JWS 201/REL 223
Class 1.0
1:30-2:20 TTh

Precept 1.0: 7:00 p.m. TBA
 

Introduction to Judaism:  Religion, History, Ethics
This course explores the complex nature of Judaism and its development as a religion and culture over millennia. It is not a history course. The focus is on the various elements that combine to make Judaism a holistic religious system, such as sacred place, rites of passage, sacred writings, worship, and attitudes to nature. Attention will be paid to how these elements are differently understood within the Orthodox and non-Traditional movements in the Jewish community. All students are welcome.
Professor: James Diamond.

 

HIS 359/JWS 359
Lecture 1.0
1:30-2:20 TTh
 

Modern Jewish History: 1750-Present
This course surveys the breadth of Jewish experience from the era of the Enlightenment to the contemporary period. Tracing the development of Jewish communities in Europe and the United States against the background of general history, the lectures focus on themes such as the transformation of Jewish identity, the creation of modern Jewish politics, the impact of anti-semitism, and the founding of the State of Israel. 
Professor:  Olga Litvak.

 

HIS 540
Seminar 1.0
9:00 - 11:50 M
 

From Prague to Constantinople:  The Making of Eastern Europe
This course will explore the history of eastern and southeastern Europe from the medieval period until today. Unlike Western Europe, where the national state took shape early on, the areas further east were organized as multinational empires. This course will explore that imperial history, with an emphasis on the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires, and focusing on issues of religion and community.
Professors: Olga Litvak and Molly Greene.

 

NES 210/JWS 210
Class 1.0
3:00-4:20 TTh
 

The Hebrew Bible as Literature:  Genesis and Storytelling
Course exploring relation of Hebrew Bible to literary and critical theory. Topic changes and may be organized around specific book, theme, genre, or theoretical problem. Secondary readings include midrash and modern readings of biblical texts. Students may read text in translation or in original Hebrew. 
Professor: Barbara Mann

 

NES 310/ COM 311
Class 1.0
11:30-12:20 TTh
 

Modern Jewish Literature Across Cultures
An investigation of relations between modernist literature and modern Jewish identity, focusing on the ways in which Jewishness and modernity conflict and overlap. Topics include: cultural hybridity, bilingualism and the relation between language and identity, history and the place of tradition, the metropolis, universalizing of "the Jew." Students are encouraged to develop their own working definitions of the term modernism, in dialogue with readings and with each other. 
Professor: Barbara Mann

 

NES 338/JWS 338
Lecture 1.0
1:30-2:20 TTh
 

Precept 1.0:  TBA

The Arab Israeli Conflict
The course surveys the history of the conflict, acquainting students with the major developments in it, and with the main lines of the academic debate about it. Diplomacy and international relations will receive primary emphasis, but the social and cultural roots of the conflict will also receive attention.
Professor: Michael Doran.

 

NES 545
Seminar 1.0
1:30-4:20 TTh
 

Problems in Near Eastern Jewish History
A study of a number of central problems, historiographical issues, and primary sources relevant to the history of the Jewish minority under Islam in the Middle Ages.
Professor: Mark Cohen.

 

REL 318/JWS 318
Seminar 1.0
1:30-4:20 W
 

Recent Jewish and Christian Thought
Focuses on the ethical implications of recent Jewish and Christian discussions of the relation between reason and religious tradition. Among the topics examined are: criticisms of universalist notions of reason, attempts to defend a view of Jewish, Christian, or philosophical particularity, and philosophical appropriations of "Judaism" by post-liberal Christian thinkers and "postmodern" philosophers. The course explores this coincidence post-liberal Christian and "postmodern" philosophical thinking, from the perspectives of both Jewish thought itself and the complex historical relationship between Judaism and Christianity. 
Professor: Leora Batnitzsky

 

REL 340/JWS 340
Class 1.0
11:00-12:20 TTh
 

Judaism in the Greco-Roman World
This course seeks to understand the evolution of Judaism during the crucial period from the conquest of Alexander the Great to the destruction of the Second Temple, through a careful reading of primary texts and consideration of such issues as the process of hellenization, the development of biblical canon, the emergence of sects, and the growth of eschatological expectation. Topics include Palestine in the third century BCE; the hellenistic reform and the Maccabean revolt; Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes; the Dead Sea Scrolls; Philo and Egyptian Judaism; and apocalyptic literature.
Professor: M. Himmelfarb.

 

HEB 102
Class 1.0
11:00-11:50 M W F
Drill 1.0: 
11:00-11:50 TTh
 

Elementary Hebrew
Continuation of Hebrew 101 focusing on the structure, grammar, and vocabulary of the Hebrew language. There will be reading of easy texts from Israeli newspapers and from the textbooks. Also, there will be more compositions and presentations about various topics in Hebrew.
Professor: Esther Robbins

 

HEB 107  
Class 1.0
10:00-10:50 M W F
Drill 1.0:
10:00-10:50 TTh
 

Intermediate Hebrew
Completion of two-year text book Ha-Yesod, and reading and discussion of selected additional texts (newspapers, stories, poems, etc.). Extensive practice in conversation, writing, and reading Hebrew literature.
Professor: Esther Robbins