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Jewish Studies

COURSES

NOTE: Hebrew language courses are offered in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures.

INTRODUCTORY COURSES

4. Religion of Israel: The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) (Identical to, and described under, Religion 4)

08F, 09F: 2

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Ackerman.

6. Introduction to Judaism (Identical to, and described under, Religion 6)

08F: 10

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Benor.

7. First-Year Seminars in Jewish Studies

Consult special listings

10. History and Culture of the Jews I: The Classical Period (Identical to History 94.8)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Heschel.

11. History and Culture of the Jews II: The Modern Period (Identical to History 94.9)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

A continuation of Jewish Studies 10, but may be taken independently. This course provides a survey of Jewish history and culture from the European enlightenment to the establishment of the State of Israel. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI. Heschel.

16. Introduction to Hebrew and Israeli Culture (Identical to Hebrew 10 and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies 17; described under Hebrew 10)

09S, 10S: 10A

Dist: LIT; WCult: NW. Glinert.

LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

21. Jewish American Literature (Identical to English 67.6 in 09W, 67.12 in 10S)

09W: 10A 10S: 2A

The content of Jewish American Literature reflects that of many literatures including the broad variety of historical, political, social, and cultural experiences that Jews from very different places and backgrounds have brought to the United States. The course introduces students to the central topics, motives, and literary strategies from the beginnings of a tangible Jewish American literature in the late nineteenth century to the present. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Milich.

21.2 Modern Jewish American Women Writers (Identical to English 67.9 and Women’s and Gender Studies 51.5)

09S: 12

This course will explore the literature of Jewish American women from the late nineteenth century to the present; topics for discussion will include feminism, sexuality, identity politics, activism, and literary transmission. Among the readings will be poetry, fiction, memoir, and essays by such writers as Lazarus, Antin, Yezierska, Stock, Stein, Olsen, Rukeyser, Paley, Ozick, Rich, Piercy, Levertov, Gluck, Goldstein, Wasserstein, Goodman, Klepfisz, Feinberg, Chernin. Dist: LIT, WCult: CI. Zeiger.

22. Jews and Hollywood (Identical to Film Studies 47)

09F: 10A

This course will look at the complex, rich tradition of Jewish artists as well as the history of representations of Jews in film. We will focus on American films and examine how Jews became American and how American culture became Jewish. Topics will include: the role of Jews in the creation of the product and myth of Hollywood, how anti-semetism shaped images of Jews in film, and how mainstream film has shaped contemporary Jewish identity. Dist: ART; WCult: W. Bronski.

24.1 The Hebrew of the Bible (Identical to, and described under, Hebrew 51)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Glinert

24.2 Jewish Humor and Its Roots: Rabbis, Rogues, and Schlemiels (Identical to Hebrew 63 and Comparative Literature 41; described under Hebrew 63)

09S: 2A

Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Glinert.

24.3 Midrash: How the Rabbis Interpreted the Bible (Identical to Hebrew 62 and Comparative Literature 70)

10S: 2A

Midrash is the ancient Jewish term for Biblical interpre-tation. We examine how the Bible was interpreted by the Rabbis 1500 to 2000 years ago, at the crucial juncture in history when the Bible was being canonized in the form it now has. We focus on powerful motifs such as the Creation, the Flood, Jacob and Esau, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and the Exodus, and view them through two prisms: through a wide range of ancient Midrashic texts themselves; and through one influential modern Jewish literary reading of the Midrashic themes of Genesis. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW. Glinert.

24.4 Struggle and Rebirth in Hebrew and Yiddish Literature (Identical to, and described under, Hebrew 61; also Comparative Literature 38)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: LIT; WCult: NW. Glinert.

27. The Jewish Family (Identical to, and described under, Comparative Literature 46)

08F: 2A

Dist: LIT. Kritzman.

27.3 Islam and Judaism: Europe’s Orientalist Visions (Identical to English 60.2)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Studying representations of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the arts, history, theology and racial discourse in nineteenth century Britain, France, and Germany, this course will examine the rise of Islamic and Judaic Studies and Orientalist themes in the arts, including poetry, novels, travel writing, and briefly, music and painting. Readings will include: Goethe, Flaubert, Eliot, Said, Behdad, Ben-Yosef, and others. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Heschel, McKee.

TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

33. American Jewish History (Identical to, and described under, History 6)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: SOC; WCult: CI. Orleck

37.1 History of the Holocaust (Identical to History 58)

Not offered in the period 08F through 10S

Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Heschel.

37.2 Burden of the Nazi Past: World War, Genocide, Population Transfer, and Firebombing (Identical to Comparative Literature 64 and German 45; described under Comparative Literature 64 and German 45)

Not offered in the period 08F through 10S

Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Kacandes.

TOPICS IN THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF ISRAEL

41.2 Synagogue and Church: Archaeology of Roman Palestine (Identical to Art History 16.2)

09W: 12

The Greco-Roman era in the ancient Near East is crucial for understanding the evolution of Judaism and the emergence of Christianity. This course will examine the archeological, historical, and art historical evidence for the development of Judaism and Christianity beginning with the First Century B.C.E. Topics will include the study of Jerusalem and its Temple, the archeological evidence surrounding the life and death of Jesus, and the art and architecture of the first synagogues and churches. Dist: ART; WCult: W. Kangas.

42. Film, Fiction and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Identical to, and described under, Hebrew 61)

09F: 2A

Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Glinert.

JUDAISM, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY

51. Freud: Psychoanalysis, Jews, and Gender (Identical to Women’s and Gender Studies 67.1 and German 42)

09S: 10A

This course will examine how Freud’s own writings, his biography, and his biographers have shaped the perceptions of psychoanalysis as a specifically Jewish theory and practice. Through a reading of Freud’s texts on gender, sexuality, and religion, we will trace the connections between psychoanalysis, Jewishness, and gender that have impacted theoretical discussion. We will explore critique, including Horney, Reich, and Marcuse, and recent debate on the status of Freud in the U.S. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI. Fuechtner.

52. Judaism, Sexuality, and Queerness (Identical to Women’s and Gender Studies 65.1)

09S: 2A

The intersections between gender formation, sexual identity, sexual practice, religious practice, cultural identity, and personal belief will be examined. Drawing from contemporary gender theory, religious texts, and current interpretations of Jewish thought and culture in the works of Judith Halberstam, Marilyn Halter, Rachel Adler, Sander Gilman, Miriam Peskowitz, Laura Levitt, and David Beale, we will examine the construction of Jewish identity as well as gender and sexual orientation through a feminist/queer lens. Dist: TMV; WCult: CI. Bronski.

JEWS, ETHNICITY, AND RACE

55. Performing National Identities: Representations of Blacks and Jews in U.S. Culture (Identical to English 67 and African and African American Studies 84)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Schweitzer.

56. The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Middle Eastern Literature and Film (Identical to Comparative Literature 64 and Arabic 61)

08F: 10A

This course will examine the Arab-Israeli conflict as portrayed in both Arabic and Hebrew/Israeli literary traditions—poetry, short story, novellas, literary essays, personal accounts, and also film, looking at how adversaries portray each other, how mutual stereotypes are created and reinforced, and how the conflict has shaped the development of these respective literary and cinematic traditions in substantially different ways. Authors will include Kanafani, Yehoshus, Khalifeh, Oz, Sakakini and Habiby. Dist: INT; WCult: CI. Bardenstein.

TOPICS IN JEWISH RELIGION

60. Judaism in Late Antiquity: The Rabbinic Revolution (Identical to, and described under, Religion 21)

10W: 10

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Benor.

61. Modern Judaism (Identical to, and described under, Religion 22)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Heschel.

62. Jewish Mysticism (Identical to, and described under, Religion 23)

08F: 12

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Benor.

63. Jewish Philosophers of Religion (Identical to, and described under, Religion 24)

10W: 2

Dist: TMV; WCult: W. Benor.

SPECIAL TOPICS COURSES IN JEWISH STUDIES

70. The Jew in the Protestant Imagination: The Merchant of Venice (Identical to English 65.2 and Religion 81)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: LIT, WCult: W. Heschel.

73. The Creative Dimension of the Jewish Diaspora in Latin America (Identical to Comparative Literature 52 and Latin American and Caribbean Studies 54)

08F: 2

A historical introduction to the course will locate the Jewish reality in Latin America over the centuries with its different exiles and migratory movements. The course will study the literary production of key Jewish Latin American writers and the representation of Jewish identity through films, short stories, poetry and other materials. Major themes include Anti-Semitism, identity and cultural expression, ideology and religion. Dist: LIT or INT; WCult: CI. Merino.

SEMINAR IN JEWISH STUDIES

80. History of Holocaust Historiography (Identical to History 95)

Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S

Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Heschel.

81. Middle Eastern Memoirs/Autobiographies and the Construction of Collective Memory: Arabs and Jews Narrate Life-Stories (Identical to English 62.2 and Comparative Literature 54)

09W: 10A

This course will examine memoirs and autobiographies from the Middle East, with emphasis on Palestinian and Israeli memoirs. We will examine the different modalities of autobiographical writing while analyzing the relationships and tensions between “the individual and the collective.” We will look at the ways that particular experiences and positionalities are viewed as delineating a collective and how they shape narration and representation in autobiographical forms. Authors include Oz, Said, Appelfeld, Be’er, Matalaon, Shehedeh, Aciman, Kashua and Sakakini. Dist: INT and LIT; WCult: CI. Bardenstein.

85. Independent Study and Research

All terms: Arrange

This course offers qualified students of Jewish Studies the opportunity to pursue work on a topic of special interest through an individually designed program. Requires permission of the instructor and the Chair.