Jewish Studies, Hebrew, & Yiddish Language Courses

This course introduces students to basic aspects of Jewish studies, including Jewish history, Judaism and theology, philosophy and science, and culture. Not open to students who have completed JWSH 400 or JWSH 610.

Examination of special topics in Jewish religion. This course may be repeated if topic varies.

This course examines the major historical, political, and cultural developments that have shaped Israeli society from the late nineteenth century to the present. Topics include nation-building, mass immigration, war and trauma, geopolitics, ethnic inequality and tension, religion and the state, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through historical and ethnographic readings, as well as in-class discussions of diverse materials — from government protocols to poems, sitcoms, and films — students will gain an intimate, nuanced view of the different social groups and ideological projects that have been shaping Israeli society and politics to this day. The course makes an effort to acquaint students with the unique cultural values and experiences that make up “Israeliness,” while also emphasizing the diversity of Israeli voices — Ashkenazi and Mizrahi, left and right, secular and religious, Jewish and Arab.

This course examines the complex relationship between the United States and Israel, exploring its political, economic, and cultural dimensions through topics such as American Jewish politics, Christian Zionism, the Israel Lobby, progressive culture, anti-Zionism and antisemitism, global geopolitics, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This course encourages active, open-minded, informed engagement through readings, films, lively class discussions, and independent research.

A disproportionately large number of founders of anthropology in the 20th century were Jews. The figure of the “Jew,” as an abstract theoretical category, played a central role in some of the foundational texts of sociocultural theory at the beginning of the 20th century. There were also the real, “empirical” Jewish communities around the world, undergoing massive upheavals, that were the objects of numerous anthropological studies. This course will explore these different layers of the relations of anthropology, Jews, and Jewishness. Is there something particularly “Jewish” in the work of Boas, Durkheim, and Gofman or in the anthropological perspective more broadly? What was the role of the “Jew” in how early-twentieth-century sociocultural theory thought about modernity? Was it influenced by the enduring legacy of anti-semitism? What are some of the ways in which anthropology has been studying and analyzing Jewish communities around the world? Students of anthropology and other social sciences will find in this course an opportunity to do a close reading, in workshop mode, of some of the classic works of 20th century sociocultural theory, as well as think about the roots of their disciplines in both racism and anti-racist pushback. Students of Jewish studies, on the other hand, will find an anthropologically informed discussion of Jewish identity and Jewishness, anti-semitism, and the lived reality of global Jewish communities. (Same as ANTH 314.)

An introduction and survey of the history and interpretation of the Jewish and Christian bibles from their first formation to the present day. Students will explore the way the text, interpretation and format of the Bible have adjusted over time to accommodate religious, political, social and technological changes. Class will occasionally meet in the university's rare book collection to study rare bibles. (Same as REL 320.)

An introduction to the figure of Jesus in his ancient Jewish context. What was Jewish life like in Jesus's time? What did the early Jesus movement share with other forms of Judaism, and how did it differ? Evidence from the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other textual and archaeological sources will be used to explore the first-century Jewish society of which both Jesus and the first Christians were a part. (Same as REL 323.)

This course demystifies the Talmud, arguably the most central yet also the most mysterious text of rabbinic Judaism. Students are introduced to the scope, substance, styles, and major figures of the Talmud, and also learn how the text came into being over the course of several centuries. (Same as REL 326.) Prerequisite: REL 104, REL 107, or REL 124 or REL 125, or permission of the instructor.

This course explores Jewish women's involvement and activism in their communities and immediate environment. We will explore themes in Jewish women's participation like enfranchisement, labor activism, civil rights, access to healthcare, religious practices, cultural contributions, and family units. Students will have the opportunity to consider the relationship between identity, gender, religion, community, and how these impact individuals' social behavior. Specifically, students will explore how Jewish women have to balance their religious and ethnic identities and efforts to impact their surroundings.

This course explores Jewish women's involvement and activism in their communities and immediate environment. We will explore themes in Jewish women's participation like enfranchisement, labor activism, civil rights, access to healthcare, religious practices, cultural contributions, and family units. Students will have the opportunity to consider the relationship between identity, gender, religion, community, and how these impact individuals' social behavior. Specifically, students will explore how Jewish women have to balance their religious and ethnic identities and efforts to impact their surroundings.

This course explores the history of Jewish women from antiquity to the twentieth century. It examines the historical constructions of women's gender roles and identities in Jewish law and custom as well as the social and cultural impact of those constructions in the context of the realities of women's lives in both Jewish and non-Jewish society. (Same as HIST 335, WGSS 335.)

A survey of the many types of Religious Zionism, from the origins of the movement to the present, from Left to Right, and from Jewish to Christian. The class asks questions about the relationship between religion and politics in Israel using case studies as examples, and also considers the views of religious Jewish anti-Zionists. No previous knowledge of Judaism or Israeli history is required. (Same as REL 327.)

This course explores the complex of interactions between Jews, Judaism, and modernity by examining the challenges to Jewish life and thought, community and culture, self-understanding and survival, from the early modern period to the present day. Through the lenses of religious, cultural, intellectual, and political expression, the course examines the social, economic, and demographic changes in Jewish communities in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the United States, and Israel along with the impact of antisemitism and the Holocaust. (Same as HIST 344.)

This seminar focuses on theatre art production under extreme situations. Do artists have a moral obligation to bear witness to genocide and war? Lectures, historical and theoretical readings, play texts, dance performance, and films provide students with a context within which to explore such issues as: the function of the performing arts under duress; the artist's role under and in response to atrocity; and how art aids us to explore the human condition. Class discussion, readings, and individual projects. This course is offered at the 300 and 600 level with additional assignments at the 600 level. Not open to students with credit in JWSH 645 or THR 645. (Same as THR 345.) Prerequisite: THR 308 or instructor permission.

An examination of the Jewish American experience from the 17th century to the present through thematic and overlapping perspectives such as those of the arts, culture, identity, institutions, and politics.

This course provides an overview of the various dimensions of politics in the multi-continental area and conceptually-contested region of the “Middle East”. Included in the discussion of this are are the countries of the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean), the Maghreb (Arabic-speaking “North Africa”), the Arabian Peninsula (“Gulf Countries”), Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. The goal is to gain a broad understanding of this region’s domestic political institutions, the patterns and possibilities for political participation, the roles and dynamic interactions of politics with identities (gender, religion, ethnicity), and aspects of the region’s international relations. We examine these issues broadly across the region in comparative context and also through particular country cases. Formerly known as POLS 661. Not open to students with credit in POLS 661. (Same as POLS 361.)

An examination of the cultural history of the Jews through films that explore Jewish themes, including but not limited to: issues of tradition and modernity, religion and secularism, immigration, gender, Zionism, anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. Films studied may be in English and in foreign languages (with English subtitles) like Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian.

Jewish folklore is extraordinarily rich and varied. From legends to folk songs, from jokes to elements of folk dress and ritual, folklore is central to the Jewish way of life. In this course students will examine spoken genres (such as folktales, legends, jokes) as well as objects of material culture (such as menorahs, dreidels and more), to understand the place of folklore in Jewish life. Students will study ritual and folk belief, and talk about the supernatural beings of Jewish folklore, such as dybbuks, golems. As a part of this course, students will acquire theoretical tools with which to analyze folklore, visit a local exhibit of Jewish folk objects, and gain experience in collecting folklore.

This course explores the social interconnections and interactions of the various cultures, religions, and ethnic identities in Israel.

This seminar focuses on theatre art production under extreme situations. Do artists have a moral obligation to bear witness to genocide and war? Lectures, historical and theoretical readings, play texts, dance performance, and films provide students with a context within which to explore such issues as: the function of the performing arts under duress; the artist's role under and in response to atrocity; and how art aids us to explore the human condition. Class discussion, readings, and individual projects. This course is offered at the 300 and 600 level with additional assignments at the 600 level. Not open to student with credit in JWSH 345 or THR 345. (Same as THR 645.) Prerequisite: THR 308 or graduate standing, or instructor permission.

Examination of special topics in Yiddish. May be repeated if topic varies.

Intensive reading or research under faculty supervision.