Dr. Soltes currently teaches theology, art history, philosophy, and political history at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He has also taught across diverse disciplines for many years at The Johns Hopkins University, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Siegel College in Cleveland, and other colleges and universities.
Soltes has lectured at dozens of museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He has been interviewed for a score of programs on archaeological, religious, art, literary, and historical topics on CNN, the History Channel, and Discovery Channel, and he hosted a popular series on Ancient Civilizations for middle school students.
For seven years, Dr. Soltes was Director and Chief Curator of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum, where he created over 80 exhibitions focusing on aspects of history, ethnography, and contemporary art. He has also curated diverse contemporary and historical art exhibits at other sites, nationally and internationally. As Director of the National Jewish Museum, he co-founded the Holocaust Art Restitution Project and has spent more than 20 years researching and consulting on the issue of Nazi-plundered art.
Ori has authored or edited scores of books, articles, exhibit catalogues, and essays on diverse topics. He leads annual study tours to museums and art and archaeological sites throughout Europe, the Middle East and parts of Africa.
Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Searching for Oneness
Rowman and Littlefield (2008) Selected Publications
Between Thought & Action: An Intellectual Biography of Fethullah Gülen
Blue Dome (2022)
Tradition and Transformation: Three Millennia of Jewish Art and Architecture
Canal Street Studios, 2016 (second edition: Eshel Books, 2022)
Growing Up Jewish in India: Synagogues, Customs, and Ceremonies from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin
Niyogi Books, (2021)
Eros and Eris: Love and Strife In and Beyond the Greco-Roman World
New Academia Publishers (2021)
God and the Goalposts: A Brief History of Sports, Religion, Politics, War, and Art
Bartleby Press (second edition; 2021)
Immortality, Memory, Creativity, and Survival: The Arts of Alice Lok Cahana, Ronnie Cahana, and Kitra Cahana
Fritz Ascher Society Publications (2020)
Then and Now: Love Lost and Sometimes Found
Canal Street Studios (2019)
Magic and Religion in the Greco-Roman world: the Beginnings of Judaism and Christianity
Academia-West Press (2017)
Jews on Trial: Judges, Juries, Prosecutors and Defendants from the Era of Jesus to Our Own Time
Eshel Books (2013)
Embracing the World: Fetullah Gulen’s Thought and Its Relationship to Jalaluddin Rumi and Others
Tughra Books (2013)
Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Searching for Oneness
Rowman and Littlefield (2008)
Our Sacred Signs: How Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Art Draw from the Same Source
Basic Books (2005)
Beyond the Golden Fleece: A Cultural History of the Jews of Georgia (editor)
Komar & Melamid: Symbols of the Big Bang
Yeshiva University Museum Exhibition Catalogue (2002)
