Courses

For a full list of our current undergraduate courses, including instructor names and meeting times, please check the Jewish Studies listings in the UW-Madison Course Search and Enroll.

To view requirements for a Jewish Studies major or certificate, see the UW-Madison Guide.

Fall 2025

HBR-MOD 101: First-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
MTWR 9:55AM – 10:45AM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: First-semester Modern Hebrew language

HBR-MOD 201: Third-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
M 11:00AM – 11:50AM, TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: Third-semester Modern Hebrew language

HBR-MOD 301/JS 301: Fifth-Semester Modern Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
Cross listed as: JEWISH 301
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: Fifth-Semester Hebrew through discussion of culturally significant texts.

HBR-MOD 401/JS 401: Seventh-Semester Modern Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
Cross listed as: JEWISH 401
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit – Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Seventh-semester Hebrew through discussion of culturally significant texts.

JS 105: YIDDISH: First-Semester Yiddish
Check with Jewish Studies advisor Gwen Walker to find out whether this can count toward the Language Requirement of the certificate or major
Cross listed as: GNS 105; cross-listed with graduate-level 405
Prof. Matthew Johnson
MTWR: 8:50-9:40
Credits: 4
Course Level: Elementary
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Learn Yiddish, the language of east European Jewry and its diaspora. A language of politics, theater, and folklore. A language of the classroom and the bakery, the factory and the field, the synagogue and the street, from Warsaw to Stockholm, Berlin to Buenos Aires, New York to Madison, WI. Yiddish offers a gateway to explore the history of Jewish culture. No prerequisites required. All are welcome.

JS 203: Jewish Law, Business, and Ethics
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Gateway” requirement for the major OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross listed as: LEGAL ST 203, RELIG ST 203
Prof. Jordan Rosenblum
Lecture: MW 12:00-12:50
+ 4 discussion sections
Credits: 3
Course Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course explores the development of Jewish law from antiquity to modernity, with a focus on legal questions related to business practices and ethics. Students consider issues ranging from ethical practices in agriculture to how to run a modern multi billion-dollar kosher industry; from the ethics of Jews celebrating Thanksgiving to regulations governing the preparation, consumption, and sale of coffee.

JS 219: The American Jewish Experience: From Shtetl to Suburb
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as History 219
Prof. Tony Michels
Lecture: MWF 1:20pm – 2:10PM
+ 4 discussion sections
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: By the 1950s, the United States became home to the largest Jewish community at that time. Why did millions of Jews come to the United States? How has life in a liberal political and capitalist economic order shaped the Jewish experience in the United States? In turn, how have Jews influenced American culture, politics, and society? This course surveys the history of American Jews from the 17th century to the 21st century. Using Jews as the primary, though not only, case, the course examines themes in the history of immigration, ethnicity, and religion. Topics include patterns of political activity, social mobility, processes of integration and exclusion, Jewish culture, religion, and problems in community-building.

JEWISH 231: Medieval Jewish History (Elementary Topics in Jewish History)
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Prof. Nina Caputo
TR 1:00-2:15
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course will survey major historic developments in medieval Jewish
society under both Islam and western Christendom. Students will look at the divergence of Judaism
and Christianity, the rise of the Babylonian geonim, the social and cultural history of Jews in the
Arab Mediterranean world, the emergence of Jewish communities in Medieval Ashkenaz and
Iberia, Jewish-Christian dialog, and the impact on Jewish society of the Crusades, the
Reconquista in Iberia, and the Black Death. In the lectures, readings and assignments, students
will examine the interaction of Jews with the majority culture, political structure, and economy,
as well as changing cultural trends within Jewish society. The distinctive religious climate of the
medieval period will serve as a unifying theme throughout. We will study primary sources as
well as recent historical scholarship.

JS 269: Yiddish Literature and Culture in Europe
Cross listed as: German 269, LitTrans 269
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 11:00am – 12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Literature
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Exploration of European Yiddish fiction, poetry, folklore, and cinema, with a focus on works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

JS 310: The Holocaust
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed as History 310
Instructor: Ofer Ashkenazi
MW 2:30- 3:45
+ 4 discussion sections
Credits: 4
Breadth: Humanities
Level: Intermediate
Description: References to the Holocaust abound in contemporary political debates and in our popular culture. But most people know very little about the history of the Holocaust, despite the mountains of superb historical scholarship that experts in the field have produced over decades of dedicated research. Utilize correspondence, diaries, or other firsthand accounts of Holocaust victims, together with study of the larger events around them, to reconstruct the experiences of ordinary families swept up in the Nazi genocide.

JS 318: Modern Jewish Literature
Cross listed as: LitTrans 318
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 9:30-10:45
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Pre-modern Jewish society’s breakdown, immigration, the challenges of integration and exclusion, and the establishment of new communities will serve as a backdrop for the analysis and comparison of Jewish literary texts written in Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Russian, and English.

JS 423: Modern Jewish Thought
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: ILS 423, SOC 423
Prof. Chad Goldberg
TR 2:30-3:45
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Social Science
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: How do Jews fit into the modern world? While the “Jewish Question” initially referred to debates about Jewish emancipation (the struggle for equal citizenship and social integration that started with the French Revolution), it later served to describe modern Jewish political and social thought about the identity, place, and role of the Jews in the modern world. Beginning in the late 19th century, as cultural assimilation, economic impoverishment in eastern Europe, and rising antisemitism sowed doubts about the viability of emancipation and traditionalism alike, Jewish thinkers proposed new answers to the Jewish question. Learn about some of the major answers they debated, including revolutionary universalistic utopias (socialism and Communism), various forms of Jewish nationalism, hyphenated identities, cultural pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. Work to contextualize these ideas historically while also considering whether and how they remain relevant to the present.

JS 432: Sex and Violence in the Ancient Near East
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross listed as Classics 308
Prof. Chontel Syfox
TR 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
L&S credit type: Counts as LAS credit (L&S)
Description: Examines the intersections of sex and violence in biblical and related literature. Reading through a variety of lenses, including feminist interpretation, queer theory, and post-colonial theory, we will consider how, why, and for whom texts depicting gender violence worked in the ancient world. We will also explore the reception of such texts in art, fiction, and film and their impact on modern society.

JS 518: Anti-Semitism in European Culture, 1700-1945
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: History 518, Sociology 496
Prof. Chad Goldberg
TR 11:00-12:15 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: A critical review of major theories of anti-Semitism and a history of modern anti-Semitism. This course provides a critical review of major theories of antisemitism and a history of modern antisemitism. Although once considered dormant in the United States, political movements and individual actors espousing antisemitism have made headlines here in recent years. On the one hand, attempts by policymakers and activists to identify and combat antisemitism are often hobbled by a lack of knowledge about the history of the phenomenon. On the other hand, scholarship by historians sometimes suffers from a lack of attention to its contemporary manifestations. This seminar therefore aims to help you build a rigorous conception of antisemitism as a set of strangely persistent ideas, with attention to both historical and present-day forms of antisemitism.

JS 631: Zionism and Its Critics
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as History 500
Prof. Tony Michels
R 1:20-3:15
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: In the late-19th century, Jews in Europe initiated a movement for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Known as Zionism, this movement eventually led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. There were multiple forms of Zionism that pursued various strategies and goals. Zionism also generated fierce criticism from various quarters within and outside the Jewish community. Much was at stake in the debates among Zionists and between Zionists and their critics: the fate of Jews in increasingly perilous countries and empires, the prospects of Arab nationalism in Palestine and the larger region, and other critical issues. This seminar explores Zionism’s history in multiple locations from multiple perspectives. Framed most broadly, the seminar explores the interplay between nationalism, socialism, and liberalism through the case of the Jews as they became entangled with nation-states, empires, and revolutions from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.

Spring 2025

HBR-MOD 102: Second-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
MTWR 9:55-10:45am
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: 2^nd semester Hebrew; continuation of 101. Basic communication skills; speaking, reading, writing modern Hebrew; elements of grammar and syntax.

HBR-MOD 202: Fourth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
M 11:00-11:50am, TR 11:00-12:15pm
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: 4^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 201. Readings from modern Hebrew texts, intermediate grammar and syntax, development of oral proficiency, emphasis on class discussions.

HBR-MOD 302/JEWISH 302: Sixth-Semester Hebrew
If not counted toward the Language Requirement, can fulfill one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 6^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 301. Selected works from different periods and genres. Taught in Hebrew.

HBR-MOD 402/JEWISH 402: Eighth-Semester Hebrew
If not counted toward the Language Requirement, can fulfill one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 8^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 401. Readings in Hebrew literature. Taught in Hebrew.

JS 213: Jews & American Pop. Culture
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with History 213
Instructor: Erin Faigin
TR 4:00 – 5:15 + T/W Discussion Section
Credits: 4
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Humanities
Level: Elementary
Description: Explores the interplay between Jews and U. S. popular culture, covering such subjects as early 20th century vaudeville, the “golden age” of Hollywood, rhythm and blues music, television, and stand-up comedy.

JS 227: Introduction to Biblical Literature (in English)
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate or “Premodern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with Classics 227
Instructor: Chontel Syfox
TR 9:30 – 10:45
Credits: 4
Breadth: Literature
Level: Elementary
Description: Introduction to the text, development, history, and social context of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Covers the Torah (Pentateuch), Neviim (Former and Latter Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings), and provides a brief introduction to early Jewish literature (Pseudepigrapha/Apocrypha). Discusses various methods of analysis and theories of composition. Addresses major theological claims made of the text by Jewish and Christian communities. Explores contextualized interpretations in the ancient and modern day.

JS 230: Hotels and Health Culture in Central Europe
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with German 266
Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff
MWF 12:05 – 12:55
Credits: 3
Breadth: Literature
Level: Elementary
Description: Introduces students to the space of the hotel as a site of cross-cultural exchange and medical recuperation. The literature and films under examination focus on Central European sights of rest and healing between the World Wars. Driving the syllabus are the hotels, health resorts, and sanatoria that came to serve as sights in which Jewish identity was negotiated against a complex backdrop of increasing integration and exclusion. We will survey material originally produced in Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Polish, French, and English, including work by: Sholem Aleichem, David Vogel, Vicki Baum, Arthur Schnitzler, Zofia Nałkowska, Siegfried Kracauer, Wes Anderson, and Thomas Mann.

JS 232: Religion and Sexuality
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate or “Premodern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 103
Instructor: Jordan Rosenblum
MW 11:00-11:50 + R/F Discussion Section
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Examines “what religion is” by investigating how religious traditions imagine, interrogate, and regulate sexuality. Mapping out the contours of this inquiry requires exploration of related topics such as gender, embodiment, and historical (re)constructions. We will focus on the religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (especially that of Greeks, Romans, Rabbinic Jews, and early Christians).

JS 279: Yiddish Literature and Culture in America
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with German 279
Instructor: Sunny Yudkoff
MWF 1:20-2:10 p.m.
Credits: 3
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Literature
Level: Elementary
Description: Focuses on the Jewish immigrant experience in Yiddish, a fusion language that brings together German, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, Latin, Aramaic, and more. In addition to identifying and analyzing points of Jewish-Christian difference, students will explore how Jews writing in Yiddish navigated America as members of a religious minority and how they narrated the experiences of other minoritized groups, such as African Americans and Native Americans. How are hierarchical social relationships constructed in multi-ethnic and multi-lingual America? How, in turn, does the Jewish experience become and not become a paradigm of Americanization for subsequent communities of migrants? Major themes include cultural translation, ethnicity, migration, “melting pot,” multilingualism, and assimilation.

JS 310: The Holocaust
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with History 310
Instructor: Ofer Ashkenazi
MW 2:30- 3:45
Credits: 3
Breadth: Humanities
Level: Intermediate
Description: References to the Holocaust abound in contemporary political debates and in our popular culture. But most people know very little about the history of the Holocaust, despite the mountains of superb historical scholarship that experts in the field have produced over decades of dedicated research. Utilize correspondence, diaries, or other firsthand accounts of Holocaust victims, together with study of the larger events around them, to reconstruct the experiences of ordinary families swept up in the Nazi genocide.

JS 350: What Is Jewish Studies?
Fulfills the “Core Seminar” requirement for the major; also open to certificate students
Instructor: Tony Michels
MW 2:30-3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Introduces Jewish studies as an interdisciplinary field and examines Jewish history, culture, and thought through the major questions that guide the field, including: What is Jewish practice? What is a Jewish text? What is diaspora? What is antisemitism? And, who are the Jews? Explores a variety of responses offered by scholars, writers, theologians, and artists. Develop the ability to think transhistorically, bringing together biblical, medieval, modern, and contemporary perspectives. Anchor inquiries into the field of Jewish studies through the completion of a substantial research project.

JS 423: Modern Jewish Thought
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Sociology 423
Instructor: Chad Goldberg
TR 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Social Science
Description: How do Jews fit into the modern world? While the “Jewish Question” initially referred to debates about Jewish emancipation (the struggle for equal citizenship and social integration that started with the French Revolution), it later served to describe modern Jewish political and social thought about the identity, place, and role of the Jews in the modern world. Beginning in the late 19th century, as cultural assimilation, economic impoverishment in eastern Europe, and rising antisemitism sowed doubts about the viability of emancipation and traditionalism alike, Jewish thinkers proposed new answers to the Jewish question. Learn about some of the major answers they debated, including revolutionary universalistic utopias (socialism and Communism), various forms of Jewish nationalism, hyphenated identities, cultural pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. Work to contextualize these ideas historically while also considering whether and how they remain relevant to the present.

JS 462: Muslims and Jews
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate or one “Premodern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with AFRICAN 462, MEDIEVAL 462, RELIG ST 462
Instructor: Adam Stern
TR 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores the historical relationship between Muslims and Jews in a variety of contexts from the seventh century to the present. Surveys literary and cultural exchanges against the background of shifting political and social conditions across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Considers also the parallel legacies of anti-Semitism, Orientalism, and Islamophobia. Major themes include comparative religion, secularization, migration, and colonialism, as well as the politics of history and cultural memory. Introduces readings in English translation of medieval and modern texts originally written across languages, and especially in Hebrew and Arabic.

POLI SCI 529: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Instructor: Andrew Kydd
TR 4:00 – 5:15 p.m. + discussion sections
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Social Science
Requisites: Sophomore standing and POLI SCI 120, 140, 182 or INTL ST 101
Description: Examines the political, social, and economic aspects of the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict over time, and the theoretical and policy issues it raises.

JS 632: The Philosophy of Spinoza
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Philosophy 454
Instructor: Steven Nadler
MWF 11:00 – 11:50
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Bento (Baruch) Spinoza was put under herem (essentially excommunicated) by the Amsterdam Portuguese-Jewish community in 1656, when he was still a young man. He would go on to become the most original and radical philosopher of the modern period. In this class, we will study Spinoza’s two main philosophical masterpieces: the Ethics, in which he argues for what his contemporaries called an “atheistic” conception of “God or Nature” and demonstrates the implications of this theology for human well-being; and his “scandalous” Theological-Political Treatise, in which he presents his views on the Bible, miracles, prophecy, religion and politics.

Fall 2024

HBR-MOD 101: First-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one course toward the Language Requirement
MTWR 9:55AM – 10:45AM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: First-semester Modern Hebrew language. Basic communication skills; speaking, reading, writing modern Hebrew; elements of grammar and syntax.

HBR-MOD 201: Third-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one course toward the Language Requirement
M 11:00AM – 11:50AM, TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: Third-semester Modern Hebrew language. Readings from modern Hebrew texts, intermediate grammar and syntax, development of oral proficiency, emphasis on class discussions.

HBR-MOD 301/JS 301: Fifth-Semester Modern Hebrew
Fulfills one course toward the Language Requirement
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: Fifth-Semester Hebrew. Selected works from different periods and genres. Taught in Hebrew.

HBR-MOD 401/JS 401: Seventh-Semester Modern Hebrew
Fulfills one course toward the Language Requirement
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit – Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Seventh-semester Hebrew. Readings in Hebrew literature. Taught in Hebrew.

Discussion sections:
301 – F 9:55pm – 10:45pm
302 – F 11:00am – 11:50am (Limited to students enrolled in the FIG course “Law and Religion.” Other students, please enroll through 301, 303, or 304.)
303 – F 12:05pm – 12:55pm
304 – F 1:20pm – 2:10pm

Credits: 3
Course Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Explores the development of Jewish law from antiquity to modernity, with a focus on legal questions related to business practices and ethics. Consider issues ranging from ethical practices in agriculture to how to run a modern multi billion-dollar kosher industry; from the ethics of Jews celebrating Thanksgiving to regulations governing the preparation, consumption, and sale of coffee.

JS 225: Jews and Race
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Prof. Adam Stern
TR 2:30pm – 3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Takes a comparative look at the multiple intersections between Jewish history and histories of racism. Covers relevant case studies ranging from the Bible to the present, in order to analyze the long, global trajectory that has shaped issues of race and racial inequality in the United States and beyond. Topics include the so-called “curse of Ham”; the role of “the Jew” in medieval Christian theology; the demonization of Jews and Muslims during the Crusades; the interaction between Jews, European colonialism, and transatlantic slavery; nineteenth-century debates about “Semites”; the racialization of Jews during the Holocaust; the role of race and racism in the development of Zionism and the history of the Palestinian Nakba; debates about Black-Jewish relations in the United States; the question of Jews and whiteness; as well as historical encounters between Jews and Native Americans.

JS 236: Writing the Holocaust
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: English 236-001
Prof. Michael Bernard-Donals
MW 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Gen Ed: Communications Part B
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Develop skills in critical reading, logical thinking, use of evidence, and use of library resources. Emphasis on writing in the conventions used in Jewish Studies.

JS 318: Modern Jewish Literature
Cross listed as: LitTrans 318
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 1:00pm – 2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Pre-modern Jewish society’s breakdown, immigration, the challenges of integration and exclusion, and the establishment of new communities will serve as a backdrop for the analysis and comparison of Jewish literary texts written in Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Russian, and English.

JS 335: King David in History and Tradition
Cross listed as: Classics 335, Religious Studies 335
Prof. Jeremy Hutton
MW 2:30pm – 3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: An exploration of the literary and historical aspects of the text of 1-2 Samuel + 1 Kings 1-2; the history and archaeology of Jerusalem during the tenth century B.C.E.; and the varieties of ways in which the figure of King David has been received in subsequent religious and secular literature, visual art, music, television, and cinema.

JS 430-002: Anne Frank
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as German 325, LitTrans 326
T 2:30PM – 3:45PM in person, R 2:30PM – 3:45PM online
Prof. Jolanda Taylor
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature; Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Learn about the history of Jewish communities in the Netherlands, with a focus on the family of Anne Frank. Become familiar with Anne Frank’s writings and with a range of receptions of her work, with attention to the question of what distinguishes literature from non-literary texts. This course examines the context in which Anne Frank’s diaries were written, the various ways in which they were received, and what her work and life have to say to people today amid the continued scourge of racism.

JS 432: Sex & Violence in the Ancient Near East
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross listed as Classics 308
Prof. Chontel Syfox
TR 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
L&S credit type: Counts as LAS credit (L&S)
Description: Examines the intersections of sex and violence in biblical and related literature. Reading through a variety of lenses, including feminist interpretation, queer theory, and post-colonial theory, we will consider how, why, and for whom texts depicting gender violence worked in the ancient world. We will also explore the reception of such texts in art, fiction, and film and their impact on modern society.

JS 518: Anti-Semitism in European Culture, 1700-1945
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: HISTORY 518, SOCIOLOGY 496-003
Prof. Chad Alan Goldberg
TR 11:00am – 12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Although antisemitism was once considered dormant, individuals and political movements espousing antisemitism have made headlines in both the US and Europe in recent years. On the one hand, attempts by policymakers and activists to identify and combat antisemitism are often hobbled by a lack of knowledge about the history of the phenomenon. On the other hand, scholarship by historians sometimes suffers from a lack of attention to its contemporary manifestations. This course provides a critical and interdisciplinary review of the history and major theories of modern antisemitism, with attention to both past and present-day forms of this phenomenon.

Summer 2024

Jewish Studies 310: The Holocaust
Cross-listed as HISTORY 310
8 week summer session course: June 17 – August 11
ONLINE
Instructor: Ludwig Decke
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: References to the Holocaust abound in contemporary political debates and in our popular culture. But most people know very little about the history of the Holocaust, despite the mountains of superb historical scholarship that experts in the field have produced over decades of dedicated research. Utilize correspondence, diaries, or other firsthand accounts of Holocaust victims, together with study of the larger events around them, to reconstruct the experiences of ordinary families swept up in the Nazi genocide.

Spring 2024

HBR-MOD 302/JEWISH 302: Sixth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 6^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 301. Selected works from different periods and genres. Taught in Hebrew.

HBR-MOD 402/JEWISH 402: Eighth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 8^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 401. Readings in Hebrew literature. Taught in Hebrew.

JS 340: The American Jewish Life of DNA
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement OR one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 340
Instructor: Prof. Cara Rock-Singer
TR 11:00am – 12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities, Social Science
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores the range of relationships between DNA and American Jewish life. It begins with the “prehistory” of the relationship between Jewishness and genetic science, from Biblical genealogies to early twentieth century racial science. It then turns to America in the second half of the twentieth century, when the discovery of the double helix and the atrocities of Auschwitz reinvigorated and reshaped American Jewish relationships to DNA.

JS 350: What Is Jewish Studies?
Fulfills the “Core Seminar” requirement for the major; also open to certificate students
Instructor: Jordan Rosenblum
MW 2:30-3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Introduces Jewish studies as an interdisciplinary field and examines Jewish history, culture, and thought through the major questions that guide the field, including: What is Jewish practice? What is a Jewish text? What is diaspora? What is antisemitism? And, who are the Jews? Explores a variety of responses offered by scholars, writers, theologians, and artists. Develop the ability to think transhistorically, bringing together biblical, medieval, modern, and contemporary perspectives. Anchor inquiries into the field of Jewish studies through the completion of a substantial research project.

JS 462: Muslims and Jews
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with AFRICAN 462, MEDIEVAL 462, RELIG ST 462
Instructor: Adam Stern
TR 2:30 – 3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores the historical relationship between Muslims and Jews in a variety of contexts from the seventh century to the present. Surveys literary and cultural exchanges against the background of shifting political and social conditions across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Considers also the parallel legacies of anti-Semitism, Orientalism, and Islamophobia. Major themes include comparative religion, secularization, migration, and colonialism, as well as the politics of history and cultural memory. Introduces readings in English translation of medieval and modern texts originally written across languages, and especially in Hebrew and Arabic.

POLI SCI 529: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Instructor: Nadav Shelef
W 1:20 – 3:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Social Science
Requisites: Sophomore standing and POLI SCI 120, 140, 182 or INTL ST 101
Description: Examines the political, social, and economic aspects of the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict over time, and the theoretical and policy issues it raises.

Fall 2023

HBR-MOD 101: First-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
Cross listed as: JEWISH 101
MTWR 9:55AM – 10:45AM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: First-semester Modern Hebrew language

HBR-MOD 201: Third-Semester Hebrew
Fulfills one the course toward the Language Requirement.(Modern Hebrew)
Cross listed as: JEWISH 201
M 11:00AM – 11:50AM, TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: Third-semester Modern Hebrew language

301 – R 1:30pm – 2:20pm
302 – F 9:55am – 10:45am
303 – F 11:00am – 11:50am
304 – F 12:05pm – 12:55pm

Credits: 3
Course Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course explores the development of Jewish law from antiquity to modernity, with a focus on legal questions related to business practices and ethics. Students consider issues ranging from ethical practices in agriculture to how to run a modern multi billion-dollar kosher industry; from the ethics of Jews celebrating Thanksgiving to regulations governing the preparation, consumption, and sale of coffee.

JS 219: The American Jewish Experience: From Shtetl to Suburb
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Prof. Tony Michels
Lecture: MWF 1:20pm – 2:10PM
Discussion Sections:

301 – W 5:40pm – 6:30pm
302 – R 8:50am – 9:40am
303 – R 11:00am – 11:50am
304 – R 12:05pm – 12:55pm

Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: By the 1950s, the United States became home to the largest Jewish community at that time. Why did millions of Jews come to the United States? How has life in a liberal political and capitalist economic order shaped the Jewish experience in the United States? In turn, how have Jews influenced American culture, politics, and society? This course surveys the history of American Jews from the 17th century to the 21st century. Using Jews as the primary, though not only, case, the course examines themes in the history of immigration, ethnicity, and religion. Topics include patterns of political activity, social mobility, processes of integration and exclusion, Jewish culture, religion, and problems in community-building.

JEWISH 227: Introduction to Biblical Literature (Honors only)
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed as: CLASSICS 227, LITTRANS 227, RELIG ST 227
Prof. Jeremy Hutton
TR 2:30pm – 3:45pm
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Literature
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S Honors only
Description: This course introduces the text, development, history, and social context of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Topics include the Torah (Pentateuch), Neviim (Former and Latter Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings), as well as a brief introduction to early Jewish literature (Pseudepigrapha/Apocrypha). Students will use various methods of analysis and theories of composition to consider major theological claims made of the text by Jewish and Christian communities. Explores contextualized interpretations in the ancient and modern day.

JS 231: Jews and Race
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Prof. Adam Stern
TR 11:00am – 12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course introduces the parallel and intersecting histories of “racism” and “anti-Semitism.” Students will consider the relationship through case studies ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. Topics include the similarities and differences between medieval, religious Jew-hatred and modern, racial anti-Jewishness; the rise of European colonialism and transatlantic slavery; the racialization of Jews during the Holocaust; the development of Zionism; comparative debates about anti-Jewishness and anti-Blackness in the United States; and representations of Jews and Native Americans.

JS 323: The Bible and Film: Literature and Media
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed as: CLASSICS 323, RELIG ST 323
Instructor: Prof. Jeremy Hutton
Credits: 3
Gen Ed: Communication Part B
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature. Counts toward the Humanities req
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: An introduction to the study of the Bible as literature and of biblical reception in the medium of film, from early Hollywood to the present day. Explores the way in which the Bible (including both Hebrew and Greek Testaments), one of the foundational literary corpora of American society, has been interpreted, reinterpreted, and misinterpreted through the medium of film over the past century. We will begin each segment of the course by reading portions of the biblical text that have experienced significant interpretation, in order to understand the literary text that has been received in film. How beholden are filmmakers to the interpretations of communities that view these texts as authoritative, and where are they free to depart from their sources? Is it possible to “translate” biblical narratives into film without losing something in the translation? These questions will focus our study on ways the literature has been interpreted in this new medium.

JS 341: Israeli Politics and Society
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: POLI SCI 341
Prof. Nadav Shelef
TR 4:00pm – 5:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Social Science
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course examines the issues currently facing Israeli society and the ongoing debates in Israeli politics. The course provides historical background and analytical understanding of contemporary Israeli politics. Attention will be paid to political history, institutions, economic development, coalition formation, ethnic politics, and religious-secular divisions as they are manifested in Israeli politics.

JS 423: Modern Jewish Thought
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: ILS 423, SOC 423
Prof. Chad Goldberg
TR 2:30 – 3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Social Science
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: How do Jews fit into the modern world? While the “Jewish Question” initially referred to debates about Jewish emancipation (the struggle for equal citizenship and social integration that started with the French Revolution), it later served to describe modern Jewish political and social thought about the identity, place, and role of the Jews in the modern world. Beginning in the late 19th century, as cultural assimilation, economic impoverishment in eastern Europe, and rising antisemitism sowed doubts about the viability of emancipation and traditionalism alike, Jewish thinkers proposed new answers to the Jewish question. Learn about some of the major answers they debated, including revolutionary universalistic utopias (socialism and Communism), various forms of Jewish nationalism, hyphenated identities, cultural pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. Work to contextualize these ideas historically while also considering whether and how they remain relevant to the present.

JS 430-002: Anne Frank
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as German 325, LitTrans 326
T 2:30PM – 3:45PM in person, R 2:30PM – 3:45PM online
Prof. Jolanda Taylor
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature; Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course examines the context in which Anne Frank’s diaries were written, the various ways in which they were received, and what her work and life have to say to people today amid the continued scourge of racism. Topics include the nature of literature. Is what Ms. Frank wrote literature? Why, or why not?

JS 518: Anti-Semitism in European Culture, 1700-1945
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross listed as: HISTORY 518
Prof. Chad Goldberg
TR 11:00am – 12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This course provides a critical review of major theories of antisemitism and a history of modern antisemitism. Although once considered dormant in the United States, political movements and individual actors espousing antisemitism have made headlines here in recent years. On the one hand, attempts by policymakers and activists to identify and combat antisemitism are often hobbled by a lack of knowledge about the history of the phenomenon. On the other hand, scholarship by historians sometimes suffers from a lack of attention to its contemporary manifestations. This seminar therefore aims to help you build a rigorous conception of antisemitism as a set of strangely persistent ideas, with attention to both historical and present-day forms of antisemitism.

JS 631: Blacks and Jews in Urban America
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Prof. Tony Michels
T 1:20pm – 3:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This seminar is a comparative investigation into the experiences of two migrant groups to northern cities for the purpose of illuminating the history of race and ethnicity in the United States. Both African Americans and Jews were persecuted minorities in their places of origin and continued to suffer discrimination after migration. Yet their positions in American society differed in key respects. Jews were an immigrant group whose members came voluntarily to the United States; most African Americans were forcibly brought to the United State as enslaved people. Jews enjoyed near (but not complete) equality before the law, even while they faced much social discrimination and occasional violence; Blacks were subjected to extensive discriminatory legislation and chronic violence. With recognition of these and other differences, we will investigate in a comparative fashion how Blacks and Jews shaped their cultures and communities during a formative era in their respective histories. The seminar’s geographic focus is the urban north and the temporal focus is the late 19^th to the mid-20^th century.

JS 632: Art, Visual Culture, and the Holocaust
Fulfills one “Literature/Philosophy/Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Instructor: Gabriel Chazan
MWF 11:00am – 11:50ama
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit Type: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: What we talk about when we talk about the Holocaust has a lot to do with visuality. But what do we see when we think of this horrific moment in world history and how have we come to see it? Further, how can art and visual culture help us to begin comprehending the incomprehensible and reckon with the past in the present, finding connections to other moments and locations? This class will start to engage these questions both through canonical texts and more recent pathbreaking interventions. Authors will include Marianne Hirsch, Lisa Saltzman and Tina Campt and discussed artists will include Art Spiegelman, Phillip Guston and Charlotte Salomon.

Spring 2023

HBR-MOD 102: Second-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
MTWR 9:55-10:45am
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: 2^nd semester Hebrew; continuation of 101

HBR-MOD 202: Fourth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
M 11:00-11:50am, TR 11:00-12:15pm
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: 4^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 201

HBR-MOD 302/JEWISH 302: Sixth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 6^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 301

HBR-MOD 402/JEWISH 402: Eighth-Semester Hebrew
Instructor: Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 8^th semester Hebrew; continuation of 401

JS 279: Yiddish Literature and Culture in America
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement in Jewish Studies
Cross-listed with German 279 and LitTrans 279
Instructor: Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Literature/Humanities
Level: Elementary
Description: Focuses on the Jewish immigrant experience in Yiddish, a fusion language that brings together German, Hebrew, Russian, Polish, Latin, Aramaic, and more. In addition to identifying and analyzing points of Jewish-Christian difference, students will explore how Jews writing in Yiddish navigated America as members of a religious minority and how they narrated the experiences of other minoritized groups, such as African Americans and Native Americans. How are hierarchical social relationships constructed in multi-ethnic and multi-lingual America? How, in turn, does the Jewish experience become and not become a paradigm of Americanization for subsequent communities of migrants? Major themes include cultural translation, ethnicity, migration, “melting pot,” multilingualism, and assimilation.

JS 322: The Sabbath
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Gateway” requirement for the major OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 322
Instructor: Prof. Adam Stern
TR 4:00-5:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: What is the “Sabbath”? What does it mean “to rest”? This course offers a broad, comparative introduction to the history of the Sabbath, from the Bible to the present day, through textual sources from the Jewish and Christian traditions. Topics encompass the major theological, ritual, and cultural practices that have developed around the Sabbath, including its political iterations in modern, secular contexts.

JS 335: King David in History and Tradition
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies 335
Instructor: Prof. Jeremy Hutton
TR 9:30-10:45 am
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement; Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S.
Description: Explores the literary and historical aspects of the text of 1-2 Samuel + 1 Kings 1-2; the history and archaeology of Jerusalem during the tenth century B.C.E.; and the varieties of ways in which the figure of King David has been received in subsequent religious and secular literature, visual art, music, television, and cinema.

JS 340: The American Jewish Life of DNA
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement OR one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 340
Instructor: Prof. Cara Rock-Singer
TR 11:00am -12:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities, Social Science
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores the range of relationships between DNA and American Jewish life. It begins with the “prehistory” of the relationship between Jewishness and genetic science, from Biblical genealogies to early twentieth century racial science. It then turns to America in the second half of the twentieth century, when the discovery of the double helix and the atrocities of Auschwitz reinvigorated and reshaped American Jewish relationships to DNA.

JS 350: What Is Jewish Studies?
Fulfills the “Core Seminar” requirement for the major; also open to certificate students
Instructor: Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 2:30-3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Introduces Jewish studies as an interdisciplinary field and examines Jewish history, culture, and thought through the major questions that guide the field, including: What is Jewish practice? What is a Jewish text? What is diaspora? What is antisemitism? And, who are the Jews? Explores a variety of responses offered by scholars, writers, theologians, and artists. Develop the ability to think transhistorically, bringing together biblical, medieval, modern, and contemporary perspectives. Anchor inquiries into the field of Jewish studies through the completion of a substantial research project.

JS 423: Modern Jewish Thought
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Meets with Sociology 423
Instructor: Prof. Chad Alan Goldberg
TR 2:30-3:45PM
Credits: 3
Breadth: Social Science
Level: Intermediate
Description: How do Jews fit into the modern world? In the late 19th century, as cultural assimilation, economic impoverishment, and rising antisemitism sowed doubts about the viability of traditionalism and emancipation alike, Jewish social and political thinkers began to propose new answers to the “Jewish question.” This course will introduce students to some of the major answers they debated, including revolutionary universalistic utopias (socialism and Communism), various forms of Jewish nationalism, hyphenated identities, cultural pluralism, and cosmopolitanism. We will contextualize these ideas historically while also considering whether and how they remain relevant to the present. Readings include Marx, Luxemburg, Trotsky, Pinsker, Herzl, Ahad Ha-Am, Dubnow, Medem, Kallen, Freud, Horkheimer and Adorno, and Arendt.

JS 432-001: American Jewish Women and the Body of Tradition
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 400-001
Instructor: Prof. Cara Rock-Singer
T 1:20-3:15
Credits: 3
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities; Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Since the second half of the twentieth century, Jewish women have remade American Judaism by putting their bodies front and center. In the face of a largely male rabbinic elite, they have created new models of ritual, communal leadership, and textual interpretation both within and outside existing Jewish institutions and denominations. How have women mobilized embodied practice and knowledge in efforts to reinterpret, reclaim, and reinvent Judaism? How have these changes reverberated in communities that explicitly reject feminism? And what can these women teach us about religion, gender, and sexuality in America more broadly? By focusing on the role of the body, gender, and sexuality in Jewish life, this course will examine the ways that American Judaism and Jewishness are constituted and contested through everyday practices.

JS 432-002: Sex and Violence in the Ancient Near East
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate OR the “Pre-modern” requirement for the certificate
Cross-listed with Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Instructor: Prof. Chontel Syfox
Meetings Days/Time: MW 2:30 -4:45 pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Examines the intersections of sex and violence in biblical and related literature. Reading through a variety of lenses, including feminist interpretation, queer theory, and post-colonial theory, we will consider how, why, and for whom texts depicting gender violence worked in the ancient world. We will also explore the reception of such texts in art, fiction, and film and their impact on modern society.

JS 631: Advanced Topics in Jewish History: Zionism and Its Critics
Fulfills one “History/Social Sciences” requirement for the major/certificate
Meets with History 500
Instructor: Prof. Tony Michels
T 1:20-3:15PM
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities; Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: In the late-19th century, Jews in Europe initiated a movement for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Known as Zionism, this movement eventually led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. There were multiple forms of Zionism that pursued various strategies and goals. Zionism also generated fierce criticism from various quarters within and outside the Jewish community. Much was at stake in the debates among Zionists and between Zionists and their critics: the fate of Jews in increasingly perilous countries and empires, the prospects of Arab nationalism in Palestine and the larger region, and other critical issues. This seminar explores Zionism’s history in multiple locations from multiple perspectives. Framed most broadly, the seminar explores the interplay between nationalism, socialism, and liberalism through the case of the Jews as they became entangled with nation-states, empires, and revolutions from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.

JS 632: Advanced Topics in Jewish Philosophy and the Arts: Music and Genocide
Fulfills one “Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts” requirement for the major/certificate
Cross-listed with Music 497-053
Instructor: Prof. Teryl Dobbs
Meetings Days/Time: 4:30-7:00 p.m.
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Humanities; Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: This seminar explores music and its multiple functions, from resistance to weaponization, during the Holocaust (1938 – 1945) genocide/Judeocide, as well as in more recent genocides. Seminar members will identify and investigate topics that they find relevant to their present and future lives. Students from all majors are welcome. The course is open to anyone who appreciates music and is interested in how music has been utilized by both victimizers as well as victims.

Fall 2022

HBR-MOD 101: First-Semester Hebrew
MTWR 9:55AM – 10:45AM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: First-semester Modern Hebrew language course

HBR-MOD 201: Third-Semester Hebrew
M 11:00AM – 11:50AM, TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: Third-semester Modern Hebrew language course

HBR-MOD 301/JS 301: Fifth-Semester Modern Hebrew
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: Fifth-Semester Hebrew through discussion of culturally significant texts.

HBR-MOD 401/JS 401: Seventh-Semester Modern Hebrew
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Instructor: Judith Sone
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth – Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit – Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Seventh-semester Hebrew through discussion of culturally significant texts.

JS 219: The American Jewish Experience: From Shtetl to Suburb
Lecture: MWF 1:20-2:10PM
Prof. Tony Michels
Discussion Sections:
301 – M 4:35 – 5:25
302 – M 5:40 – 6:30
303 – T 8:50 – 9:40
304 – T 9:55 – 10:45
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Breadth: Humanities
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Surveys American Jews from the eighteenth century until after WW II, examining political behavior (radicalism, liberalism, and nationalism), class formation, social mobility, culture, inter-ethnic group relations, religion, and problems in community building.

JEWISH 227: Introduction to Biblical Literature (in English)
TR 9:30AM – 10:45AM
Prof. Chontel Syfox
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Addresses major theological claims made of the text by Jewish and Christian communities. Explores contextualized interpretations in the ancient and modern day.

JS 269: Yiddish Literature and Culture in Europe
TR 9:30AM – 10:45AM
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Literature. Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Exploration of European Yiddish fiction, poetry, folklore, and cinema, with a focus on works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

JS 430-001: Jewish Humor
TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature; Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Examines the notion of “Jewish humor” by reading a variety of texts (jokes, short stories, films, websites, conceptual art, and cultural kitsch). While the focus is on American texts from the 1880s until the present, we will also reach back in time to examine humor in classical Jewish texts, from the Hebrew Bible to the Middle Ages. The general goal of the course will be to answer the question: Is there such a thing called “Jewish humor”? (Hint: The answer may be “no.”)

JS 430-002: Anne Frank
T 1:00PM – 2:15PM in person, R 1:00PM – 2:15PM online
Prof. Jolanda Taylor
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature; Counts toward the Humanities requirement
L&S Credit: Counts as Liberal Arts and Science credit in L&S
Description: Examines the context in which Anne Frank’s diaries were written, the various ways in which they were received, and what her work and life have to say to people today amid the continued scourge of racism. Topics include the nature of literature: is what Ms. Frank wrote literature? Why, or why not?

Spring 2022

HBR-MOD 102: Second-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
MTWR 9:55-10:45am
Credits: 4
Level: Elementary
Description: 2nd semester Hebrew; continuation of 101

HBR-MOD 202: Fourth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
M 11:00-11:50am, TR 11:00-12:15pm
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Description: 4th semester Hebrew; continuation of 201

HBR-MOD 302/JEWISH 302: Sixth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 6th semester Hebrew; continuation of 301

HBR-MOD 402/JEWISH 402: Eighth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
TR 1:00-2:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 8th semester Hebrew; continuation of 401

JEWISH 227: Introduction to Biblical Literature (in English)
Cross-listed with Classics 227, Literature in Translation 227, Religious Studies 227
Prof. Chontel Syfox
TR 11:00-12:15pm
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
Description: Introduction to the literature and literary history of the Old Testament, Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Talmud, and Midrashim. Enroll Info: Not open to students that have completed HEBR ST 217

JEWISH 231: Religion and Sexuality
Prof. Jordan Rosenblum
Lecture: MW 11:00-11:50am
Discussion Sections:
301: R 1:20-2:10pm
302: R 2:25-3:15pm
303: F 9:55-10:45am
304: F 11:00-11:50am
305: F 12:05-12:55pm
306: F 9:55-10:45am
307: F 11:00-11:50am
308: F 12:05-12:55pm
Credits: 3-4
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Examines “what religion is” by investigating how religious traditions imagine, interrogate, and regulate sexuality. Mapping out the contours of this inquiry requires exploration of related topics such as gender, embodiment, and historical (re)constructions. We will focus on the religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (especially that of Greeks, Romans, Rabbinic Jews, and early Christians).

JEWISH 236: Jewish Composers of the Early Modern to Modern Period
Prof. Jeanne Swack
MWF 1:20-2:10pm
Credits: 3
Level: Elementary
Gen-ed: Comm-B
Description: Study the role of Jewish composers and musicians in Europe, the U.S, and elsewhere from the end of the sixteenth century to the present. Through this study we may consider the place that Jews occupied in the larger societies in which they lived.

JEWISH 310: The Holocaust
Cross-listed with History 310
Lecture: MWF 9:55-10:45am
Discussion Sections:
301: W 11:00-11:50am
302: W 12:05-12:55pm
303: R 8:50-9:40am
304: R 9:5510:45am
Credits: 4
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: References to the Holocaust abound in contemporary political debates and in our popular culture. But most people know very little about the history of the Holocaust, despite the mountains of superb historical scholarship that experts in the field have produced over decades of dedicated research. Utilize correspondence, diaries, or other firsthand accounts of Holocaust victims, together with study of the larger events around them, to reconstruct the experiences of ordinary families swept up in the Nazi genocide.

JEWISH 322: The Sabbath
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 322
Prof. Adam Stern
TR 4:00-5:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Takes up the question: What is the “Sabbath”? What does it mean “to rest”? Offers a broad, comparative introduction to the history of the Sabbath, from the Bible to the present day. Readings encompass a range of textual sources from the Jewish and Christian traditions. Topics include the major theological, ritual, and cultural practices that have developed around the Sabbath. Discuss contemporary political iterations of the Sabbath in modern, secular contexts.

JEWISH 340: The American Jewish Life of DNA
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 340
Prof. Cara Rock-Singer
MW 2:30-3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities, Social Science
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores the range of relationships between DNA and American Jewish life. It begins with the “prehistory” of the relationship between Jewishness and genetic science, from Biblical genealogies to early twentieth century racial science. It then turns to America in the second half of the twentieth century, when the discovery of the double helix and the atrocities of Auschwitz reinvigorated and reshaped American Jewish relationships to DNA.

JEWISH 432-002: Africana Approaches to the Bible
Prof. Jeremy Hutton
TR 4:00-5:15
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Explores African and Black Diaspora interpretations of biblical literature (including both Hebrew and Greek Testaments). This course begins with a survey of Black Africans’ roles in the Bible, takes note of the early translation of the Bible into Ethiopic in the 4th–5th centuries CE, follows the movement of biblical interpretation across the Middle Passage, and explores the various intellectual dimensions of Black Diaspora biblical interpretation in contemporary North America (including various Christian, Jewish, and, to some extent, Muslim approaches).

JEWISH 350: What is Jewish Studies?
Prof. Tony Michels
TR 2:30-3:45pm
Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Introduces Jewish studies as an interdisciplinary field and examines Jewish history, culture, and thought through the major questions that guide the field, including: What is Jewish practice? What is a Jewish text? What is diaspora? What is antisemitism? And, who are the Jews? Explores a variety of responses offered by scholars, writers, theologians, and artists. Develop the ability to think transhistorically, bringing together biblical, medieval, modern, and contemporary perspectives. Anchor inquiries into the field of Jewish studies through the completion of a substantial research project.

JEWISH 665: Israeli Politics and Society
Cross-listed with Political Science 665
W 1:20-3:15pm
Credits: 3
Level: Advanced
Breadth: Social Science
Requisites: Sophomore standing
Description: Provides historical and analytical understanding of Israeli internal political life and institutions. Attention will be paid to political culture, coalition formation, and ethnic politics as they are manifested in Israeli politics. The effect of regional conflict upon Israel’s domestic politics will also be considered.

Fall 2021

HBR-MOD 101: First-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
MTWR 9:55AM – 10:45AM
Credits: 4
Course level: Elementary
Description: 1st semester Modern Hebrew language course

HBR-MOD 201: Third-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
M 11:00AM – 11:50AM, TR 11:00AM – 12:15PM
Credits: 4
Course level: Intermediate
Description: third semester Modern Hebrew language course

JS 203: Jewish Law, Business, and Ethics
Prof. Jordan Rosenblum
Lecture: MW 12:05-12:55
Discussion sections:
301 – F 12:05 – 12:55
302 – W 11:00 – 11:50
303 – F 11:00 – 11:50
Credits: 3
Course Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Explores the development of Jewish law from antiquity to modernity, with a focus on legal questions related to business practices and ethics. Issues range from ethical practices in agriculture to how to run a modern multibillion-dollar kosher industry; from the ethics of Jews celebrating Thanksgiving to regulations governing the preparation, consumption, and sale of coffee.

JS 219: The American Jewish Experience: From Shtetl to Suburb
Prof. Tony Michels
Lecture: MWF 1:20-2:10
Discussion Sections:
301 – W 2:25 – 3:15
302 – W 3:30 – 4:20
303 – R 8:50 – 9:40
304 – R 9:55 – 10:45
Credits: 4
Course level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Gen Ed: Ethnic Studies
Description: Surveys American Jews from the eighteenth century until after WW II, examining political behavior (radicalism, liberalism, and nationalism), class formation, social mobility, culture, inter-ethnic group relations, religion, and problems in community building.

HBR-MOD 301/JS 301: Fifth-Semester Modern Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Credits: 3
Course level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: language and literature course

HBR-MOD 401/JS 401: Topics In Modern Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Credits: 3
Course level: Advanced
Breadth: Literature
Description: 7th semester Modern Hebrew; language and literature course

JS 430: Anne Frank
Prof. Jolanda Taylor
TR 2:30PM – 3:45PM
Credits: 3
Course level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
Description: Examines the context in which Anne Frank’s diaries were written, the various ways in which they were received, and what her work and life have to say to people today amid the continued scourge of racism. Topics include the nature of literature: is what Ms. Frank wrote literature? Why, or why not?

JS 430: Jewish Humor
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
TR 1:00PM – 2:15PM
Credits: 3
Course level: Intermediate
Breadth: Literature
Description: Examines the notion of “Jewish humor” by reading a variety of texts (jokes, short stories, films, websites, conceptual art, and cultural kitsch). While the focus is on American texts from the 1880s until the present, we will also reach back in time to examine humor in classical Jewish texts, from the Hebrew Bible to the Middle Ages. The general goal of the course will be to answer the question: Is there such a thing called “Jewish humor”? (Hint: The answer may be “no.”)

JS 432: Sexual Violence in the Bible
Prof. Chontel Syfox
TR 4:00-5:15pm
Credits: 3
Course level: Intermediate
Breadth: Humanities
Description: Examines the intersections of sex and violence in biblical and related literature. Reading through a variety of lenses, including feminist interpretation, queer theory, and post-colonial theory, we will consider how, why, and for whom texts depicting gender violence worked in the ancient world. We will also explore the reception of such texts in art, fiction, and film and their impact on modern society.

Spring 2021

JEWISH 220: Introduction to Modern Jewish History
Cross-listed with History 220
Prof. Amos Bitzan
Modality: Remote Synchronous
TR 1:00-2:15PM

JEWISH 279: Yiddish Literature and Culture in America
Cross-listed with German 279 and LitTrans 279
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
Modality: Remote Synchronous
Lecture: MW 9:55-10:45AM
Discussion sections:
R 9:55-10:45AM (301)
F 9:55-10:45AM (302)
R 8:50-9:40AM (303)
F 12:05-12:55PM (304)

JEWISH 328: Classical Rabbinic Literature in Translation
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 328 and LitTrans 328
Prof. Jordan Rosenblum
Modality: Remote Synchronous
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM

JEWISH 340: The American Jewish Life of DNA
Cross-listed with Religious Studies 340
Prof. Cara Rock-Singer
Modality: Remote synchronous
MW 2:30-3:45PM

JEWISH 356: Jerusalem: Conflict & Desire
Meets with Religious Studies 400-006
Prof. Rachel Brenner
Modality: Remote synchronous
MWF 9:55-10:45AM

HBR-MOD 402/JEWISH 402: Eighth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
Modality: Remote Synchronous
TR 1:00-2:15
JEWISH 430-001: Holocaust: Testimonies and Expressions
Prof. Rachel Brenner
Modality: Remote synchronous
MWF 8:50-9:40AM

JEWISH 430-002: Hebrew Literature from the Bible to the Present
Prof. Marina Zilbergerts
Modality: Remote synchronous
TR 11:00AM-12:15PM

JEWISH 431-001: Trials of the Holocaust (Intermediate Topics in Jewish History)
Prof. Frank Tuerkheimer
Modality: Remote synchronous
W 1:20-3:20PM

JEWISH 432-001: Literature and the Problem of Evil
Meets with Religious Studies 400-005
Prof. Marina Zilbergerts
Modality: Remote synchronous
TR 9:30-10:45AM

JEWISH 432-002: Bible & Film
Meets with Classics 373
Prof. Jeremy Hutton
Modality: Remote synchronous
TR 9:30-10:45AM

JEWISH 433-001: Modern Jewish Thought
Meets with Sociology 496-006
Prof. Chad Alan Goldberg
Modality: Remote synchronous
TR 2:30-3:45PM

JEWISH 433-002: The Politics of Human Rights
Meets with Political Science 434-001
Prof. Scott Straus
Modality: Remote synchronous
Lecture MW 2:30-3:45PM
Discussion sections:
M 4:35-5:25PM (302)
M 1:20-2:10PM (303)
W 9:55-10:45AM (304)
W 11:00-11:50AM (305)
T 8:50-9:40AM (306)
R 2:25-3:15PM (307)

JEWISH 442: Moral Philosophy and the Holocaust
Meets with Philosophy 442 and Religious Studies 400-004
Prof. Adam Stern
Modality: Remote synchronous
TR 9:30-10:45AM

JEWISH 539: Jewish Literatures in Diaspora
Cross-listed with English 539
Prof. Sunny Yudkoff
Modality: Remote synchronous
M 1:20-3:15PM

JEWISH 631-001: Holocaust Research
Cross-listed with History 600-002
Prof. Amos Bitzan
Modality: Remote Synchronous
R 11:00-12:55PM

JEWISH 665: Israeli Politics and Society
Cross-listed with Political Science 665
Prof. Nadav Shelef
Modality: Remote synchronous
MW 4:00-5:15PM

JEWISH 675: Research Colloquium for Majors: Readings in Zionism
Prof. Tony Michels
Time to be arranged with professor; taken in conjunction with 677

JEWISH 677: Independent Research for Majors: Readings in Zionism
Time to be arranged with professor; taken in conjunction with 675
Prof. Tony Michels
Time to be arranged with professor
3 credits

HBR-MOD 102: Second-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
Modality: Remote Synchronous
MTWR 9:55-10:45
Credits: 4

HBR-MOD 202: Fourth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
Modality: Remote Synchronous
M 11:00-11:50, TR 11:00-12:15

HBR-MOD 302/JEWISH 302: Sixth-Semester Hebrew
Prof. Judith Sone
Modality: Remote Synchronous
TR 1:00-2:15

Fall 2020

JS 203: Jewish Law, Business, and Ethics (Cross-listed with Religious Studies and Legal Studies 203)
JS 219: The American Jewish Experience: From Shtetl to Suburb (Cross-listed with History 219)
JS 227: Introduction to Biblical Literature (in English) (Cross-listed with Classics 227)
JS 230: Russia and Jews: Literature, Culture, Religion (Cross-listed with Slavic 245 and LitTrans 247)
JS 231 (Lec 002): Jerusalem: Conflict and Desire (FIG)
JS 231 (Lec 003): The Holocaust (Cross-listed with History 233)
JS 232: Israeli Culture in Music and Film
JS 430 (Lec 001): Holocaust: Testimonies and Expressions
JS 430 (Lec 002): Jewish Humor (Cross-listed with English 457)
JS 430 (Lec 003): Anne Frank (Cross-listed with German 625 and LitTrans 326)
JS 431: Muslims and Jews
JS 432: Sexual Violence in the Bible (Cross-listed with Classics 373, Lec 002)
Hebrew-Modern 101: First Semester Hebrew
Hebrew-Modern 201: Third Semester Hebrew
Hebrew-Modern 301: Introduction to Hebrew Literature (5th semester Hebrew) (Cross-listed with JS 301)
Hebrew-Modern 401: Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I (7th semester Hebrew) (Cross-listed with JS 401)