Jewish Studies Courses, Spring 2012
January 25 to May 15, 2012

Jewish Studies is an interdisciplinary minor program, allowing students to take courses within two colleges and seven departments. Please see the minor program pages for required and optional courses.

Upper division courses:

History 154/JWSS 154: Global Jewish History
Prof. Bruce R. Bramlett
TR 10:30-11:45
HGH 217

Between the 16th  and 19th centuries, Jewish life in Eastern and Western Europe underwent profound transformations that would trigger deep and abiding crises and remake Jewish life and culture. European economic shifts, Jewish migration, the enlightenment, political emancipation and the emergence of new economic, social, and political opened a seemingly bright and prosperous future for Jews after centuries of relative economic, political and social isolation. Yet it also brought powerful threats both externally and internally which might well have destroyed this ancient religious culture. While many Jews welcomed the larger processes of societal modernization and assimilation, others questioned this "Jewish emancipation," struggling against the perceived dangerous assaults on the rich religious, linguistic, and cultural traditions of this people and their communal identity. The course will examine the ways in which Jews and non-Jews debated, engaged and reacted to the many challenges posed by the rapid changes of this period that resulted in the tumultuous events of the 20th century. We will begin with the challenge of Jewish enlightenment and emancipation, considering such topics as antisemitism, assimilation, Zionism, religious and communal reform, Hasidism, Jewish culture, the Holocaust, and the founding of the State of Israel. This class will use its attention on European Jewry to focus the broader issues of modern European history including the heightened awareness of ethnic and national identities, the rise of mass politics, the growth of the nation state and its consolidation of power, the shift in the balance of economic structures and the revolutionary reactions to these political, social and economic forces.

ARTH/ JWSS 184: Jewish Art
Prof. Marilyn Wyman
MW 4:30-5:45, Art 141

This class will explore the significance of the visual arts within the study of Jewish history and identity. Among the topics we will consider are the connections between visual cultural and religious observance, the creation of the anti-Semitic stereotypes, the relationship between art and Jewish involvement in political movements, the connection between Jewishness and abstraction, the challenges faced by artists grappling with the Holocaust, and the place of Jewish artists in American art. We will start with a series of questions which we will revisit over the course of the semester. 1) What is (is there such a thing as) “Jewish art?” 2) How does “Jewish art” grapple with the Second Commandment? 3) How do Jewish artists portray their Jewish identity? 4) How do depictions of Jews by Jews differ from those created by non-Jews? 5) What has been the role of the visual arts in the life of the "nation without art" over the ages? 6) How did Jewish artists overcome the cultural restrictions imposed on them by the Christian communities in which they lived? Jews have always been ambitiously engaged in virtually every form of art-making - both secular and sacred- from architecture to ritual vessels, from illuminated manuscripts to paintings.

Upper Division Hebrew: HEBR/ JWSS 102A: Advanced Hebrew
Prof. Rina Katzen
TR 3-4:15, CL 208

In this course students read Hebrew magazines, newspapers, and other literature, as they continue studying the language and grammar at an advanced level.

English 115: The Bible as Literature
Professor Mary Warner
TR 12-1:15, BBC 120

(Course not cross-listed currently, but cross-listing is in process—see advisor for Jewish Studies credit.)

In this course we study the Bible from the perspective of literature, reading extensively from this signature work of Western Civilization. We examine key portions of the Bible, exploring its array of subjects, themes, literary styles and genres, and its vast influence on much of Western Literature.  Students will write three essays—two connected to TANAK (or the Old Testament) and one related to the Christian Foundational Writings (or the New Testament).  In addition to these essays, there will be a midterm, final exam, and weekly Sustained Silent Writing.  No “respectable” English major should graduate without familiarity with the Bible!

Lower division course:

RELS/ JWSS 90 Bible History and Literature
Prof. Brent Walters
MW 12-1:15, DMH 149b
TR 10:30-11:45, DMH 208

This introductory course on the Bible reconstructs the original context of the biblical record, covering the social setting of the Jews and early Christians in light of the cultural and religious environment that influenced the writers of these sacred writings. Discussing literal and figurative uses of language, the class studies biblical nar­rative, prophecy, poetry, wisdom, apocalypse, gospel, parable, and epistle.

HEBREW COURSES

Prof. Rina Katzen
The Hebrew program is directed to people interested in the Bible, religious studies, archeology, linguistics, learning a foreign language, or learning about ancient and modern Israel. Spring courses continue in sequence from Fall 2011.

HEBR 10B Elementary Hebrew
TR 10:30-11:45, CL 231

HEBR 15B Intermediate Hebrew
TR 1:30-2:45, CL 208