Topics in Israeli Cinema

Israel has a unique and constantly-evolving national cinema, the product of its diverse immigrant population, influences from neighboring nations, and dramatic national history. Beginning with artistic influences from abroad and culminating with native self-examinations, this course will provide a survey of Israeli film history, recurring foci of Israeli cinema, and introductions to influential filmmakers from early director and impresario Menahem Golan to Orthodox writer/director Rama Burshtein.

Each class meeting will include a complete screening of an Israeli feature film, as well as clips of related works. Readings will include critical essays and histories which elaborate on in-class screenings and cover additional topics and films. Written assignments will be three analytical essays which will encourage critical thinking, close analysis of films, and independent research beyond the materials presented in class.

All readings are in English. All feature films and film clips are in Hebrew (some include Arabic), and will be presented with English subtitles. Students fluent in Hebrew and Arabic are encouraged to interpret the dialogue for additional meaning that may not be translated in the subtitles.

• W 10 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
• Instructor: Stuart Weinstock
  Info
• 3 points

Jewish Histories of the Modern Middle Ea

Jewish Hist of Mod Mid Ea

This seminar explores the many ways in which Jews participated in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the modern Middle East. Together we will seek to nuance narratives of Jewish histories as we move both chronologically and thematically to trace transformations in daily life, popular culture, political belonging, education, religious practice, and more. We will examine Jewish history in conjunction with global and interregional processes in the Middle East and beyond, such as colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, the formation of modern nation states in the Middle East, and the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Through reading scholarly literature and analyzing primary documents—including letters and petitions, newspapers and state records, literature, music, and photography—this course guides students in thinking like historians, reading texts, and formulating interpretations. By centering a wide range of historical voices, we will examine how Jews’ historical experiences were shaped by gender, class, race, religious practice, and regionality. In taking our guiding frameworks and approaches from various disciplines and fields, including history, anthropology, visual culture, and postcolonial studies, we will work to better understand the many historical trajectories of Jewish life in the modern Middle East.

• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Rachel E Smith
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• 4 points

Readings in Hasidic Literature

One of the most enduring contributions of the Hasidic movement to the Judaism and Jewish culture is its rich literary tradition. Revered by the Hasidim as divinely inspired and reviled as obscurantist or heretical by the movement’s opponents, Hasidic writings have fascinated generations of readers and remain the subject of intensive investigation by modern scholars. This class will introduce students to the Hasidic literary tradition by engaging in a close readings of a representative selection of eighteenth and nineteenth century Hasidic texts composed in a variety of genres. We will explore the literary and ideological contents of these works as well as the historical and philological complexities created by the transition from oral to written discourse, from manuscript to the print medium and from the Yiddish to the Hebrew language. We will also reflect on the challenges of cultural translation and the consequences of reading traditional texts in the light of modern critical scholarship.

This course is open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates may register with permission from the instructor. A working knowledge of Rabbinic Hebrew is required.

• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Elly Moseson
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• 4 points

Antisemitism in U.S. History

What is antisemitism? How and in what contexts has it appeared in the United States? How, if at all, does it resemble other forms of white nationalism? This course addresses these questions through analysis of anti-Jewish discrimination in the United States between the colonial period and the present, exploring different thematic dimensions of anti-Jewish bigotry, discrimination, and violence. Probing anti-Jewish practices and discourses, you will learn to identify representations of Jews as “others;” determine the origins and sources of anti-Jewish sentiments and policies; analyze similarities and differences between anti-Jewish bigotry and racism and xenophobia; and consider how, if at all, expressions of antisemitism have changed over time in the United States.

• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Brittany Tevis
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• 4 points

Topics in Jewish Studies

This course approaches Jewish Studies from theoretical and pedagogical standpoints. In addition to looking back at ancient, medieval and Early Modern approaches to the study of Jewish topics and examining the theoretical, historical and religious underpinnings of Jewish Studies as a modern discipline, we will also read theoretical writings from related disciplines. The course will balance these materials with pedagogical materials and exercises. Faculty from disciplines related to Jewish Studies will visit the seminar to offer perspectives on current approaches to the field, and the class will visit the Rare Book and Manuscript Library with Jewish Studies Librarian Michelle Chesner. This course is required for students in the Jewish Studies MA program. It is open to graduate students, and advanced undergraduates may register with permission from the instructor. Please note that faculty visits will be added to the syllabus as they are scheduled.

• T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Isabelle C Levy
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 4 points