Courses

Fall 2024 Jewish Studies Courses

CAMS 530

Ancient Judaism – Special Topic

Instructor: Daniel Falk
TIME: Monday/Wednesday, 6:00PM – 7:15PM
JST 409Y

Antisemitisms

Instructor: Eliyana Adler
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 12:05PM – 1:20PM

This course analyzes major episodes in the history of anti-Semitism and tries to clarify the motives and dynamics involved. It seeks to understand what these episodes have in common and what is unique in each case–is there a single universal, eternal antisemitism? Or are there rather ‘anti-Semitisms’ each belonging to a unique historical context? Is there a single continuous line of development in anti-Semitism? What is the relationship of a particular anti-Semitism to the national culture in which it originates?We will be reading the major original texts of anti-Semitism from Roman and ancient writers, through early Christian texts and medieval Christian Blood Libels against the Jews, documents of the Spanish expulsion, Lutheran tracts, Voltaire’s essays, German philosophical texts from Kant to Marx, Wagner’s racial essays, the Protocols of Zion, and documents of Nazi anti-Semitism by Hitler and Streicher. The major part of the grade will depend on a short research paper which will be presented in various drafts, so that the final version represents the culmination of discussion and constructive criticism and advice. This course is a parallel course to J ST/HIST 416 (Zionist History) and J ST/HIST 118 (Modern Jewish History). This course will count toward the Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, and History majors and minors in the 400-level category.

JST 420

Archaeology of the Near East

Instructor: Ann Killebrew
TIME: Monday/Wednesday, 4:00PM – 5:15PM

Culture of the Near East and India from Paleolithic times through the Bronze Age.

JST 124

Early and Medieval Christianity

Instructor: Michael Beshay
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 1:35PM – 2:50PM

This course provides an introduction to the early history of Christianity. It traces, specifically, the development of the Christian movement from its beginnings as a small Jewish sect in Jerusalem to its unlikely emergence as the religion of the Roman Empire and, finally, its subsequent spread and development in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In form and structure, the course is historical, following figures and events in a more or less chronological sequence and taking up questions of causality, influence, and social identity. Yet the course is also concerned with the ideas, concepts, and philosophical viewpoints that have shaped Christianity and given it a certain intellectual coherence over time.

JST 432W

Gender and Sexuality in the Bible

Instructor: Michael Joseph Stahl
TIME: Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 1:25PM – 2:15PM

This writing intensive course will examine issues of gender and sexuality in the Bible, including the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the Deuterocanon, and the New Testament. It will introduce students to a variety of academic approaches to the Bible with respect to a broad range of topics. These topics include: gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, marriage and divorce, adultery, monogamy and polygyny, same-sex relations, chastity and celibacy, prostitution, gender violence, pornography, fertility, procreation, abortion, divine gender and sex, incest, and many others. In covering these themes, the course will deal with some of the most challenging and often disturbing stories and passages in the Bible, the ancient library of books that is sacred to Jews and Christians and which has otherwise greatly influenced civilization for more-or-less two thousand years.

JST 143N

History of Fascism and Nazism

Instructor: Ran Zwigenberg
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 1:35PM – 2:50PM

This course studies the developments of right-wing totalitarianism in the twentieth century with special emphasis on Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, which provided the roots for fascist developments in the modern world. The course concerns itself with understanding the social, political, and economic contexts of fascism, its governing assumptions, ideals, and values, how it worked in practice, and its consequences and historical implications. Another focus will be on the question of why these illiberal, anti-democratic, and ultimately murderous regimes appear to have appealed to many groups during the 1930s and 1940s, not only within Italy and Germany, but also within broader European society.

JST 123

History of God

Instructor: Taylor Gray
TIME: Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 10:10AM – 11:50AM

This course examines the early history of God; that is, the concept of the divine as a single supreme being. In particular, it focuses on the origins of monotheism and the development of its three major traditions in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, from their respective beginnings to around 1000 C.E. The course will begin with an analysis of the polytheistic religious milieu of the Ancient Near East in the second and first millennia B.C.E., and will consider the question of how, when, and why belief in one God first appeared in ancient Israel.

JST 121

History of the Holocaust 1933-1945

Instructor: Eliyana Adler
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 9:05AM – 10:20AM

This course focuses on the history and historiography of the Holocaust from 1933-1945. In addition to cultivating intellectual skills, such as critical analysis and concise presentation, the primary purpose of this course is to provide an in-depth overview of the Holocaust. The course will touch on various aspects of the Holocaust, including the function of the “Ghettos”, the role of the mobile killing units, extermination camps, Jewish resistance, the role of the Allies, Holocaust trials, and the question how the Holocaust can be compared with other genocides. The course will analyze the Holocaust using historical, literary, and philosophical approaches.

JST 110

Introduction to the Bible: Old Testament

Instructor: Michael Joseph Stahl
TIME: WEB

This course introduces students to the literature of ancient Israel, its rituals, the stories which established a people’s identity, and which defined their moral behavior. Great figures of the texts, such as Moses, David, Solomon, Bathsheba, Ruth, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezra, teach us important lessons about life and how people of faith attempted to relate to one another, to God, and to people outside their ethnic group.

JST 112

Jesus the Jew

Instructor: Daniel Falk
TIME: Monday/Wednesday, 4:00PM – 5:15PM

Although Jesus of Nazareth is the object of Christian devotion, he was not a Christian himself, but a pious Jew. What can be known about the historical figure of Jesus the Palestinian Jew? Because almost all of our source material espouses Jesus as the Christ of Christian faith, the first step is to understand the aims and perspectives of these Christian sources, including the canonical Gospels as well as non-canonical Gospels. A careful examination of these sources will be made in light of critical scholarship and the social and historical context of Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. We will then consider and evaluate a few of the different scholarly reconstructions of the historical Jesus. Major emphases will include the historical, social, religious, political, and cultural contexts for situating the life and teachings of Jesus.

JST 10

Jewish Civilization

Instructor: Eric Fleisch
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 1:35PM – 2:50PM

This course is an introduction to the study of the Jewish people, an ancient religious community that has lasted through the millennia. It will study the historical development of Jewish civilization, culture, and place in the world through a variety of case studies of Jewish civilizations living throughout varied regions of the world, at different times, and experiencing different challenges and opportunities unique to their moment in history. The main focus will be an exploration of how have Jewish leaders, communities, and individuals have reconciled their interests/agendas both as Jews and as members of a larger society with changing circumstances within and without their communities.

This course can also be used for completion of the Hebrew Minor.

JST 12N

Lands of the Bible

Instructor: Ann Killebrew
TIME: Monday/Wednesday, 2:30PM – 3:45PM

Who, what, and where were the ancient peoples, cultures and places that played key roles in the shaping of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), New Testament and Quran? When do they appear in history and how do we reconstruct their past and legacy? Why do these ancient cultures and writings continue to influence our contemporary world? Utilizing methodologies and approaches from historical geography, archaeology, contemporary historical documents, epigraphy and anthropology, we will investigate the civilizations and peoples of the lands associated with the biblical texts. This course examines the cultural traditions that developed in these regions and contextualize the world out of which the Bible emerged. Thousands of years later, their beliefs, customs and practices continue to resonate in our lives today.

This course can also be used for completion of the Hebrew Minor.

JST 120

New Testament

Instructor: Michael Beshay
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 10:35AM – 11:50AM

Whether you are already familiar with the New Testament or simply curious about it, this course will provide you a thorough introduction to the books of the New Testament, central figures like Jesus and Paul, and the historical contexts that shed light on the early Christian movement.

JST 160

Sacrifice in the Ancient World

Instructor: Jen Singletary
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 4:35PM – 5:50PM

Sacrifice (from Latin sacer “holy + facere “to make”) is one of the most prevalent yet troubling aspects of religion. Its destruction and violence is often at odds with other rituals and core understandings within a religion, so why is it done and what good does it do? For the sacrificer, does it represent a gift to the gods, a renunciation, an exchange, a surrogate, or something else? This course will examine some competing definitions and theories of sacrifice, as well as its manifestations in the cultures and religions of the ancient Mediterranean world, especially those of Greece, Rome, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Hatti, Israel, and Phoenicia. A brief look at religious sacrifice elsewhere, such as ancient Mesoamerica and India, will conclude the course.

JST 60N

Society and Cultures in Modern Israel

Instructor: Tamir Sorek
TIME: Tuesday, 6:00PM – 9:00PM

This course teaches students to cut through the mythology, and develop a more accurate understanding of what Israel is in the 21st century. Since Israel is a culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse society, it is only possible to understand the true nature of modern Israel through exploring the many sub-groups that comprise the Israeli citizenry. The course looks at Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews (both religious and secular), Muslim and Christian Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, Ethiopian-Israelis, Russian-Israelis, Bedouins, and Druze. For each group, it looks at demographics, background histories, migration patterns, institutions, cultural norms, values, and practices.

JST 140

The History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (1917-Present)

Instructor: Tamir Sorek
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 3:05PM – 4:20PM
The purpose of this course is to convey the complexity of the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict in all of its manifestations. We will study the core issues and narratives that have kept Israelis and Palestinians at loggerheads for more than a century. We will do this by tracing the historical progression of conflict and attempts at conflict resolution; We will explore the key underlying issues the keep the conflict alive; But most importantly, we will view material that expresses the perspective of all sides. Antagonists in conflicts often feel that their version of the history is authoritative. It is my intention in this course to introduce all perspectives, and provide students the tools and space to make any judgements (or not) on their own.
JST 128N

The Holocaust in Film and Literature

Instructor: Sabine Doran
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 3:05PM – 4:20PM

This class studies how art, literature, film, and other media can help us to gain a perspective on one of the most horrific events in human history, the Holocaust: the genocidal murder of more than six million men, women, and children (mostly Jewish) under the Nazi regime during World War II. We will also examine the theoretical questions involved in any attempt to capture what appears to be beyond our comprehension, in terms of moral outrage and the sheer scale, inhumanity, and bureaucratic efficiency. To this end we will study literary works, such as Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, films such as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, as well as photographs, poems, artworks, installations, museum architecture, the design of monuments and other artifacts. We will also examine questions of memorialization (Holocaust museums and memorials), national guilt, survivor’s guilt, stigmatization, and the ethics of historical representation.

JST 128N

The Holocaust in Film and Literature

Instructor: Lisa Sternlieb
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 4:35PM – 5:50PM

This class studies how literature, film, art, and other media can help us gain a perspective on one of the most horrific events in human history, the Holocaust: the genocidal murder of about six million men, women, and children defined as “racially” Jewish under the Nazi regime during World War II. Our main interest in class will be with the way people imagine (visualize in various ways) “how it was like” – both during and after World War II. We will also examine the theoretical questions involved in the various attempts to capture what appears to many as beyond comprehension, in terms of moral outrage and the sheer scale, inhumanity, and bureaucratic efficiency. To this end we will study well-known literary works, such as Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, films such as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, as well as more obscure, older, and less internationally known works, in order to present diverse perspectives on the war and the Holocaust. We will also examine photographs, poems, installations, and other artifacts, and explore questions of memorialization (Holocaust museums and memorials), memory politics, and the ethics of historical representation.

JST 128N

The Holocaust in Film and Literature

Instructor: Kobi Kabalek
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 9:05AM – 10:20AM

This class studies how literature, film, art, and other media can help us gain a perspective on one of the most horrific events in human history, the Holocaust: the genocidal murder of about six million men, women, and children defined as “racially” Jewish under the Nazi regime during World War II. Our main interest in class will be with the way people imagine (visualize in various ways) “how it was like” – both during and after World War II. We will also examine the theoretical questions involved in the various attempts to capture what appears to many as beyond comprehension, in terms of moral outrage and the sheer scale, inhumanity, and bureaucratic efficiency. To this end we will study well-known literary works, such as Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, films such as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, as well as more obscure, older, and less internationally known works, in order to present diverse perspectives on the war and the Holocaust. We will also examine photographs, poems, installations, and other artifacts, and explore questions of memorialization (Holocaust museums and memorials), memory politics, and the ethics of historical representation.

JST 190

The Middle East Today

Instructor: Lior Sternfeld
TIME: Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 9:05AM – 9:55AM

This course introduces students to the peoples and places of the contemporary Middle East. The course engages students in discussion of themes that are pertinent to the region and to contemporary issues, including demographic change, youth culture and university life, human rights issues and activism, the trauma of war, effects of globalization, ecology, and the environment. Exploring the Middle East in the present with attention to historical context, students will examine a variety of sources, including news media, novels, stories, poetry, films, soap operas, blogs and vlogs.

JST 427

Topics in Jewish American Literature

Instructor: Benjamin Schreier
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 1:35PM – 2:50PM

This course will provide sustained examination of major themes, texts, and figures in the Jewish American literary tradition. The course will focus on depth rather than breadth in its analysis of the defining aspects of the literature and on what the literature reveals about Jewish American culture and identity. The United States has absorbed large numbers of Jewish immigrants from many parts of the world, holding many different ideas about Jewish practice, and affiliating themselves with many different political, social, and cultural traditions, and moreover Jews have settled and made homes in a wide variety of American communities.

JST 416

Zionism

Instructor: Eric Fleisch
TIME: Tuesday/Thursday, 3:05PM – 4:20PM

History of Zionist thought and politics to the foundation of Israel 1948.

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Spring 2023 Hebrew Courses

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Spring 2023 Holocaust and Genocide Studies Courses

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