Jewish Studies Courses 

  • Please refer to the UW Time Schedule  and to Jackson School Student Services (206.543.6001) for the most up-to-date course information.  Full course descriptions are also available on the Courses page of the Stroum Jewish Studies Program's new website.
     
  • “W” indicates that the course is a writing course. W-courses count toward the Additional Writing requirement for most majors. Speak with your student services representative for the exact requirements for your particular major.

For in-depth descriptions of classes and video interviews of faculty, click here.

 


Autumn 2012
 

HEBR 411 Elementary Modern Hebrew Khazzam-Horozitz Daily 9:30 - 10:20.

HEBR 414 Elementary Biblical Hebrew Martin MWF 10:30 - 11:50.

HEBR 421 Intermediate Modern Hebrew Romano Daily 10:30 – 12:20.

HEBR 452 Introduction to Hebrew Literature Sokoloff MW 2:30-3:50.

JSIS B 145 Introduction to Judaism Pianko TTh 1:30 - 3:20.

JSIS A 295 German Jewish Writers Block MWF 12:30 – 1:20.

JSIS B 357/ENGL 357 Jewish American Literature and Culture Butwin TTh 12:30-2:20.

JSIS 479A/ART H 400B Between Christianity and Islam: Jewish Art from Late Antiquity to the Modern Era Sabar TTh 2:30-4:20.

 

 

Winter 2013

 

HEBR 412 Elementary Modern Hebrew Horovitz M-F 9:30-10:20am

HEBR 415 Elementary Biblical Hebrew Martin MWF 10:30-11:50

HEBR 422 Intermediate Modern Hebrew Romano M-F 10:30-11:20am

C LIT 323/NEAR E 325 Literature of Emerging Nations: Modern Hebrew Literature Sokoloff Lecture MW 1:30-2:20 Quiz Section TTh 12:30-2:20; TTh 1:30-2:20

PHIL 418/JSIS B 418 Jewish Philosophy Rosenthal T/TH 11:30am-1:20pm

JSIS A 101/NEAR E 150 Israel: Dynamic Society/Global Flashpoint Pianko/etc MWF 11:30am-12:20pm

JSIS B 250/HIST 250 Jewish Cultural History Naar TTH 11:30am-1:20pm

JSIS 578 /HIST 590 Special Topics: Jewish Historiography Naar T 2:30pm-4:20pm


JSIS 479/NEAR E 496 Life in Israel (2 credits) Sokoloff W 7:00p-9:30p C/NC

JSIS 495 Seminar in Judaism: Sephardi Culture and Art before and after the Expulsion Visiting Professor Shalom Sabar T 1:30pm-4:20pm (seminar)


JSIS 479 / AH 400 Special Topic: Return to Jerusalem in Mercy - The Messianic Dream in the Visual Art and Culture Visiting Professor Shalom Sabar MW 2:30pm-4:20pm

HSTAM 518 Jerusalem and the Holy Land: From King David to the Dome of the Rock Joel Walker M 1:30-4:20  View Syllabus Here

JSIS B 470/ECON 470 Economic History of the Jews Kochin MW 12:30pm-2:20pm

 

Spring 2013 


HEBR 413 Elementary Modern Hebrew Horovitz M-F 9:30-10:20am


HEBR 423 Intermediate Modern Hebrew Romano M-F 10:30-11:20am Prerequisite: HEBR 412.

HEBR 426 Biblical Hebrew Prose Martin MWF 10:30-11:50

HEBR 451 Intro to Hebrew Literature Sokoloff T-Th 2:30-3:50pm


JSIS 479 Prayers and Poems: Jewish Traditions Sokoloff MW 2:30-3:50pm

JSIS B 269/HIST 269 Holocaust, History & Memory Naar TTH 1:30-3:20pm

JSIS A 368/ HSTEU 368 European Jewish History Heller TTH 11:30am-1:20pm


JSIS 498 Advanced Readings: Children of Immigrants: Belonging and Civic Engagement Friedman TTH 1:30-3:20pm

 

JSIS 498 Advanced Readings: Zionism, Nationalism, and Sovereignty Pianko W 1:30-3:20pm

JSIS A 377 American Jewish Community Burstein MW 12:30-2:20pm

JSIS 479 Special Topic: The Jewish Wedding in Art and Culture: From Ancient to Modern Israel Visiting Professor Shalom Sabar F 11:30am-2:20pm
 

JSIS B 458 Babylonian Talmud Visiting Lecturer Oren Hayon TTH 11:30-1:20pm

 

 

ARCHIVES

 

 

Spring 2012

SISJE 195/GERMAN 195 Popular Film and the Holocaust Block MWF 11:30-12:20, W 3:30 -5:20 
The horror of the Holocaust challenges the very limits of the imagination; the desperation of what the victims experienced is outside the realm of human speech. Moreover, any attempt to record what one experienced or witnessed threatens the constitution of the self. To represent this trauma one must present it otherwise. Were there even a language to represent what occurred, it would subject the witness to the horror of that trauma once again. The Nazis anticipated this dilemma, repeatedly taunting victims by dismissing the possibility that history would bear witness to what occurred in the camps. Their crimes, the Nazis proclaimed, were too horrible to be believed; the victims and their stories would be deposited, as Hannah Arendt noted, in “ever widening holes of oblivion.� Thus arises the absolute necessity, the moral imperative to represent what by definition cannot be represented.
     In this course we will examine the strategies various filmmakers have developed to respond to this imperative. We will begin by asking ourselves how one bears witness to the unspeakable, how one captures a history that is too horrible to return to? But we will also turn a critical eye to how Hollywood in particular has exploited the dimensions of this trauma to pump up the volume, so to speak, on formulaic plots and how the conventions of popular film may respond to this imperative in ways that demean and cheapen the suffering of the victims. Likewise, we will question to what extent even documentary films can be understood to be objective, especially since the memories of the survivors and those of the perpetrators are unreliable.
    Films to be screened include: Shoah, Night and Fog, Schindler's List, The Pianist, Life is Beautiful, The Reader, The Garden of the Finzi Contini. There will be critical essays to be read in conjunction with each film.

SISJE 336/HSTAA 336 American Jewish History Pianko TTh 1:30-3:20 
From Wall Street to Hollywood, American Jews helped shape the history of the United States of America. But how did this immigrant group manage to move from the margins to the mainstream of American life? What does this group’s experience teach us about the evolution of religious, ethnic, and racial conceptions in this country? In what ways does American Jewish history shed light on ongoing questions about the role of immigration and the place of immigrants in defining what it means to be an American? This course addresses these questions through the careful examination of primary sources. In addition, students will have the opportunity to engage in service learning projects to consider the relationship between the historical immigration experience and contemporary realities. Students can receive “W”credit for this course.


SISJE 377/SOC 377 American Jewish Community Burstein MW 1:30-3:20 
Tens of millions of Americans are immigrants and the children of immigrants. As individuals, families, and communities, they confront hundreds of challenges, from the mundane–where to get the foods they like–to the more serious–how to find, or create, a supportive community, how to deal with prejudice and discrimination–to the existential–what will happen to the community? Can it hold onto its culture? And the U.S. faces challenges, too, trying to teach newcomers what it means to be an American, while the very meaning of “American” may be influenced by the newcomers. This course focuses on a group present from the beginning of American history but which arrived in large numbers mostly between the 1880s and the 1920s–Jews. It considers the way of life they brought with them; their hopes for religious freedom and economic opportunity; what they did to win acceptance from their mostly Christian neighbors while holding on to tradition; their creation of new types of schools, religious and community organizations; their rise to economic success and their worries about assimilation; their impact on the movie industry, universities, and other aspects of American life; how their developing views of race, ethnicity, and cultural pluralism helped other immigrant groups–including those arriving today–find their place in American society. The course concludes with an analysis of the opportunities and challenges faced by Jewish young adults as they try to define the American Jewish community of the 21st century.

SISJE 452/NEAR E 452 Song of Songs Martin MWF 1:30 - 2:50
Examines the erotic and beautiful Song of Songs within the context of ancient (and medieval) Near Eastern love poetry and correlates close readings of the book with various interpretations it has received from antiquity until today. No knowledge of Hebrew or the Bible is required.


SISJE 470/ECON 470 Economic History of the Jews Kochin MW 3:30-5:20
The history of the Jews can be traced back almost 4000 years and like all histories it has an economic dimension. For over 1800 years until 1948 Jews were a minority in every country in which they lived. Our topics over the term:
1) The transformation of the Jews from an agricultural people into a mercantile minority in the first millennium.
2) Economic growth from 1815 to 1914 raised Jewish numbers and per capita incomes in Europe more than those of any other substantial European group. At the same time both numbers and per capita incomes were largely stagnant in the Middle East.
3) Jewish migration from East to West from Europe to the US and from rural areas to cities was one of the chief ways in which Jewish incomes rose between 1840 and 1914.
4) Jews and finance from the Middle Ages to the present day.
5) The economic causes and consequences of Zionism- the movement for a Jewish country which beginning as a large scale movement about 1880 created the State of Israel in 70 years.
6) The conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors which has helped make Israel a center of the high tech.
7) The interactions of the economics of education of language and of religion.
Israel is the only country in the world which was recreated. Israel as a Jewish State is a product of a political movement-Zionism. The great majority of the Jewish adult population of Israel are themselves immigrants or are the children of immigrants. But most Jews are as genetic testing has revealed descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Israel. The distinctive economic institutions of Israel from agricultural collectives to the large role played by unions as founders and operators of industry until recently bore the strong impression of the ideas and methods of Zionism. Hebrew was the principal written language of the Jews through most of history but was not read or spoken by any considerable number of women from about 300 to 1880 and so was during that time no ones mother tongue. Now it is the principal language of most Israelis.
About half the course is devoted to the economic history of the Jews outside of the Land of Israel. Jews were for a thousand years a “mercantile minority”. The Jews like the Chinese of Southeast Asia succeeded economically to an extent that aroused hostility and persecution. Violent examples of persecution against members of mercantile minorities can be found in many places. In 2010 murderous riots have been directed against the Kikuyu in Kenya and the Chinese in Tibet. After a period of reduced tension in the middle 19th Century Anti- Jewish hostility intensified from 1880 until in the 1940s one third of the Jewish people were murdered. The threat to life was one of the chief forces impelling Jews to migrate to Israel from Europe and from Moslem countries. Pre-requisite for SISJE 470 is at least one prior course in
economics.

ARAMIC 421 Biblical Aramaic Martin  MWF 10:30-11:50
Fundamentals of Aramaic grammar and the differences that distinguish Aramaic from Hebrew, includes select Aramaic portions of the Bible. Emphasis on grammar and comprehension. Designed for students with some knowledge of Hebrew. Prerequisite: HEBR 402 or HEBR 426. VLPA

HEBR 413 Elementary Modern Hebrew staff MWK 10:00-11:20
Core vocabulary, grammar, conversational text, and oral and written communication. Excerpts from modern Hebrew prose and poetry. Third in a sequence of three. Prerequisite: HEBR 412.

HEBR 423 Intermediate Modern Hebrew Romano
Readings of selected texts in modern Hebrew with continuing emphasis on grammar, syntax, composition, and conversation. Third in a sequence of three. Prerequisite: HEBR 422. VLPA

HEBR 456 Hebrew Poems and Prayers Sokoloff MW 2:30-4:20
This course examines modern Hebrew poems side by side with texts from the traditional Jewish liturgy, analyzing how contemporary writers have drawn on classical sources to reflect on matters of faith and the language of religion.
Hebrew -- an ancient, sacred tongue -- has been renewed and revitalized in the past 150 years as a modern, secular vernacular. Understanding the contemporary poetry requires familiarity with the language of Jewish prayers. This class presents to students some outstanding modern writers while also fostering appreciation for some of the many historical layers of the Hebrew language. In addition, the class provides advanced work in Hebrew, offering students an opportunity to improve grammar, dictionary skills, and vocabulary.
Prerequesite: HEBR 423 or permissions of instructor. Any student who wishes to do additional work on a topic related to this course may also register for 1 or 2 credits of independent study (HEBR 490).

NEAR E 326/CHID 250d Israel Identities Sokoloff TTh 2:30-4:20
This course examines fiction and film, as well as selected poetry, popular songs, and essays, to explore the experience of diverse groups within contemporary Israeli society. Among the topics to be considered: the sabra ideal; Holocaust survivors and the second generation; Sephardic/Mizrahi communities; religious/secular divides in Israeli culture; Israel’s Arab minority; and questions of gender, including gay and lesbian life. Readings will also cover background information on Israeli history and society.
All readings will be in English. Students wishing to receive additional credits for doing work in Hebrew should contact the instructor and register for 1-2 credits of independent study (HEBR 490). This is a "W" course and may satisfy the writing requirement.

PHIL 522 Seminar in Modern Philosophy: Spinoza’s Ethics Rosenthal M 3:30 - 5:20

RELIG 400 Jewish Mysticism Jaffee MW 11:30-12:50
This course offers a study of the nature of secret knowledge in the Jewish tradition. Beginning with the Second Temple Period (ca. 200 bce) and extending till modern times, we will survey the nature of Kabbalistic thought and religious practice. This year's version of the course features a concluding unit that studies the role of kabbalistic tradition in Jewish messianic movements, from the "Jesus movement" of Second Temple times to the most recent emergence of messianic passion surrounding the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.

RUSS 230 Major Authors: Isaak Babel Henry MW 12:30 – 2:20
This course will examine the works of Russia’s great modernist writer, Isaak Babel (1894-1940). Babel first came to public notice in the early 1920s for his chronicle of the bitter Polish-Soviet war, Red Cavalry. He went on to confirm this early promise in his boisterous tales of Jewish gangsters (Odessa Stories), in dramas (Sunset, Mar’ya), in film (Benya Krik, Jewish Luck (Menakhem Mendel), and in his remarkable “Autobiographical” stories. Babel’s untimely death – at the hands of the Soviet secret police – cut short one of the most original voices in Soviet literature. In this class we will be reading Babel’s major story-cycles: Red Cavalry, Odessa Stories, Autobiographical Stories, and we’ll see at least one of the films for which Babel wrote original and adapted screenplays.

SIS 498 E Zionism, Nationalism, Sovereignty Pianko

 

Winter 2012
HEBR 412 Elementary Modern Hebrew staff 10:30 daily

HEBR 422 Intermediate Modern Hebrew Romano 9:30–10:20 daily

HEBR 428 Inscriptions from Biblical Times Martin MWF 10:30-11:50
Surveys Northwest Semitic inscriptions that bear significantly on our understanding of Biblical history and ancient Hebrew including the Moabite stone, Israelite ostraca, Siloam engraving, Gezer calendar, Deir Alla (Gilead) inscriptions, the Asherah texts, and Phoenician monuments.

HEBR 457 Hebrew in Song Sokoloff MWF 10:30-11:20
Popular song has played a central and very lively role in the shaping of modern Hebrew culture and Israeli identity. In this class we will examine a range of diverse lyrics, including selections from folksongs, pop, rock, musika mizrahit, children’s songs and more. The course aims to help students build their Hebrew vocabulary and improve their dictionary and composition skills, while providing a brief historical overview of important trends in Israeli popular music. Topics will include the sing-along, the army ensembles, song festivals and competitions, the rise of minorities, major poets set to music, outstanding performers and songwriters, traditional and religious sources, international influences, and changes in the media.

NEAR E 260 Death and Afterlife in the Ancient Near East Martin MWF 1:30-2:20 Explores the human yearnings, obsessions, fears and aspirations associated with the afterlife in the literature, art, and architecture of ancient Egyptian, Meoptamian, and Canaanite cultures that occur over time within cultures. Special focus is placed on the ancient Egyptian books of the afterlife.

RELIG 415 Modern Jewish Thought Pianko TTh 2:30-4:20
What is Judaism? Is it a religion, a nation, an ethnicity? These are the questions we will explore through the lens of modern Jewish thinkers. The class will provide opportunities to delve into the changing meaning of Judaism, and more generally, the transformation of identity in the modern period. Although the course is listed as a 400 level course, there are no prerequisites and students of all backgrounds are welcome to participate. This course fulfills the w requirement. Learning goals for students include:
-to think critically about the evolution of a religious tradition
-to understand how modernity challenged revealed religions
-to explore how religion responded to the shift toward secularism and science
-to use the past as a guide for a deeper understanding of why religion plays an increasingly important role around the globe today.

SISJE 490A /RUSS 423/C LIT Russian Jewish Film: Russian, Polish, and Early Soviet Jewish Film, 1912-1937 Diment MWF 11:30-1:20
The course will examine early Jewish films (in Yiddish or Russian) produced in tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia, and Poland in the span of 25 years, from the very beginnings of silent film to the early years of sound film, from the twilight years of Russian monarchy (and the notorious Pale of Settlement) through Bolshevik Revolution and up to the spread of Hitlerism in Europe. No prerequisites. All readings and discussions will be in English. All films have English intertitles or subtitles.

SISJE 250/HIST 250 Introduction to Jewish Cultural History Naar TTh 12:30-2:20
Jews are often viewed as a group associated with the Jewish religious tradition. However, Jews have also developed distinct Jewish cultures throughout their history with religious practices and beliefs constituting only one component. This class will explore various expressions of Jewish culture including biblical, Hellenistic, Judeo-Arabic, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Eastern European, American and Israeli. As we analyze Jewish culture across time and space, we will discuss how Jews both adopted the cultural assumptions of their neighbors and adapted these traditions to preserve a distinct identity.

Autumn 2011
HEBR 411 Elementary Modern Hebrew 10:30 daily

HEBR 421 Intermediate Modern Hebrew 9:30 – 10:20 daily

HEBR 427 Biblical Hebrew Poetry Martin MWF 10:30-11:50
Explores select poetic sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in conjunction with English translations and commentaries. Emphasis on close readings, the grammatical insights of textual criticism, and the interpretive strategies and agendas of the English translations. Prerequisite: either HEBR 402 or HEBR 426.

NEAR E 240 Introduction to Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Martin MWF 1:30-2:50
Examines the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in translation and its relationship with literatures of ancient Near East. Comparisons drawn between biblical text and literary works of Canaan, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia. Emphasis on the sophisticated literary techniques employed by biblical writers. Offered: jointly with RELIG 240.

RELIG 210 Introduction to Judaism Jaffee M-TH 11:30-12:20
You will leave the course with a basic working knowledge of the history of Judaism, first hand experience with interpreting some of its basic writings, a familiarity with a range of Jewish religious customs, and a general appreciation of ancient, medieval and contemporary Jewish cultural expression. And, if you really get the point, you'll never ever think you can define in one sentence "what Judaism believes!"

SIS 150/NEAR E 150 Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint
Sokoloff Migdal et al. MWF 1:30-2:20
Introduces the people, institutions, and culture of Israel in the context of larger global forces. Examines domestic, regional, and international elements, both historically and in the contemporary period,that have shaped Israel's culture, politics, and special role in world affairs. Topics include nationalism, ethnicity, politics, religion, film, literature, and culture. Offered jointly: SIS 150/NEAR E 150. OPTIONAL LINKED WRITING COURSE: PLEASE SEE ENGL 198 J"Also: a film and lecture series will be organized in conjunction with "Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint."

SISJE 357/ENGL 357 Jewish American Literature & Culture Butwin TTh1230-220
Examines the literary and cultural production of American Jews from the colonial period to the present time. Considers ways in which American Jews assimilate and resist assimilation while Jewish writers, filmmakers, playwrights, and graphic novelists imitate and alter American life and literature. Offered: jointly with SISJE 357

SISJE 368/HIST 368 Modern European Jewish History Naar MW 11:30-1:20
This course surveys the history of European Jewry from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. It explores the varied ways in which Jews encountered “modernity” and fashioned their own conceptions of being modern. Investigating major political, social, and cultural practices of European Jews, from France and Germany to the Russian and Ottoman Empires, the course includes themes such as emancipation and enlightenment; religious movements; secularization and assimilation; antisemitism; Zionism and Socialism; colonialism; empires and nation-states; mass migration; the Holocaust; and the creation of the state of Israel.

SISJE 490B/HIST 490A Special Topics: The Jew as Other, Antisemitism in America Glenn TTh 1:30-2:50
Historians frequently refer to the United States as the great "exception" to the general historical pattern of anti-Jewish persecution in Europe. The Jews of the United States were never the victims of state-sponsored inquisitions, expulsions, pogroms, or holocausts. Yet as we shall see in this course, even in the relatively free and more inclusive society of the United States, Jews faced considerable prejudice, discrimination, and, at times, outright violence. Many of the same ideas and attitudes that culminated in the extermination of Europe's Jews contributed in less catastrophic ways to Jew-hatred (antisemitism) in the United States. This course examines the history of anti-Jewish ideology and anti-Jewish activity in the United States from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, the relationship between antisemitism and racism, and the response of Jewish organizations and individuals to patterns of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination.

SISJE 490C Life in Israel: Film Course Sokoloff 7:00-9:30 p.m. on the following dates: Oct. 5, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 16 and Nov. 30. 7-9:30 PM.
2 credit course, graded on a CR/NC basis. This class will meet at the Hillel building (4745 17th NE) from 7:00-9:30 p.m. on the following dates: Oct. 5, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 16 and Nov. 30. 7-9:30 PM. Students may contact Prof. Sokoloff at naosok@uw.edu with questions. This C/NC course explores aspects of contemporary life in Israel through film and popular culture. Taught in English. 2 Credits. Students are required to write five short response papers or writing assignments, and submit one five page essay at the end of the term.  Details about Response Paper: Students are expected to complete a response paper for each evening event. Papers are to be no longer than two pages double spaced (500 words). You should hand-in your papers electronically in the course dropbox.

Spring 2011

HEBR 413 Elementary Modern Hebrew
Daily 10:30

HEBR 423 Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Daily 11:30-12:20

HEBR 456 Hebrew Poems and Prayers
Sokoloff MW 2:30 – 3:50
This course examines modern Hebrew poems side by side with texts from the traditional Jewish liturgy, analyzing how contemporary writers have drawn on classical sources to reflect on matters of faith and the language of religion. Hebrew -- an ancient, sacred tongue -- has been renewed and revitalized in the past 150 years as a modern, secular vernacular. Understanding the contemporary poetry requires familiarity with the language of Jewish prayers. This class presents to students some outstanding modern writers while also fostering appreciation for some of the many historical layers of the Hebrew language. In addition, the class provides advanced work in Hebrew, offering students an opportunity to improve grammar, dictionary skills, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: HEBR 423 or permission of instructor

NEAR E 251/C LIT 357 Jewish Life in Literature and Film
Sokoloff TTh 1:30-3:20

RELIG 210 Introduction to Judaism
Pianko TTh 1:30 - 3:20
This class explores the question: what is Judaism? However, the course will not provide a single definitive answer—such as a specific belief, set of ritual practices, or shared texts and myths. Instead, our investigation of Judaism will illustrate the limitations of any effort to identify a single, static conception of Judaism. Judaism, this course argues, can only be understood as a dynamic religious tradition that has developed many forms (most of which no longer exist today) during a more than 3000 year history that has spanned nearly the entire globe. Particular attention will be paid to innovations introduced during the last two hundred years in Europe and the United States

RELIG 400 Jewish Mystical Tradition
Jaffee MW 11:30 - 12:50

SISJE 325 Contemporary Judaism in a Global Context (new course)
Pianko MW 1:30 - 3:20
Interested in the innovations transforming Judaism and other religious traditions today? This course explores the ecosystem of Jewish initiatives that have emerged in the last two decades. Special emphasis on the larger social, political, and religious trends shaping these changes to Jewish life. Students from a variety of background are encouraged to participate in this effort to understand and evaluate the impact of this dramatic evolution of religious practice and spiritual community building.

SISJE 377/SOC 377 The American Jewish Community
Burstein TTh 9:30 – 11:20.

SISJE 438/WOMEN 438 American Jewish Women's Identities
Friedman TTh 11:30-1:20 PM

SISJE 454/NEAR E 454 Israel: The First Six Centuries BCE
Martin MWF 2:30 - 3:20

SISJE 490 The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in the Middle Ages
Benton TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
Did you know that many ideas that sparked the Protestant Reformation began in Islamic Spain? Medieval Bible scholars combined their experience as philosophers, mystics, and physicians with their devoted interpretations of the Bible, and their ways of thinking influence our reading of the Bible to the present day. In this course, students will read selections of the Bible, in English translation, alongside great scholars of the Bible from the Middle Ages, such as Rashi, Rambam, and Meister Eckhart. These philosophers and mystics brought their presuppositions to their reading of the Bible, and we will reflect on these presuppositions in order to learn how to identify our own. No previous knowledge of the Bible necessary.

Winter 2011

HEBR 412 Elementary Modern Hebrew
One section. Daily 10:30.

HEBR 415 Elementary Biblical Hebrew
MWF 10:30 - 11:50.

HEBR 422 Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Daily 9:30.

HIST 388 The Jew as Other: Antisemitism in America “W”
Glenn T 3:30-5:20
Historians frequently refer to the United States as the great "exception" to the general historical pattern of anti-Jewish persecution in Europe. The Jews of the United States were never the victims of state-sponsored inquisitions, expulsions, pogroms, or holocausts. Yet as we shall see in this course, even in the relatively free and more inclusive society of the United States, Jews faced considerable prejudice, discrimination, and, at times, outright violence. Many of the same ideas and attitudes that culminated in the extermination of Europe's Jews contributed in less catastrophic ways to Jew-hatred (antisemitism) in the United States. This course examines the history of anti-Jewish ideology and anti-Jewish activity in the United States from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, the relationship between antisemitism and racism, and the response of Jewish organizations and individuals to patterns of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination.

NEAR E 150/SIS 150 Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint
Sokoloff/Barzilai/Migdal/Burstein/Pianko M 1:30-3:20 and W 1:30-2:30; quizes T-Th 11:30, 12:30,1:30, 2:30 (OPTIONAL LINKED WRITING COURSE: PLEASE SEE ENGL 198 J) Offered jointly: SIS 150/NEAR E 150Hebrew Trailer to SIS 150

SIS 490T Israel in the Media (TAUGHT IN HEBREW)
Introduces the people, institutions, and culture of Israel in the context of larger global forces. Examines domestic, regional, and international elements, both historically and in the contemporary period, that have shaped Israel's culture, politics, and special role in world affairs. Topics include nationalism, ethnicity, politics, religion, film, literature, and culture: Students will explore Israel society through newspaper articles, TV shows, film and other media.

SIS 201 The Making of the 21st Century
Bachman MWF 11:30-12:20 + TTh Quiz
This course examines the major historical trends and developments over the last century to the present, and what may emerge in the future. Special emphasis will be placed on the roles of the US, the rise of China and India, political Islam, and the global economy.

SISJE 336 A/HSTAA American Jewish History
Pianko TTh 11:20 - 1:20.
This course explores the creation and evolution of the American Jewish community during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will investigate the ways in which Jews and Judaism adapted in response to the political, social, religious, and intellectual currents of American history. The course will pay particular attention to the strategies developed by Jewish intellectuals and leaders to construct a seamless synthesis between definitions of Americanism and Judaism. In order construct such a synthesis, Jews simultaneously transformed Judaism and also attempted to redefine definitions of American citizenship. Through the careful examination of primary sources, texts, photographs, films and musicÑthis course will provide students with the opportunity to analyze these developments and to challenge their assumptions about the development of religious, ethnic, and national identities in America.

SISJE 295A/GERMAN 295A/CHID 270A/CLIT 396B German-Jewish Writers
Block MWF 11:30 - 12:20.
What does it mean to seek equal status as a citizen when the primary marker of one’s identity, that of being Jewish, is indicative of a dream to return to Zion? How does one demand of the other, the Jew, that (s)he become German when the very notion of “Germanness” is vague, uncertain, and forever changing? These are the primary questions that will structure our discussions during the term. We will also be interested in the tragic trajectory that proposed solutions to these problems assumed. In other words, we will seek to understand why for Jews the eventual solution to their predicament in Germany was to abandon dreams of assimilation and argue for the birth of a Jewish state. Conversely, we will examine how religious anti-Semitism led to racial anti-Semitism and finally to genocidal anti-Semitism. That is, how for Germans the solution to the “Jewish problem” became a final one: the extermination of all Jews from the globe. The course will also pursue a second trajectory, namely, the messianic in Jewish thought. How does the coming of the messiah or the fact that he has not yet arrived affect the disposition Jews assume toward their own lives? How do they read history? How do they conceive of truth when truth is not yet revealed save through ritual law? And finally, what does revolution have to do with the Jewish notion of messianism?
 

Autumn 2010

HEBR 411 Elementary Modern Hebrew
one section daily 10:30

HEBR 414 Elementary Biblical Hebrew
Reed MWF 10:30-11:50

HEBR 421 Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Romano Daily 11:30 – 12:20

HEBR 452 Introduction to Hebrew Literature
Sokoloff MW 2:30 – 3:50.
This course presents modern Hebrew literary texts and analysis, with continued emphasis on grammar and composition. Review of language skills and dictionary work is included in each unit to reinforce the students’ knowledge of Hebrew and to foster improved competence in their reading, discussion, and writing about the literature. In addition, the class covers fundamentals of narrative theory as students practice close readings of texts. In Autumn 2010 we will focus on fiction that is set in Tel Aviv, including texts by Etgar Keret, Rutu Modan, S. Yizhar, and S.Y. Agnon.

POLSH 320 Representations of the Holocaust in Polish and European Literature
Lysak TTh 2:30 - 4:20
Polish literature was the first to grapple with the industrialized genocide of the Jews. The course uses English translations and traces the development of Holocaust representations from the early accounts of the deportations and life in the ghettos to the postwar memoirs and fiction. Polish authors include: Tadeusz Rózewicz, Tadeusz Borowski, Ida Fink, Adolf Rudnicki, Henryk Grynberg and others. Those writers are going to be presented in the context of European Holocaust literature: Paul Celan's poetry, Primo Levi's If This Is a Man?, and Piotr Rawicz's Blood from the Sky. The curriculum poses salient questions pertaining to the representative status of literature in the face of horror. Furthermore, it addresses the moral dilemmas connected to the literary representations of the unimaginable evil.

SISJE 195/GERMAN 195/C Lit 397B Holocaust in Film
Block MWF M 12:30-1:20; Films M 2:30 – 5:20 or until end of film (Many films can be viewed by students on their own.)
How one bear witness to the unspeakable, how does one capture a history that is too horrible to return to? This course encourages students to turn a critical eye to how Hollywood in particular has exploited the dimensions of the trauma of the Holocaust to pump up the volume, so to speak, on formulaic plots and how the conventions of popular film may respond in ways that demean and cheapen the suffering of the victims. Likewise, we will question to what extent even documentary films can be understood to be objective, especially since the memories of the survivors and those of the perpetrators are unreliable. Films to be screened include: Shoah, Night and Fog, Schindler's List, The Pianist, Life is Beautiful, The Reader, The Garden of the Finzi Contini. There will be critical essays to be read in conjunction with each film.

SISJE 250/HIST 250 Introduction to Jewish Cultural History
Jaffee MTWTh 11:30 - 12:20
Students will leave the course with a cogent picture of the broad sweep of the cultural history of the Jews from roughly the mid-first milennium BCE till the 20th century. Key creative epochs of this history will be explored in depth: e.g., the emergence of rabbinic culture, the interaction of rabbinic culture with Christian and Islamic cultures, the development of the Sephardic diaspora, the modernization of Jewish cultures in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Ottoman Empire, the creation of distinctive Jewish cultures in North America and the State of Israel.

SISJE 455 a Kings of Monarchic Israel
Martin MWF 3:00 - 3:50

SISJE 357/ENGL 357 Jewish American Literature and Culture
Butwin TTh 9:30 – 11:20.
When Irving Howe persuaded Saul Bellow to translate Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story “Gimpel the Fool” for his anthology of Yiddish fiction in 1953, none of these men can have guessed that two of them—Bellow (1976) and Singer (1978)—would become Nobel laureates within the next 25 years or that Howe’s anthology would stay in print into the next century. This convergence of the scholar/critic with the Yiddish writer and the American novelist in the immediate aftermath of World War II is a capsule of the course in which we will track the migration of Jewish American literary culture from the work of pre-World War II immigrants to the American-born writers (comedians, songsters and movie makers) whose curious obsessions would do so much to define American popular and literary culture in the post-War period. Although I divide the syllabus between what I am calling “Immigrants” before the War and “Americans” after, we will focus as much on what binds the generations as on what divides them. Indeed, Singer’s “Gimpel”, written in Yiddish and in New York City by a recent immigrant at the very end of the War, is an excellent emblem of continuity and change in Jewish American writing. The pre-War generation will be represented by Abraham Cahan, Mary Antin, Anja Yezierska, Henry Roth, Clifford Odets and Al Jolson’s Jazz Singer (1927), the first “talkie.” The post-War period will include Singer and Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth, Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Allen Ginsberg, Michael Chabon and the recent Coen Brothers’ film, A Serious Man (2009).

Spring 2010

ARAMIC 421 Biblical Aramaic
Martin MWF 10:30 -11:50.

HEBR 413 Elementary Modern Hebrew
two sections daily at 9:30 and 10:30.

HEBR 423 Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Sokoloff Daily 11:30.

NEAR E 441/C LIT 410 Literature and the Holocaust
Sokoloff TTh 2:30 - 4:30.
Examines fiction, poetry, memoir, diaries, monuments, film, and pop culture from several languages and cultural milieus, with emphases on English and Hebrew. Topics include survivor testimony, shaping of collective memory, the second generation, Holocaust education and children's literature, gender and the Holocaust, and fantasy and humor as responses to catastrophe

RELIG 210 Introduction to Judaism
Zbaraschuk MTWTh 11:30 - 12:20.
This course offers a basic introduction to the history of Judaism and the variety of its historical and contemporary expressions.

SIS 490A Judaism in a Global Age
Pianko TTh 3:30 - 5:20.
This course explores the dynamic interactions between contemporary social, political, and intellectual forces and today’s changing religious landscape. With the help of a social-scientific approach, students will have the opportunity to critically analyze the ways in which religious ideologies and communities transform themselves in relationship to particular geographical contexts and historical processes. The study of Jews and Judaism provide an effective lens for considering changes to religious life. The Jewish experience reflects many of the trends facing religious communities in a global era. Jews thrive in both homeland and diaspora settings, embrace a wide spectrum of attitudes toward socio-cultural integration, and engage diverse cultural contexts from Seattle to Safed. This course is included on the International Studies Core List.

SIS 498C Readings in International Studies: Zionism, Nationalism and Sovereignty
Pianko W 2:30 - 4:20.
Zionism endures as a flashpoint in debates about the history, meaning, and morality of nationalism. Jewish nationalism’s ambiguous position in the study of international relations makes it an ideal case study for understanding the historical and contemporary forces fueling nationalism and the processes underscoring the limits of national sovereignty. By focusing on scholarly debates from a variety of disciplines about the past, present, and future of Zionism, students will have the opportunity to consider the dilemmas of balancing national self-determination with individual rights in an age of globalization.

SISJE 377/SOC 377 American Jewish Community
Burstein MW 1:30 – 3:20.
Development and current status of American Jewish community: immigration; changes in religious practice, institutions in response to circumstances in American Society; creation of new types of secular communal organizations; assimilation; confrontation with antisemitism; family life; social, economic mobility; religious, secular education; intermarriage, and future of community.

SISJE/NEAR E 452 Song of Songs
Martin MWF 1:30 - 2:20.
Examines the erotic and beautiful Song of Songs within the context of ancient (and medieval) Near Eastern love poetry and correlates close readings of the book with various interpretations it has received from antiquity until today. No knowledge of Hebrew or the Bible is required.

SISJE 490A Love, Labor, Loss: Jewish Women's History in Song
Vaisman TTh 2:30 - 4:20.
Twelve-stanza murder ballads about forbidden love, sweatshop workers’ laments at the sewing machine, and lullabies with graphic descriptions of the Holocaust are just a few examples of the wealth of Yiddish songs by, for, and about Jewish women. For centuries, women expressed their joy, suffering, interests, and concerns through songs. This course will use these songs (in translation) to examine the lives of Jewish women in Eastern Europe and America over the past 150 years. Using published collections as well as materials from the instructor’s original fieldwork, we will read (and hear) women’s folk songs, theater songs, art songs, and school songs. When relevant, we will compare these songs to ones written by men for or about women. We will also consider the songs in a broader context of different art forms. Secondary sources will provide a historical and sociological backdrop. Combining history, folklore, ethnomusicology, women’s studies, and Jewish studies, this interdisciplinary course will bring to life the struggles and victories of Jewish women in the modern period. VIEW COURSE FLYER

SISJE 490B\ECON 406 Economic History of the Jews
Kochin MW 12:30 - 2:20
The Economic History of the Jews can be traced back almost 4000 years. For almost all of that 2000 years the majority of Jews lived outside of the Land of Israel and the Jews were a minority in every country in which they lived. During the term we will discuss seven topics in each case emphasizing its economic dimensions. First, the history of the Jews from Biblical days and the transformation of the Jews from an agricultural people into a mercantile minority,. Second, economic growth in the 19th and 20th Century as it effected the Jews, the majority populations in the countries in which the Jews lived and the Middle East. Third, Migration from country to country and from rural areas to cities which was a key driver of growth in Jewish Incomes Fourth, Jews and finance from the Middle Ages to the present day. Fifth, the economic causes and consequences of Zionism- the movement for a Jewish country which beginning as a large scale movement about 1880 created the State of Israel in 70 years. Sixth , the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors which has curiously helped make Israel a center of the high tech beating of swords into plowshares. Seventh, the interactions of the economics of education of language and of religion.
About half or the course is devoted to Israel. Israel is the only country in the world which was recreated.. Israel as a Jewish State is a product of a political movement-Zionism. The great majority of the Jewish adult population of Israel are themselves immigrants or are the children of immigrants. But these immigrants are also the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Israel (in exile for 1900 years) who gathered again on their ancient homeland. Hebrew - the majority language of Israel was spoken as a mother tongue by no one from the 3rd Century to late in 19th Century. Almost no women were fluent readers or competent writers of Hebrew until the 20th Century. The economic determinants and consequences of the revival of Hebrew are of interest. About half the course is devoted to the economic history of the Jews in exile. The Jews outside of Israel were and are like the overseas Chinese of Southeast Asia and other groups a "Mercantile minority" The Jews like the overseas Chinese succeeded economically to an extent that aroused hostility and persecution from the less successful majorities. In the Jewish case this hostility intensified until in the 1940s one third of the Jewish people were murdered. This existential threat was one of the chief forces impelling Jews to migrate to Israel from Europe and from Moslem countries.

UGARIT 453 Ugaritic III
Noegel TTh 9:30-11:20

 

Winter 2010 
HEBR 412
Elementary Modern Hebrew
two sections daily 9:30 and 10:30.

HEBR 422
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Sokoloff Daily 11:30.

HEBR 428
Inscriptions from Biblical Times
Martin MWF 10:30 - 11:50.

HIST 388
Antisemitism in America
Glenn M 1:30-3:20.
Historians frequently refer to the United States as the great "exception" to the general historical pattern of anti-Jewish persecution in Europe. The Jews of the United States were never the victims of state-sponsored inquisitions, expulsions, pogroms, or holocausts. Yet as we shall see in this course, even in the relatively free and more inclusive society of the United States, Jews faced considerable prejudice, discrimination, and, at times, outright violence. Many of the same ideas and attitudes that culminated in the extermination of Europe's Jews contributed in less catastrophic ways to Jew-hatred (antisemitism) in the United States. This course examines the history of anti-Jewish ideology and anti-Jewish activity in the United States from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, the relationship between antisemitism and racism, and the response of Jewish organizations and individuals to patterns of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination.This is a "W" course.

NEAR E 240
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
Noegel TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
Examines the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in translation and its relationship with literatures of ancient Near East. Comparisons drawn between the biblical text and the literary works of Canaan, Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia. Emphasis on the sophisticated literary techniques employed by the biblical writers.

RELIG 400
Jewish Mystical Tradition
Jaffee MW 11:30 – 12:50.
This course invites students to consider the range of theological outlooks and patterns of life that are commonly defined by the term “Kabbalah” and to interpret their cultural meaning. After preliminary discussion of the antecedents of Kabbalah in the pre-Islamic Middle East, we will focus on the cultural significance of the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, that first appeared in late 13th-century Spain. This unit of the course will also survey such crucial post-Zoharic Kabbalistic movements as Lurianic Kabbalah, Sabbatianism and Hasidism. The final unit of the course concludes with reflections on the meaning of the recent explosion of interest in Kabbalah among Jewish and non-Jewish “New Age” communities in secular, post-Christian culture. We devote special attention to the influential teachings of Rabbi Philip Berg, founder of the Kabbalah Center.

SIS 150/NEAR E 150  View Course Flyer
Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint
Pianko/Barzilai/Sokoloff/Burstein MWF 12:30 - 1:20 + two sections
Introduces the people, institutions, and culture of Israel in the context of larger global forces. Examines domestic, regional, and international elements, both historically and in the contemporary period, that have shaped Israel's culture, politics, and special role in world affairs. Topics include nationalism, ethnicity, politics, religion, film, literature, and culture.

SIS 490M
Hebrew Trailer to SIS 150 - Israel in the Media
Duman F 1:30 - 2:20
Students will explore Israel society through newspaper articles, TV shows, film and other media. The course is taught in Hebrew. This course may be repeated by those who enrolled in the course Winter 2009.

SISJE 250/HIST 250
Introduction to Jewish Cultural History
Pianko TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
Jews are often viewed as a group associated with the Jewish religious tradition. However, Jews have also developed distinct Jewish cultures throughout their history with religious practices and beliefs constituting only one component. This class will explore various expressions of Jewish culture including biblical, Hellenistic, Judeo-Arabic, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Eastern European, American and Israeli. As we analyze Jewish culture across time and space, we will discuss how Jews both adopted the cultural assumptions of their neighbors and adapted these traditions to preserve a distinct identity.

SISJE 269/HIST 269
The Holocaust: History and Memory
Poiger TTH 12:30 - 1:50
Explores the Holocaust as crucial event of the twentieth century. Examines the origins of the Holocaust, perpetrators and victims, and efforts to come to terms with this genocide in Europe, Israel, and the United States.

SISJE 295/GERMAN 295
German Jewish Writers: Enlightenment to Auschwitz
Block MWF 12:30 – 1:20.
What does it mean to seek equal status as a citizen when the primary marker of one’s identity, that of being Jewish, is indicative of a dream to return to Zion? How does one demand of the other, the Jew, that (s)he become German when the very notion of “Germanness” is vague, uncertain, and forever changing? These are the primary questions that will structure our discussions during the term. We will also be interested in the tragic trajectory that proposed solutions to these problems assumed. In other words, we will seek to understand why for Jews the eventual solution to their predicament in Germany was to abandon dreams of assimilation and argue for the birth of a Jewish state. Conversely, we will examine how religious anti-Semitism led to racial anti-Semitism and finally to genocidal anti-Semitism. That is, how for Germans the solution to the “Jewish problem” became a final one: the extermination of all Jews from the globe. The course will also pursue a second trajectory, namely, the messianic in Jewish thought. How does the coming of the messiah or the fact that he has not yet arrived affect the disposition Jews assume toward their own lives? How do they read history? How do they conceive of truth when truth is not yet revealed save through ritual law? And finally, what does revolution have to do with the Jewish notion of messianism?

SISJE 458/NEAR E 458 Babylonian Talmud
Jaffee TTh 10:30 – 12:20.
Our approach to the Talmud will be historical and literary in focus. Thus we will first situate the written version of the Talmud in its various historical, geographical, and cultural settings in the Roman and Sasanian Middle East of Late Antiquity and early Islamic times. On this basis the bulk of the course will introduce students to the complex discourse of the Talmud and some of its major interpretive puzzles. Special attention will be devoted to the many signs of the ancient oral transmissional processes that undergird the written versions that survive in modern times. All texts will be studied in English translation based upon standard modern editions as illumined by traditional and modern commentaries. Students competent in Hebrew and/or Aramaic can earn an extra two credits by participating for one hour per week in study of the Talmudic text in a modern edition in the original languages.

SISJE 490B/NEAR E 496B Click here for Flyer
Israel Before Statehood: The Yishuv and the Construction of Culture
Sokoloff TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
Zionism aimed to transform Jewish life in wide-ranging ways. This course examines how the Yishuv -- the Jewish community in the “Land of Israel” before the establishment of the State of Israel -- created a new “Hebrew” culture through a revival of the Hebrew language and through literature, art, architecture, folksong, and public ceremonies. Focusing on the years 1882-1948, we will consider how the Yishuv constructed a new definition of “Jews” as “Hebrews,” and how the effort to forge a synthesis of tradition and innovation expressed itself in clothing, labor practices, religious observances, collective rituals, and city planning

SISJE 490C/NEAR E 496C Special Studies: The Torah/Pentateuch
Martin MWF 1:30 – 2:50.
An introduction to the historical‐critical study of the Torah/Pentateuch. Beginning with a survey of the content and structure of the 5 booksthat comprise the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the course then examines a wide range of problems, theories and methods with which modern scholarship on the Pentateuch and its composition is engaged. No knowledge of the Bible or Hebrew is required

Autumn 2009

SISJE 490 A
NEW COURSE
Post-Holocaust Identities in the Jewish Diaspora
Friedman TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
This course seeks to draw upon and supplement the burgeoning literature on the multiple new ways of expressing Jewish identity in the Diaspora. The course will focus upon one question: what are the touchstones of Jewish identification or affiliation for young Jewish adults today? The course will be conducted as a workshop with background readings and limited lectures. Students will learn how to gather information on Jewish identity through fieldwork and research interviews, and will write a major research paper in several stages. Some knowledge of Jewish History and Judaism will be helpful. This course is not appropriate for auditors.

SISJE 490 B/ENGL 311
Modern Jewish Literature in Translation
Butwin MW 2:30 – 4:20.
This course requires the words “in translation” in order to accommodate the many languages adopted by Jewish writers after 1880 – Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, German…. But as I look to the content and not simply the language of these stories, I am inclined to replace the word “translation” with “transition,” for new writing in each of these languages would emerge from the alteration, the migration, and the Revolution that would transform traditional Jewish life in the shtetl and the ghetto of Eastern Europe before its obliteration in the early 1940s. This course will reveal the vitality of this multi-lingual Jewish culture before the Second World War. Our readings are entirely comprised of short fiction from the Yiddish of Sholom Aleichem and I.L. Peretz, the Hebrew of Dvora Baron, the Russian of Isaac Babel and the German of Franz Kafka and Joseph Roth.

HEBR 411
Elementary Modern Hebrew
Two sections daily at 9:30 and 10:30.

HEBR 421
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Sokoloff Daily 11:30.

HEBR 427
Biblical Hebrew Poetry
Martin MWF 10:30-11:50.

HEBR 457
Hebrew in Song
Sokoloff TTh 2:30 – 3:50.
Popular song has played a central and very lively role in the shaping of modern Hebrew culture and Israeli identity. In this class we will examine a range of diverse lyrics, including selections from folksongs, pop, rock, musika mizrahit, children’s songs and more. The course aims to help students build their Hebrew vocabulary and improve their dictionary and composition skills, while providing a brief historical overview of important trends in Israeli popular music.

Topics will include the sing-along, the army ensembles, song festivals and competitions, the rise of minorities, major poets set to music, outstanding performers and songwriters, traditional and religious sources, international influences, and changes in the media.

NEAR E 220
Introduction to the Ancient Near East
Martin MWF 1:30 - 2:50.

RELIG 415
Modern Jewish Thought
Pianko MW 2:30 – 4:20.
What is Judaism? Why retain a Jewish identity in the modern world? What (if any) religious, cultural, social beliefs or activities characterize Jews? By the end of this course, students will have the ability to discuss the ways in which important Jewish intellectuals in Europe and America responded to these defining challenges of the modern Jewish experience. Through close reading of the works of thinkers such as Moses Mendelssohn, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan and Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the intellectual and social pressures that Jewish thinkers encountered in the wake of the Enlightenment and political emancipation. We will focus on the various strategies that were developed to justify the continuation of Jewish life in response to these challenges. This investigation will also raise more general questions regarding the nature of religious, social, and political identity in the modern world.

UGARIT 451
Ugaritic I
Noegel TTh 9:30 – 11:20.
 

2008-2009 

Summer 2009

HEBR 402: Intensive Elementary Biblical Hebrew (15 cr.)
Martin A and B Terms: MTWThF 8:30 - 11:50.

Spring 2009

C LIT 323
Literature of Emerging Nations: Hebrew Literature and Jewish National Identity
Sokoloff TTh 2:30-4:20

HEBR 413
Elementary Modern Hebrew .
Horovitz
Two sections being offered
MTWThF 9:30 - 10:20 and
MTWThF 10:30 - 11:20.

HEBR 423
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
MTWThF 11:30 - 12:20.

HEBR 426
Biblical Hebrew Prose
Vermeulen MWF 10:30 – 11:50.

NEAR E 454
Israel First Six Centuries
Martin
MWF 2:30 – 3:20.

NEAR E 457
History of Biblical Interpretation
Martin
MWF 3:30 – 4:20.

SISJE 250/HIST 250
Introduction to Jewish Cultural History
Jaffee MTWTh 11:30 - 12:20.

SISJE 454/NEAR E 454
Israel the First Six Centuries
Martin MWF 1:30 – 2:20.

SISJE 490A - No auditors
Jewish Communities of the Middle East
Jackson TTh 2:30 - 3:50 PM
This class studies Jewish communities of the Middle East through focusing on
one of the region’s most significant historical Jewish communities –
Sephardic Jewry. We will follow the expulsion of Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal in the 15th century to their lives in the Ottoman empire, Turkey and beyond. How did Jews and their neighbors live together, shaping local arts, economies, relationships, cuisines? How were Jewish communities governed under Islamic administrations? What kinds of historical transformations took place in Sephardic communities across the centuries? In the modern period we will investigate issues of nationalism, citizenship and migration, as well as how Sephardic Jews are remembered today. To probe these questions, we will study primary and secondary sources, including historical scholarship, memoirs, fiction, film, and music. We will discuss how historians think about and evaluate sources, interrogate historical ‘objectivity,’ and develop tools for critically reading diverse historical narratives.Required Texts: Aron Rodrigue and Esther Benbassa, Sephardi Jewry: A History of the Judeo-Spanish Community, 14th-20th Centuries. University of California Press, 2000 [1993]. Leon Skiaky, Farewell to Salonica: City at the Crossroads. Philadelphia: Paul Dry Books, 2003 [1946]. Course reading packet.

SISJE 490B/POL 420
Polish-Jewish Relations in Literature and Film
Chojnowski WF 12:30 - 2:20.

Winter 2009

HEBR 412
Elementary Modern Hebrew
Two sections being offered
MTWThF 9:30 - 10:20 and
MTWThF 10:30 - 11:20.

HEBR 415
Elementary Biblical Hebrew
MWF 10:30 – 11:50.

HEBR 422
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Rogovin
MTWThF 11:30 - 12:20.

SISJE 438/WOMEN 438
American Jewish Women's Identities
Friedman
MTWTh 12:30 - 1:20.
Examines how Jewish women's identities are socially constructed and transformed in contemporary America, using social histories, memoirs, and ethnographies to analyze scholars' approaches to Jewish women's lives. Topics include the role of social class, religion, migration, the Holocaust, and race relations in Jewish women's lives.

SISJE 453/NEAR E 453
Biblical Prophets
Martin
MWF 3:00 – 3:50.
Explores the biblical prophets (in translation) within their Near Eastern contexts. Studies them for their historicity, literary and rhetorical sophistication, and ideological agendas as dialectitions, social reformers, performers, and visionaries. This course seeks to uncover the meaning and distinctiveness of Israelite prophecy within the context of the larger Near East. No knowledge of the Bible is required. Offered: jointly with SISJE 453.

SISJE 458/NE 458
The Babylonian Talmud
Jaffee
TTh 10:30 – 12:20.
Introduction to the Babylonian Talmud, the classic collection of rabbinic literature. Literary and historic methodologies contextualize the Talmud in the setting of other ancient religious literatures and track the processes of its literary development.

SISJE490B/ENGL 311
Modern Jewish Literature in Translation
Butwin
TTh 9:30 - 11:20.
Although the course requires the words “in translation” in order to accommodate the many languages adopted by Jewish writers after 1880, I am expanding the reading list this quarter to include several works that do not require translation because they were written originally in America and in the English language. Yet even for these stories written in English I would retain the notion of “translation” which comes to us from the Latin past participle—translatum—of the verb transferre which describes a journey, a crossing of rivers, borders, and oceans, to transport oneself or to carry baggage from one domain to another. Language and literature is an important part of that baggage. In this course we will trace the migration of Jewish literature between 1880 and 1940 from the Yiddish language commonly spoken in the shtetl and the ghetto of Eastern Europe to its re-emergence in various languages from Tel Aviv to Odessa and New York. Our readings include the Yiddish of Sholom Aleichem, I. L. Peretz, and I. B. Singer, the Hebrew of Dvora Baron and S.Y. Agnon, the Russian of Isaac Babel, and the first phase of a Jewish-American literature written in English with a heavy inflection of Yiddish by Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska and Henry Roth. I will also appeal to film, painting, and song throughout the period. Although the focus of the course is Jewish writers before the Holocaust, we will conclude with several stories (and films) from the post-War period that bear the imprint of the tradition that we will have just studied.

SISJE 490C/HIST 490
Jews and Blacks
Glenn
TTh 12:30 - 2:20.
This course considers some of the ways that Jews and Blacks in twentieth century America used the “other” to construct a sense of historic group identity. Looking at the period from the late 1920s to the 1960s, we will examine the frameworks through which Jews and Blacks have understood and imagined each other and the significance of mutual reflections for group relations.

NEAR E 496C
Use of the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament
Martin
MWF 1:30 – 2:50.
How do New Testament writers use texts from the Hebrew Bible to promote their theological positions? What exactly is the “text” that New Testament writers cite? Why do many New Testament “quotations” appear to differ in numerous details from their Old Testament counterparts? This course explores the relationship between received text and developing theology in early Christianity. The course begins with a brief survey of the manuscript traditions of the Hebrew Bible and its ancient versions, upon which New Testament writers depend. Contextual, historical, and theological considerations are the primary focus, which provide insight into the lens through which early Christians read and understood their Old Testament.

NEAR E 496D/C LIT 410
Literature and the Holocaust
Sokoloff
TTh 1:30 - 3:20.
By examining fiction, poetry, memoir, diaries, monuments and aspects of popular culture, this course will explore representations of the Holocaust. Among the topics to be covered: bearing witness and survivor testimony; the shaping of collective memory; the second generation; Holocaust education and children's literature; gender and the Holocaust; fantasy and humor in literary responses to catastrophe.

RELIG 210
Introduction to Judaism
Pianko
MW 2:30 – 4:20. Sections—see UW Time Schedule
This class explores the question: what is Judaism? However, the course will not provide a single definitive answer—such as a specific belief, set of ritual practices, or shared texts and myths. Instead, our investigation of Judaism will illustrate the limitations of any effort to identify a single, static conception of Judaism. Judaism, this course argues, can only be understood as a dynamic religious tradition that has developed many forms (most of which no longer exist today) during a more than 3000 year history that has spanned nearly the entire globe. Particular attention will be paid to innovations introduced during the last two hundred years in Europe and the United States.

RELIG 400
Jewish Mystical Tradition
Jaffee MW 11:30 – 12:50.
Jewish esoteric thought from antiquity to early modern times. Emergence of Spanish Kabbalah. The thought of Isaac Luria and its immense influence in Jewish history through other movements-specifically the mystical messiah. Sabbetai Sevi, and the rise of Hasidism. Recommended: RELIG 201 or RELIG 210.

SIS 150/NEAR E 150
Israel: Dynamic Society and Global Flashpoint
(Pianko/Barzilai/Sokoloff/Migdal)
Lectures: MWF 12:30 – 1:20. Sections TTh--See UW Time Schedule for times.
Introduces the people, institutions, and culture of Israel in the context of larger global forces. Examines domestic, regional, and international elements, both historically and in the contemporary period, that have shaped Israel's culture, politics, and special role in world affairs. Topics include nationalism, ethnicity, politics, religion, film, literature, and culture.

Return to Top

The Samuel & Althea Stroum Jewish Studies Program
University of Washington
Thomson Hall, Box 353650
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 543-0138 phone
(206) 685-0668 fax
►jewishst@uw.edu