Courses

    Explores topics in international affairs as it relates to Jewish culture and society. Subjects addressed under this heading vary according to student interest and faculty availability. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. IAFS 3610 and JWST 3610 are the same course. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors).
    Explores the origins and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Traces Arab-Jewish/Israeli relations from the nineteenth century through the Palestine Mandate, the evolution of Arab and Jewish nationalism, and the creation of Israel to the present day. Recommended prereqs., HIST 1308; HIST/JWST 1828. Same as IAFS 3650. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors).
    Explores the Jewish-American experience from the 19th century to the present through writers such as Sholom Aleichem, Peretz, Babel, Singer, Malamud, Miller, Ginsberg, and Ozick. The Jewish experience ranges from the travails of immigration to the loss of identity through assimilation. Same as ENGL 3677. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors).

    Prereqs., HEBR 1010, 1020, 2110, and 2120.

    Prereqs., HEBR 1010, 1020, 2110, 2120, and 3840.

    Learn beyond the classroom by interning in a local non-profit organization that connects with the Program in Jewish Studies through its mission and/or program. Interns will be supervised by the faculty member of record as well as the employer housing the intern. Recommended prereqs., HIST/JWST 1818 or HEBR/JWST 2350. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

    Serves as the final product for students completing the major in Jewish Studies. The capstone asks students to design a project under the supervision of a mentor that serves as the summation of their past work in Jewish Studies. Capstone projects can take the form of a thesis, film, or other medium and must engage the student's second language. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 87-180 credits (Senior, Fifth Year Senior) Jewish Studies (JWST) majors only.

    Explores topics in Jewish anthropology. Course will use the lens of anthropological inquiry to explore, discover and analyze different concepts within Jewish culture. Topics explored will include customs, religious practices, languages, ethnic and regional subdivisions, occupations, social composition, and folklore. Courses will explore fundamental questions about the definition of Jewish identity, practices and communities. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. ANTH 4050 and JWST 4050 are the same course.

    Explores topics in Hebrew and Jewish literature and cultures. These may include topics such as diasporic literatures, Jewish artists and thinkers, courses on specific authors, figures or communities. Topics change each semester. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Taught in English. HEBR 4101 and JWST 4101 are the same course.

    Explores topics in Hebrew and Jewish literature and cultures. These may include topics such as diasporic literatures, Jewish artists and thinkers, courses on specific authors, figures or communities. Topics change each semester. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Taught in English. HEBR 4101 and JWST 4101 are the same course.

    Examines the creation and development of Israeli literature from its pre-State beginnings to the present day, from the writings of immigrants for whom Hebrew was not their mother tongue to a literature written by native Hebrew speakers. Considers texts written by Israeli Jewish and Arab writers and explores how ideas of exile, nation, and home play into the Israeli experience. Prereq., Any 1000 or 2000 level literature Hebrew or Jewish studies course or instructor's consent required. Recommended prereqs., ENGL/JWST 3677, GRMN/JWST 2502; GRMN/JWST 3503; HEBR/JWST 2551; WRTG/JWST 3020. Same as JWST 4203. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

    Examines the creation and development of Israeli literature from its pre-State beginnings to the present day, from the writings of immigrants for whom Hebrew was not their mother tongue to a literature written by native Hebrew speakers. Considers texts written by Israeli Jewish and Arab writers and explores how ideas of exile, nation, and home play into the Israeli experience. Prereq., Any 1000 or 2000 level literature Hebrew or Jewish studies course or instructor's consent required. Recommended prereqs., ENGL/JWST 3677, GRMN/JWST 2502; GRMN/JWST 3503; HEBR/JWST 2551; WRTG/JWST 3020. Same as HEBR 4203. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

    Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought, and movements in Judaism, along with other traditions, across a range of historical periods. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours as topics change. Recommended prereqs., 6 hours of RLST or JWST courses at any level or instructor consent. RLST 4260, RLST 5260, and JWST 4260 are the same course.

    Explores the development of European Jewish culture from the late Middle Ages to the present by focusing on Jewish life in the city of Venice, Italy. Emphasis is on the development of Venetian print culture and emergence of Italy as a center of Jewish publishing in both the religious and secular world. The course examines a variety of cultural and historical material including early printings of the Talmud, the creation of Yiddish popular literature, Hebrew rabbinic literature, responses to political turmoil, and the aftermath of the Nazi genocide. Taught in English. Department enforced prereq., HEBR/JWST 2350 (minimum grade C-). HEBR 4301 and JWST 4301 are the same course. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

    Explores the development of European Jewish culture from the late Middle Ages to the present by focusing on Jewish life in the city of Venice, Italy. Emphasis is on the development of Venetian print culture and emergence of Italy as a center of Jewish publishing in both the religious and secular world. The course examines a variety of cultural and historical material including early printings of the Talmud, the creation of Yiddish popular literature, Hebrew rabbinic literature, responses to political turmoil, and the aftermath of the Nazi genocide. Taught in English. Department enforced prereq., HEBR/JWST 2350 (minimum grade C-). HEBR 4301 and JWST 4301 are the same course. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

    Explore the challenges and complexities of justice, democracy, and human rights in Israel and the West Bank through field trips, course work and service learning projects with Jerusalem based non-profit organizations. Acquire new knowledge and lived experience on critical issues facing Israelis and Palestinians with the wider scope of Middle East politics. Recommended prereqs., ANTH/JWST 4050 and IAFS/JWST 3600. Same as IAFS 3520. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: contemporary societies.

    Explore the history culture, and politics of this crossroads of Europe and Asia from the late Ottoman period to the present. Topics include: nationalism and colonialism, development of Zionist ideology, Palestinian nationalism, the Jewish community (Yishusv) under British rule, the founding of the State of Israel, Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli relations, Israel's minorities, and the conflict of religion and state. Recommended prereqs., HIST/JWST 1818 or 1828 or HEBR/JWST 2350, or other courses in Jewish or Middle Eastern Studies. HIST 4338 and JWST 4338 are the same course.

    Covers topics in Jewish history from biblical beginnings to present day. Topics vary each semester. Consult the online Schedule Planner for specific topics. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours within the degree. Prereqs., HIST 1108 or 1308 or JWST 2350. Same as HIST 4348. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.

    Examines Jewish communities of the Mediterranean basin and Middle East in modern times. Topics covered include culture and identity of these communities, as well as their encounter with empire, westernization, and nationalism, among other political and social currents. Exploration of images and representations of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries. Sources include memoirs, diaries, films, 19th century press and correspondence, and travelogues. Same as HIST 4378.

    Examines the experience of Russian Jews from the late 19th century to the present through fiction and films dealing with challenges of co-existence of Jews and their neighbors; Bolshevik Revolution, Stalinism, Holocaust, post-Stalin period; place of Jews as individuals and a minority within Russian and Soviet society; and emigration to America and elsewhere at the turn of the century. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., any 1000 or 2000-level undergraduate literature course. Same as RUSS 4401. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

    Takes students on a journey from Medieval Spain to contemporary United States to explore how Jews, living in different societies, have attempted to reshape and interpret central Jewish values and beliefs in accordance with the prevailing ideas of their host societies. Focuses on the historical context of each Jewish society that produced the thinkers and ideas considered in this course. Recommended prereq., HIST 1010 or 1020, HIST/JWST 1818 or 1828 or HEBR/JWST 2350. JWST 4454 and HIST 4454 are the same course. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.

    Focus on the last 500 years of European Jewish history, from 1492 until the present, to examine Jews' place in European history and how Europe has functioned in Jewish history. The course will not end with the Holocaust, since, although Hitler and the Nazis attempted to destroy European Jewish civilization, they did not succeed. Rather, this course will spend several weeks looking at European Jewish life in the past sixty year. Recommended prereq., HIST/JWST 1818 or HIST/JWST 1828 or HIST 1020. Same as HIST 4534.

    Jews have produced culture in Yiddish, the vernacular language of eastern European Jewry, for 1000 years and the language continues to shape Jewish culture today. In this course, we will look at the literature, film, theater, music, art, sound, and laughter that defined the culture of eastern European Jewry and, in the 20th century, Jews around the world. Recommended prereq., HIST/JWST 1818 or 1828 or HEBR/JWST 2350. Same as HIST 4544. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
    Focuses on the Holocaust during the Third Reich, which involved the murder of millions of people, including six million Jews. Reviews the Holocaust's history, dynamics, and consequences as well as other genocides of the 20th century, using an anthropological approach. Same as ANTH 4580. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors).
    Explores the experience of Jews in the United States from the 1880's when the great migration of Jews from Eastern Europe began, through the twentieth century. Students will explore the changing ways in which Jews adapted to life in the U.S., constructed American Jewish identities, and helped to participate in the construction of the United States as a nation. Recommended prereq., HIST 1025, HIST/JWST 1818 or 1828, or HEBR/JWST 2350. JWST 4827 and HIST 4827 are the same course. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.

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