Fall 2007 Courses
ANTH 267
Middle Eastern Diasporas
Jeffrey Jurgens
CRN 97128
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 305
Distribution Social Science / Rethinking Difference
Cross-listed: Human Rights; Jewish Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Studies in Race and Ethnicity
This course examines the past and present experiences of Arabs, Iranians, Turks, and Kurds who reside in Europe and North America, as well as of Jews of diverse backgrounds who live in Israel and abroad. At the same time, we will explore how and why these groups are commonly regarded as "diasporas", a term that is itself closely connected with the displacement and dispersion of Jews from their homeland in the sixth century BCE. Such an investigation demands that we critically investigate not only the history of "diaspora" as a concept, but also the contemporary circumstances that have encouraged
its recent prominence in public and scholarly discussions. After all, it was not that long ago that the aforementioned groups often characterized themselves (and were regularly characterized by others) not as "diasporic", but as "immigrant", "expatriate", "refugee", "exile", and "ethnic". What has brought about this shift in terms? What assumptions about geographic territory, human movement, and social connection does "diaspora" imply, and what insights might it allow that other concepts (like "immigration" or "transnationalism") do not? How do contemporary diasporas differ from past ones, especially those that emerged before the advent of nationalism and the nation-state? And finally, what might specific diasporic experiences reveal about broader cultural processes? To address these and other questions, this course will work comparatively across national contexts and historical eras, relying on readings and films from cultural anthropologists, sociologists, and "diasporans" themselves.
Back to topHEB 101
Beginning Hebrew
Hezi Brosh
CRN 97108
Tu Wed Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLINLC 210
Distribution Foreign Language, Literature & Culture
Cross listed: Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies
The course is an introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. It begins with the learning of script and pronunciation and works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew as well as significant aspects of Israeli culture will be highlighted. Students work in the language lab, watch movies and TV programs, and have an additional two-hour session with the Hebrew tutor for conversational practice. Open to students with no previous knowledge of Hebrew and to others in consultation with the instructor.
Back to topANTH 281
Biology and the Imagining of the Jews: Science and the Jews as a Race
Mario Bick
CRN 97134
Tu Th 9:00 - 10:20 am OLIN 303
Distribution Social Science
Cross-listed: Human Rights; Jewish Studies; STS; Studies in Race and Ethnicity
This course uses the history of the persistent biological / racial classification of the Jews since about the 15th century as a window onto the sciences of race as they have flourished and floundered / failed, including the recent reemergence of scientific justification for the race concept, and its application to the Jews. The course will explore social constructions of race as applied to the Jews, and the critiques of these constructions, as represented in the writings of both non-Jews and Jews. It will also examine some non-Euro-American efforts to account for Jewish difference in Brazil, India, Africa and elsewhere.
Back to topTHEO 215
Trading Places:Judaism and Christianity
Bruce Chilton / Jacob Neusner
CRN 97199
Mon Wed 1:30 -2:50 pm OLIN 306
Distribution Humanities
Cross-listed: Jewish Studies, Religion
At the beginning of the common era, Judaism presented a view of God which was so appealing in its rationality, it competed seriously with various philosophical schools for the loyalty of educated people in the Graeco-Roman world. Christianity, meanwhile, appeared to be a marginal group, neither fully Judaic nor seriously philosophical. Six centuries later, the Talmud emerged as the model of Judaism, and the creeds defined the limits and the core of Christianity. By that time, Judaism and Christianity had traded places. Christianity was the principal religion of the Empire, and philosophy was its most powerful vehicle for conversion; Judaism was seen as a local anomaly, its traditions grounded in customary use rather than reflection.
Back to topSpring 2007 Courses
HIST/ SOC 3335
America, its Jews & Israel
Joel Perlmann
Th 4:00 -6:20 pm OLIN 203
OLD: C
NEW: History / Rethinking Difference
Cross-listed: American Studies, Human Rights, Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies
This course deals with ethnicity, domestic politics and foreign policy. First, it deals with themes of American ethnicity by tracing striking shifts in American Jewish attitudes towards Israel since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Second, the course deals with American politics by illuminating the changing role of Israel in the American Jewish voting patterns, lobbying efforts, and financial contributions for politics. The course will also take up various non-Jewish domestic pressure groups that call for or oppose strong support for Israel – for example, in recent years the religious right has been an important supporting force, while Arab-American organizations have typically opposed such support. And third, this course deals with American foreign policy itself, evaluating the dramatically shifting history of American involvement with the Jewish state, a history in which domestic interest groups comprise only one among several important components.
Back to topREL 110
The Bible as Literatures
Bruce Chilton
Wed Fr 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 201
OLD: B/C
NEW: Humanities
The Bible is of pivotal importance in understanding the development of literature and history in the West, and it offers unique insights into the nature of the religious consciousness of humanity. Familiarity with the biblical documents, and a critical appreciation of those documents are therefore among the attainments of an ordinarily well-educated person in our culture. By means of lectures, discussions, quizzes, essays, and a test, the present course is designed to help students become biblically literate. Tutorials in Greek and Hebrew may be arranged in association with the course.
Back to topREL 290
Special Topics in Religion: Religious Foundations Of Tolerance. Comparing Religions
Bruce Chilton / Jacob Neusner
Tu 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 301
OLD: A/C
NEW: Humanities
Cross-list: Theology
A course in preparation for an academic conference at Bard on April 24-26 2007, Religious Resources of Toleration takes up theideas of major world religions on how to make sense of religious difference and why to put up with other religions. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions are asked to explain the basis for toleration. Each religion is presented through academic papers written for this seminar by various experts.
Back to topHEB 102
Elementary Hebrew II
Hezi Brosh
Tu Wed Th 1:00-2:20 pm Olin LC 118
OLD: D
NEW: Foreign Language, Literature & Culture
Cross-listed: Jewish Studies, Middle East Studies
The second in a two-semester introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. Beginning with script and pronunciation, the course works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew and significant aspects of Israeli culture are highlighted. Indivisible.
Back to topFall 2006 Courses
JS / HIST 115
The Golden Tradition: Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture
Cecile Kuznitz
Mon Wed 3:00 – 4:20 pm OLINLC 210
Yiddish was primary language of European Jewry and its emigrant communities for nearly one thousand years. This class will explore the role of Yiddish in Jewish life and the rich culture produced in the language. Topics will include the sociolinguistic basis of Jewish languages; medieval popular literature for a primarily female audience; the role of Yiddish in the spread of haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment); attempts to formulate a secular Jewish identity around the Yiddish language; the flourishing of modern Yiddish press, literature, and theater and their intersection with European modernism; contemporary Hasidic (ultra-Orthodox) culture; and the ongoing debate over the alleged death of Yiddish. All readings will be in English translation. Our class will work collaboratively with students in “THTR 310 H Survey: Yiddish Theater”. Students may enroll in both classes for additional credits with consent of the instructors.
Back to topHIST 2701
The Holocaust, 1933-1945
Cecile Kuznitz
Tu Th 9:00 – 10:20 am OLIN 205
This course will provide an overview of the Nazi attempt to
exterminate the Jewish people during the Second World War. We will examine topics including the background of modern antisemitic movements and the aftermath of World War I; the reactions of German Jews during 1933-1939; the institution of ghettos and the cultural and political activities of their populations; the turn to mass murder and its implementation in the extermination camps; the experiences of other groups targeted by the Nazis; the reactions of “bystanders” (the populations of occupied countries and the Allied powers;) and the liberation and its immediate aftermath. Emphasis will be on the development of Nazi policy and Jews’ reactions to Nazi rule, with special attention to the question of what constitutes resistance or collaboration in a situation of total war and genocide.
Back to topHIST 2122
The Arab-Israel Conflict
Joel Perlmann
Tu Th 4:30 -5:50 pm OLIN 205
This course is meant to provide students with an understanding of this conflict from its inception to the present. Considerable attention will be given to the present; nevertheless, the conflict is simply incomprehensible without a solid understanding of its evolution. Among the themes to be discussed are the following. A Jewish national movement arose in the late nineteenth century to oppose the conditions of Jewish life in Europe, and an Arab national movement (as well as a specifically Palestinian movement) arose to oppose Ottoman and European rule of Arab peoples. Out of the clash of these movements emerged the State of Israel and the Palestinian refugees in 1948. The political character of the conflict has changed over the decades: first it involved competing movements (before 1948), then chiefly a conflict of national states (Israel vs. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, etc), and now it is conceived as chiefly a conflict between Israeli military rule of territories (occupied since the 1967 war) and an insurgent Palestinian independence movement. Military realities also changed greatly, as did the accusations about the role of ‘terror’ as a tactic (from the Jewish Irgun to Hamas). And not least, the conflict has been shaped by strategic and economic considerations of the great powers (Ottoman, British, American/Soviet, hegemonic American) as well as by considerations of domestic political culture in Israel and in the Arab world.
Back to topHEB 101
Beginning Hebrew
Hezi Brosh
Tu Wed Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLINLC 118
The course is an introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. It begins with the learning of script and pronunciation and works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew as well as significant aspects of Israeli culture will be highlighted. Open to students with no previous knowledge of Hebrew and to others in consultation with the instructor.
Back to topREL / THEO 215
Trading Places
Bruce Chilton / Jacob Neusner
At the beginning of the common era, Judaism presented a view of God which was so appealing in its rationality, it competed seriously with various philosophical schools for the loyalty of educated people in the Graeco-Roman world. Christianity, meanwhile, appeared to be a marginal group, neither fully Judaic nor seriously philosophical. Six centuries later, the Talmud emerged as the model of Judaism, and the creeds defined the limits and the core of Christianity. By that time, Judaism and Christianity had traded places. Christianity was the principal religion of the Empire, and philosophy was its most powerful vehicle for conversion; Judaism was seen as a local anomaly, its traditions grounded in customary use rather than reflection.
Back to topTHTR 310H
Survey: Yiddish Theater
Shelley Wyant
Mon 3:00 - 5:20 pm Fisher Perf Arts
In this course we examine the tradition of the Yiddish Theater as it evolved in the United States and trace its evolution from its European beginnings into the present day. The large numbers of eastern European Jewish immigrants that flocked to America at the turn of the century created a uniquely Yiddish-American culture which resulted in the development of a Yiddish Broadway on Second Avenue. We will investigate the historical aspect of the culture through historical books (Vagabond Stars by Nahma Sandrow) and primary resources – a visit to NYC’s Tenement Museum and YIVO at The Jewish Historical Society. We will focus on the recurrent themes of the promise of a just world and a longing for another time and place. We will study the Folksbienne theatre, a ninety-year-old professional Yiddish theatre company, classic literary texts - particularly the stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer (Gimpel the Fool, Taibele and Her Demon) - and popular plays of the period (God of Vengeance, The Golem). Students will perform scenes from plays as well as watch classic film performances of 1930’s Poland starring Molly Picon (Yidl Miten Fidl, Mirele Efros). Completing our investigation of the relevance and importance of the Yiddish Theatre, we will end with an analysis of Tony Kushner’s translation of Ansky’s play The Dybuk. Topics for papers and presentations include a translation of a Yiddish drama or an in-depth study of some aspect of the Yiddish Theatre: Klezmer music, Second Avenue Theatres, and notable personages (The Adlers, Boris Thoamsevsky, Maurice Shwartz, Shalom Alecheim etc.) Our class will work collaboratively with students in “JS 115 The Golden Tradition: Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture.” Students may enroll in both classes for additional credits, with consent of the instructors.
Back to topANTH 256
Race and Ethnicity in Brazil
Mario Bick
Mon Wed 10:30 - 11:50 am OLIN 303
Brazil, in contrast to the United States, has been portrayed by Brazilians and others, as a “racial democracy’. The course examines the debate over the “problem of race” in its early formulation shaped by scientific racism and eugenics, especially the fear of degeneration. It then turns to the Brazilian policy of the 19th and early 20th centuries of branquemento (whitening) which was the basis of large-scale migration to Brazil from all major regions of Europe. These “ethnic” populations settled mainly in southern and south central Brazil leading to significant regional differences in identity politics and racial attitudes. The interplay of “racial” vs. “ethnic” identities is crucial to understanding the allocation of resources and status in Brazilian society. Inequality in contemporary Brazil is explored in terms of the dynamics of racial ideologies, the distribution of national resources and the performance of identity as shaped by “racial” and “ethnic” strategies. The groups to be discussed are: indigenous/native Brazilians, the Luso-Brazilians, Afro-Brazilians, Japanese Brazilians, Euro-ethnic Brazilians, and Brazilians of Arab and Jewish descent.
Back to topSpring 2006 Courses
JS / HIST 215
From Shtetl to Socialism: East European Jewry in the Modern Era
Cecile Kuznitz
Tu Th 10:30 – 11:50 HDR 302
NEW: Humanities
Cross-listed: Russian & Eurasian Studies
Eastern Europe was the largest and most vibrant center of Jewish life for three hundred years prior to the Holocaust. In that period East European Jewry underwent a wrenching process of modernization, creating radically new forms of community, culture, and political organization that still shape Jewish life today in the United States and Israel. Yet this rich history is often obscured by nostalgic stereotypes of the shtetl in popular culture. We will begin by dissecting such stereotypes and comparing them to the realities of traditional Jewish society. We will then consider topics including the rise of Chasidism and Haskalah (Enlightenment), modern Jewish political movements including Zionism, and pogroms and Russian government policy towards the Jews. Course materials will include both primary and secondary historical sources, as well as literature and film of the period under study.
Back to topHIST 2137
Jewish Women: Gender Roles and Cultural Change
Cecile Kuznitz
Mon Wed 3:00 – 4:20 pm OLIN 304
NEW: History / Rethinking Difference
Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality Studies, Jewish Studies, Religion
This course will draw on both historical and memoir literature to examine the changing economic, social, and religious roles of Jewish women, exploring the intersection of gender with religious and ethnic identities across the medieval and modern period. The course will begin by considering the status of women in Jewish law and then looking at issues including forms of women’s religious expression; marriage and family patterns; the differing impact of enlightenment and secularization on women in Western and Eastern Europe; and the role of women in the Zionist and labor movements in Europe, Israel, and the United States. Among the central questions we will ask is how women’s roles changed from the medieval to the modern period. Did modernity in fact herald an era of greater opportunity for Jewish women? How did their experiences differ from those of Jewish men?
Back to topSOC 253
Pluralism & Identity in Israel
Yuval Elmelech
Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 203
NEW: Social Science
Cross-listed: GISP, Human Rights, Jewish Studies, Middle East Studies
Israel is undergoing major changes in its cultural, religious, and political institutions. These changes coincide with growing ideological and social divisions. Through lectures, academic literature, films, and analysis of news reports, this course examines the sociology of Israeli society and explores some of the key questions of pluralism, identity and social divisions in contemporary Israel. Specifically, we will discuss the questions: how do Israelis define themselves and others as Israelis/Diaspora Jews; Jews/Arabs; secular/religious, new immigrants (Olim hadashim)/veteran Israelis (Vatikim), Ashkenazim/Mizrachim? What are the historical and social origins of these distinctions? What implications do they have for Israel today? The theoretical component of the course presents various approaches for an analysis and understanding of the dynamics of group identity and conflicts. We then explore key questions pertaining to political, demographic, economic, and social forces that shape group identity and social conflict today. Special attention will be given to the media and how it portrays and shapes social and ethnic distinctions.
Back to topHEB 102
Elementary Hebrew II
M T W Th 4:30 -5:30 pm OLINLC 120
NEW: Foreign Language, Literature, & Culture
Cross-listed: Jewish Studies, Middle East Studies
The second in a two-semester introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. Beginning with script and pronunciation, the course works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew and significant aspects of Israeli culture are highlighted. Indivisible.
Back to topTHEO / REL 201
Working Theology: the Bible as Literatures
Bruce Chilton
Wed 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 308
NEW: Humanities
The Bible is of pivotal importance in understanding the development of literature and history in the West, and it offers unique insights into the nature of the religious consciousness of humanity. Familiarity with the biblical documents, and a critical appreciation of those documents are therefore among the attainments of an ordinarily well-educated person in our culture. By means of lectures, discussions, quizzes, essays, and a test, the present course is desIGned to help students become biblically literate. Tutorials in Greek and Hebrew may be arranged in association with the course.
Back to topTHEO / REL 256
Historical Knowledge: Problems in Ancient Judaism and Christianity
Bruce Chilton
Jacob Neusner
Tu 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 310 + conference
NEW: History
For more than two centuries, the study of Judaism and the study of Christianity have been revolutionized by attempts to understand those religions in historical terms. During that period, history has been portrayed as both the friend and the enemy of religious insight. Profound controversies in regard to the aims and methods of historical knowledge have also characterized discussion since the Enlightenment. The purpose of this course, which will convene during a weekly seminar and also during a conference over several days, is to enable students to develop approaches to historical study that they believe are viable.
Back to topANTH 267
Middle Eastern Diasporas
Jeffrey Jurgens
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm ASP 302
NEW: Social Science
Cross-listed: GISP, Human Rights, Jewish Studies, Middle East Studies and SRE
This course examines the past and present experiences of Arabs, Iranians, Turks, and Kurds who reside in Europe and North America, as well as of Jews of diverse backgrounds who live in Israel and abroad. At the same time, we will explore how and why these groups are commonly regarded as “diasporas,” a term that is itself closely connected with the displacement and dispersion of Jews from their homeland in the sixth century BCE. Such an investigation demands that we critically investigate not only the history of “diaspora” as a concept, but also the contemporary circumstances that have encouraged its recent prominence in public and scholarly discussions. After all, it was not that long ago that the aforementioned groups often characterized themselves (and were regularly characterized by others) not as “diasporic,” but as “immigrant,” “expatriate,” “refugee,” “exile,” and “ethnic.” What has brought about this shift in terms? What assumptions about geographic territory, human movement, and social connection does “diaspora” imply, and what insights might it allow that other concepts (like “immigration” or “transnationalism”) do not? How do contemporary diasporas differ from past ones, especially those that emerged before the advent of nationalism and the nation-state? And finally, what might specific diasporic experiences reveal about broader cultural processes? To address these and other questions, this course will work comparatively across national contexts and historical eras, relying on readings and films from cultural anthropologists, sociologists, and “diasporans” themselves.
Back to topFall 2005 Courses
JS / HIST 120
Jewishness Beyond Religion: Defining Secular Jewish Culture
Cecile Kuznitz
Tu Th 10:30 -11:50 am HEG 300
Distribution: OLD : A;
NEW: HUMANITIES / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
In the pre-modern world Jewish identity was centered on religion but expressed as well in how one made a living, what clothes one wore, and what language one spoke. In modern times, Jewish culture became more voluntary and more fractured. While some focused on Judaism as (only) a religion, both the most radical and the most typical way in which Jewishness was redefined was in secular terms. In this course we will explore the intellectual, social, and political movements that led to new secular definitions of Jewish culture and identity in the modern period. We will focus on examples drawn from Western and Eastern Europe but will also look at American and Israeli societies. Topics will include the Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment), acculturation and assimilation, modern Jewish politics including Zionism, and Jewish literature in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages.
Back to topREL 104
Introduction to Judaism
Jacob Neusner
Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 310
Distribution: OLD : A/C; NEW: HUMANITIES
Diverse Judaic religious systems ("Judaisms") have flourished in various times and places. No single Judaism traces a linear, unitary, traditional line from the beginning to the present. This course sets forth a method for describing, analyzing, and interpreting Judaic religious systems and for comparing one such system with another. It emphasizes the formative history of Rabbinic Judaism in ancient and medieval times, and the development, in modern times, of both developments out of that Judaism and Judaic systems competing with it: Reform, Orthodox, Conservative Judaisms in the 19th century, Zionism, the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption, in the twentieth. In both the classical and the contemporary phases of the course, analysis focuses upon the constant place of women in Judaic systems as a basis for comparison and contrast.
Religion program category: Historical
Back to topHEB 101
Beginning Hebrew I
Hezi Brosh
Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLINLC 120
Wed 3:00 -4:00 pm OLINLC 120
Fr 10:30 -11:30 am OLINLC 206
Distribution: OLD : D; NEW: FOREIGN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE & CULTURE
The course is an introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. It begins with the learning of script and pronunciation and works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew as well as significant aspects of Israeli culture will be highlighted. Open to students with no previous knowledge of Hebrew and to others in consultation with the instructor.
Back to topHEB 102
Beginning Hebrew II
T B A
Mon 2:55 – 3:55 pm OLINLC 118
Tu Th 2:30 – 3:50 pm OLIN 304
Distribution: OLD : D; NEW: FOREIGN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE & CULTURE
The second in a two semester introduction to modern Hebrew as it is spoken and written in Israel today. Beginning with script and pronunciation, the course works rapidly into a wide range of texts and topics that build active and passive lexicon as well as grammatical structures. Differences between standard and colloquial Hebrew and significant aspects of Israeli culture are highlighted. Indivisible.
Back to topHIST / SOC 258
Jews in American Society, 1880 to the present
Joel Perlmann
Tu Th 4:30 -5:50 pm OLIN 204
Distribution: OLD : C; NEW: HISTORY / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
Cross list: American Studies, Jewish Studies, SRE
The great waves of east-European Jewish migration west after 1880 constitute a major event in the modern history of the Jews and of the United States, creating a large and important American social group. This course examines Jewish social and cultural transformations during the succeeding century. We will keep in mind throughout two (overlapping) questions. First, what major developments are shared with other immigrant and ethnic groups and what is distinctive to the Jews (as a people, civilization or religion)? And second, what meanings does ‘Jewishness’ have for American Jews as their social conditions, and the wider culture, change across generations? Substantively, the course will consider such major themes as 1) the pattern of migration and cultural amalgam of the ‘Yiddish’ immigrant generation 2) the rapid upward mobility of American Jews as well as their concentration on the political left and explanations for both patterns 3) concern with antisemitism and American Jewish behavior during the European Holocaust, 4) the meaning of intermarriage to couples, their children and the culture of the group and 5) evolving attitudes towards Israel over the past half century, and their impact on American foreign policy. A term paper will be the major writing assignment in a seminar-discussion context.
Back to topLIT 276B
Chosen Voices: Jewish Authors
Elizabeth Frank
Wed 3:00 -4:20 pm PRE 101
Th 1:00 -2:20 pm PRE 101
Distribution: OLD : B/C; NEW: LITERATURE IN ENGLISH / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
Related Interest: SRE
The course surveys the contribution of European and North American Jewish writing to twentieth-century literature. We will examine various works by Jewish writers and discuss whatever questions come up, most particularly questions about Jewish identity and stereotypes, mythology, folk wisdom, humor, history, culture, and relation to language. Jewish participation in literary modernism will be explored as well. Authors include Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Primo Levi, Bernard Malamud, and Grace Paley.
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