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 HIST/JWST 1828 or HIST 1308 or JWST 2350 or other course work in Middle Eastern or Jewish History. 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. Same as HIST 4348. Requisites: Requires prerequisite course of HIST 1308 or HIST 1828 or JWST 2350 (minimum grade D-).
Examines the modern history and culture of Jewish communities under Islamic rule in the Middle East and North Africa; Jews' and Muslims' encounters with empire, westernization and nationalism; representations of Sephardi and Eastern Jews; Jewish-Muslim relations in Europe and the U.S.; and contact and conflict between Jews and Muslims in (and about) Israel/Palestine. Sources include memoirs, diaries, newspapers and films. 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. JWST 4454 and HIST 4454 are the same course.
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.
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.
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. JWST 4827 and HIST 4827 are the same course.
Working with a faculty member in Jewish Studies on an independent study research project provides students with an opportunity to learn outside the formal classroom structure, with individual direction from Jewish Studies faculty on a topic of mutual interest not offered in regularly scheduled classes. (Independent study may not be used to substitute for a regular course not being offered in a given term.)
