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COURSES - SPRING 2004
Check out our sumptuous feast of courses. From ancient to modern
times, there's something for everyone in history, literature, religion,
art and politics. Be adventurous!
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JDS 201/REL 223
Class C01: 1:30-2:50 TTh
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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: Burton Visotzky
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JDS 325/AMS 325
Seminar S01:
1:30-4:20 W
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Culture Mavens: American Jews and
the Arts
This seminar explores the relationship between marginality and creativity
by focusing on the way America’s Jews drew on film, radio,
television, and the stage to express their identity as full fledged
Americans. Venturing behind the scenes, it considers the roles Jews
played both as cultural impresarios and performers on Tin Pan Alley,
Broadway, and Hollywood while also closely examining the cultural
forms they championed - and why. Film screenings, guest lecturers,
and field trips.
Professor: Jenna Weissman Joselit
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JDS 321/COM 321
Seminar S01: 1:30-4:20 M
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A Literary Tour of the Middle
East: Short Stories from Israel and the Arab World
Imaginative literature affords a unique window into the collective
mind of a people or a society. That is the perspective this course
brings to the diverse peoples and cultures of the Middle East. Whereas
these are usually apprehended through the lens of politics, this
course will allow us to cross, and hopefully transcend, linguistic,
national, and cultural boundaries. Reading and discussing short stories
by leading writers from a wide range of Middle Eastern countries
offers a valuable opportunity to glimpse the essential humanity that
informs and underlies the conflicted surface of lived experience
in that region of the world.
Professor: James Diamond
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JDS 360/HIS 459
Class C01: 3:00-4:20 MW
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The Jewish Enlightenment and Its
Critics
This course examines the 18th century emergence of the Jewish Enlightenment
(Haskalah), and tracks the ways in which the confrontation with modernity
motivated the 19th century ideal of reforming Jewish society and
religion. We will also examine contemporary experiments in self-fashioning
undertaken by Jewish men and women, who encountered the contradictions
between European culture and Jewish ethics in their own lives. At
the same time, we will explore how the powerful impact of Enlightenment
shaped a radical critique of Jewish modernity that crystallized into
a variety of 20th century movements (e.g., socialism, nationalism,
traditionalism).
Professor: Olga Litvak
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REL 341/JDS 341
Class C01: 11:00-12:20
TTh
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Christianity and the Rabbis in
Late Antiquity
Those first centuries in antiquity during which Christianity took
shape was also the time at which classical Judaism (the Judaism of
the Talmud and Midrash) was evolving in its own way, according to
the ideals of the Rabbis, the masters of the Torah, who composed
these works. But did these two worlds remain wholly separate, as
has often been supposed? The seminar will look for evidence in the
vast corpus of Rabbinic literature for a lively and productive exchange
of common ideas between the Rabbis and their Christian counterparts.
More precisely, our basic question is: how much Christianity is there
in Talmud and Midrash?
Professor: Peter Schäfer and Yisrael Yuval
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REL 340/JDS 340
Class C01: 3:00-4:20 TTh
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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: Martha Himmelfarb
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REL 346/JDS 346
Seminar S01: 1:30-4:20 W
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Reason and Revelation in Jewish
Thought
A critical introduction to some of the classics of medieval and modern
Jewish thought. Among the topics examined are: prophecy, miracles,
and the possibility of knowing the divine. Particular attention will
be paid to the status and meaning of religious tradition in these
debates. The course will also explore Moslem, Christian, and secular
philosophical influences on Jewish thought, as well as the relation
between modern and pre-modern conceptions of reason.
Professor: Leora Batnitzsky
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REL 510
Seminar S01: TBA
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Special Topics in the Study of Religion:
Rabbinic Cosmology and Its Contexts
This seminar will trace the developments in ancient Jewish cosmology
from the Hebrew Bible until the end of the rabbinic period (7th Century
CE). It will focus on a close reading of the relevant texts. The
course is being taught jointly with Prof. David Stern, and will alternate
meetings with the University of Pennsylvania.
Professors: Peter Schäfer & David Stern
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NES 306/JDS 306
Class C01: 11:00-12:20 TTh
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Land-Identity-Nation: An Introduction
to Israeli Literature
Israeli Literature has always been intensely preoccupied with questions
of national and collective identity. This course explores the contours
of this preoccupation in fiction and poetry from Eretz-Israel/Palestine
in the early 20th century through the establishment of a state in
1948 to the present day. We will examine the evolution of Hebrew
literary production as it moved out of Europe, encountered the Mediterranean
landscape, and developed into a vehicle of vernacular literary expression.
Topics include: secularism v. religious tradition; gender and ethnicity;
postmodernism and its discontents.
Professor: Barbara Mann
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NES 545
Seminar S01: 1:30-4:20 Th
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Problems in Near Eastern Jewish History:
Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community of the Geniza World
The topic this year is poverty and social welfare in the Jewish community
of medieval Egypt, with comparative focus on medieval Islam and medieval
and early modern Christendom.
Professor: Mark Cohen
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HEB 102
Class C01: 10:00-10:50 MWF
Drill D01:
11:00-11:50 TTh
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Elementary Hebrew II
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
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HEB 107
Class C01: 11:00-11:50 MWF
Drill D01: 11:00-11:50
TTh
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Intermediate Hebrew II
Completion of two-year textbook 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
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HEB 302
Class C01: 1:30-2:50 TTh
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Advanced Hebrew II
This course will continue to develop an advanced, active command
of the written and spoken language through reading and discussion
of short stories and Hebrew prose. Focus on aspects of contemporary
Israeli and Jewish cultures.
Professor: Barbara Mann
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