laugh that I am sure continues to echo throughout eternity and within all of us.
I graduated in 1981 one class shy of a religion major. I did not need it. I was an English Literature major, but I loved the religion classes. Dr. Vernoff and Dr. Weddle made up up the religion department. I learned much from them, and I still use illustrations and things I learned from Dr. Vernoff. I did not realize he was a relatively new professor at the time; he was full of wisdom and insight. He will be missed.
In 1987 I was an Art major who did find that I had enough credits to get a second major in Religion. The classes taught by both Dr. Vernoff and Dr. Weddle were truly extraordinary and I just keep taking them! I remember once interrupting Charles’s sabbath at Collin House and he generously explaining it to me —a discussion that wandered to Buddhism, Hinduism and back to Judaism. My life is so much richer from having known him.
In Professor Vernoff’s classes we read wonderful books, and articles, but it was his particular force and excitement that brought them to life. I adored his classes. I, among many other students, were challenged and changed by his work. He seemed to be always full of a particular drive and presence. His thought process, fierce opinions, personality, excitement for whatever he was teaching and his particular presence will live with me always.
I’m saddened to hear of Prof Vernoff’s passing. One of the first courses I took at Cornell College was his Introduction to World Religions which changed the way I view my own faith and world religions.
Charles was a close friend and brilliant colleague for almost 30 years. When I moved to Iowa City he insisted that I stay in his house until I found suitable housing (he was teaching in Colorado at the time). He was a constant traveler, wearing out his automobiles like the rest of us wear out our toothbrushes. We had mutual friends across the globe—it was not uncommon to meet a friend of Chuckie’s in travels to Jerusalem, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. Charlie consistently gave encouragement and support to my research and academic career. As a music lover and life-long scholar, he understood more details of my work than most musicologists. I spoke with Carlos several times in the weeks before his passing; he was alert, witty, and at complete peace with death. He started our last conversations with the words “Dovidel, my good friend, I am dying.” Yet his intellectual life remained rich to the very end, and he planned to publish his latest work. He was also intent on fulfilling his last responsibilities during hospice care as he received frequent visitors, including interlocutors on his favored topics. I understand that he collapsed while engaged in a lively conversation – that seems right.
I miss him. If such a thing is possible, I am sure he will be continuing his quest into the spiritual realms. . .