Jewish Studies Courses
Spring 2013

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. Courses are also available to non-matriculating students through Open University.

Upper Division Courses

JWSS/ HIST 115
Ancient Near East
Prof. Jonathan Roth
MW 12-1:15, DMH 165

The course studies the great river civilizations (Nile, Tigris-Euphrates and Indus) from 3500 BC to the Roman Conquest, including the empires of the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians and the Hebrews. Emphasis is placed on politics, culture, religion and contributions to Greek, Roman and Christian developments.

JWSS/POLS 144
Middle East Politics
Prof. Kathryn Wood
M 6-8:45 PM

One of the most volatile, if tragic, regions of international politics is the Middle East. This course is designed to acquaint the student with crucial issues of the Arab-Israeli dispute, the East-West involvement, the impact of rapid political modernization, and the inter-Arab confrontations in the region. The course also includes a basic historical background of the area and a look at the contemporary political systems of the most important states of the Middle East. Strategic location, oil wealth, and instability, makes the Middle East a study of considerable urgency.

 

JWSS/ENG 126
Holocaust Literature
Prof. David Mesher
TTH 3-4:15, DMH 354

The German plan to murder Jews and other perceived enemies of the Reich during World War II, which we now know as the Holocaust, produced terror and suffering on a previously unimagined scale. The accounts of the victims and survivors, in memoirs, diaries, letters, poetry, and fiction, are a tribute to the human spirit, and some of the most powerful literature of the twentieth century. Authors to be read include Primo Levi, Charlotte Delbo, Elie Wiesel, Imre Kertesz, Jiri Weil, Alicia Appleman-Jurman, Ida Fink, and Jonthan Safran Foer.

Lower Division Courses

RELS/JWSS 90
Bible History and Literature
Prof. Brent Walters
MW 1:30-2:15,  DMH 226B
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

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.

Upper Division Courses

HEBR/JWSS 102B,
Advanced Hebrew
Prof. Rina Katzen
TR 3:00–4:15, 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.

Lower Division Courses

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 2012.

JWSS/HEBR 10B
Elementary Hebrew
TR 10:30-11:45, CL 208

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