Courses

Upcoming Courses

Spring 2025

Course Number Course Name Description Time Units Instructor
HEB 3 Elementary Hebrew Continuation of Hebrew 2. MTWR 12:00–12:50 PM  5 Medina
RG ST 133C Jewish Law A survey of the development of Jewish Law from the times of the Bible, through the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, Rabbinic Literature, and medieval literature. The main emphasis in this course will be the development of Jewish Law in Judaism throughout history, raising questions of continuity and change. TR 9:30–10:45 AM 4 Medina

 

All Courses

Comparative Literature Courses

Course Number Course Name Description
C LIT 113 Trauma, Memory, Historiography How do individuals, communities, cultures, nations remember and/or forget, preserve and/or erase, traumatic events?
C LIT 122A Representations of the Holocaust Close reading of post-Holocaust literature. Taught in English.

 

English Courses

Course Number Course Name Description
ENGL 116A Biblical Literature: Hebrew Bible A literary approach to the Hebrew scriptures and the Apocyrpha.
ENGL 132PR Studies in American Writers Philip Roth Philip Roth was a central and controversial figure in American fiction for over fifty years. He subsequently published over twenty novels in a variety of modes, from the satirical to the experimental to the historical. In his American trilogy, the scope of his fiction expanded to produce a portrait of post-war America as riven, from the McCarthy era to the Clinton impeachment, by the conflict between the quest for purity (political, sexual, ethnic, and racial) and life in all its shameless impurity. This course surveys his career from the earliest short fiction to the end of the last century. Roth delighted in provoking his readers and students to be prepared to be offended by his treatment of women, Jews and people of color.

 

Hebrew Courses

Course Number Course Name Description
HEB 1 Elementary Hebrew The beginning course in Hebrew. Starting with the study of the alphabet, the student is initiated into the rudiments of the language. Basic grammar, vocabulary, and conversation.
HEB 2 Elementary Hebrew Continuation of Hebrew 1.
HEB 3 Elementary Hebrew Continuation of Hebrew 2.

 

History Courses

Course Number Course Name Description
HIST 118B
Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain: Conquest, Colonization, and Coexistence
 Assesses the more than seven centuries of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish coexistence (convivencia) in the Iberian peninsula, examing intercultural and interfaith relations from the time of the Visigoths (fifth century) to the expulsion of the Moriscos (Muslim converts to Christianity) in 1609.
HIST 133D The Nazi Holocaust and Other Genocides The Nazi campaign of ethnic purification through eugenics and mass murder can be considered a watershed event in European history. This course examines the factors that combined to result in the Nazi genocides, as well as the contexts, causes and consequences of other modern genocides.
HIST 133Q Readings on the Holocaust Exploration of selected topics pertaining to the Holocaust through memoirs, historiography, and works of fiction. The course is structured as a dialog between students and the instructor based on written analyses of the literature.
HIST 146T History of Israel/Palestine History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Course themes include evolution of Zionism, Palestine before World War I, and the British mandate, World War II, the Arab- Israeli wars, rise of Palestinian nationalism, and Israeli and Palestinian societies today.

 

Religious Studies Courses

Course Number Course Name Description
RG ST 17A Introduction to Biblical Hebrew I Introduction to the orthography, phonology, grammar, and lexicon of Tiberian Biblical Hebrew as found in most printed Bibles. Concludes with selected Pentateuchal readings where the student applies grammatical knowledge to texts.
RG ST 17B
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew II
 Continuation of Religious Studies 17A.
RG ST 17C Introduction to Biblical Hebrew III Continuation of Religious Studies 17B.
RG ST 110G Photography and Religion Offers an examination of the relationship between religion and photography throughout history, based on the consideration of photography as both an artistic medium and a social and performative practice. Alongside analysis of the function of photographs in religious life, we will explore various religious concepts in association with photography. Through meditations on topics as spirit, death, ritual, iconicity, sacred space, and gender, students will become familiar with critical theory of photography, visual analysis, and landmark photographs.
RG ST 115A Literature and Religion of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Introduction to the varieties of literature, traditions, and institutions of ancient Israel through the prophetic period.
RG ST 115F Seminar on the Hebrew Bible An examination of select books and topics in the study of the Hebrew Bible.
RG ST 115G The Dead Sea Scrolls and Their Community A study of the Qumran community, their religion, their beliefs, their literature, and the Biblical texts found there.
RG ST 116A The New Testament and Early Christianity Study of the varieties of early Christian traditions and literature of the first century, with special (but not exclusive) attention to the New Testament.
RG ST 116B Second-Century Christianity Study of the various religious trends in developing Christianity as represented in the writings of the early Fathers, the later books of the New Testament, the New Testament Apocrypha, and "heretical" movements.
RG ST 131C Judaism in the Medieval World Course covers period from 650 to 1500 CE and topics: Karaite movements; biblical and Talmaudic commentaries; growth of mystical movements; disputations between Christians and Jews.
RG ST 131D Judaism in Modern Times Challenge of the enlightenment and emancipation movements to traditional Jewish life in western and eastern Europe. Religious and secular responses to these challenges (orthodox, conservative, reform, Zionism, socialism) in Europe and the United States.
RG ST 131F The History of Anti-Semitism A systematic examination of the history of anti-Semitism, beginning with the emergence of anti-Judaism in the world of late antiquity, its transformation into theological anti-Semitism in the middle ages, and the emergence of racial anti-Semitism in the modern world. The central focus will be anti-Semitism as a religio-historical category.
RG ST 131H Politics and Religion of Jerusalem This course surveys the religious, political, and cultural history of Jerusalem over three millennia as a symbolic focus of three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Course content focuses on the transformation of sacred space as reflected by literary and archaeological evidence by examining the testimony of artifacts, architecture, and iconography in relation to the written word.
RG ST 131J Introduction to Rabbinic Literature An introduction to the basic texts of Rabbinic literature through an analysis of representative passages from the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash. Particular attention will be given to the various types of Midrash and the principles and methods of Midrashic interpretation. (Knowledge of Hebrew not required.)
RG ST 132A Holy Delight: Eros and the Sacred in Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Song of Songs Explores the allegorical and symbolic interpretations of the biblical love poem known as the Song of Songs in the Jewish and Christian traditions from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Topics to be discussed include the Song in its literary and historical context, the interplay of the sacred and the erotic in religious experience, allegory and the sacralization of the erotic, Marian interpretations and the ascetic curbing of desire, and the contemplative and ectastic interpretations of medieval kabbalists.
RG ST 132B Jewish Dream Interpretation from the Bible to Freud Explores the varieties of dream interpretation in the Jewish tradition from the Bible to Freud. Topics to be discussed include dream and transcendence in the religious imagination and neuroscience; dreams and prophecy; the hermeneutics of dream interpretation; lucid dreaming and the syntax of space and time in the dream consciousness.
RG ST 132C Representations of Jesus in Jewish Thought from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages Explores the various ways Jesus has been represented in Jewish sources from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. Particular interest will be paid to complex interface of the two faiths and the polemical attempts to draw sharp lines distinguishing them. The investigation of the status of alterity will be a key factor in determining the boundaries and the convergence and divergence of the Jewish and Christian portraits of Jesus.
RG ST 132D Jewish Magic, the Occult, and Western Esotericism Explores the history of magic and the occult in Jewish sources and the influence they have had on shaping the contours of Western esotericism. Topics to be discussed include the nature of language and the shaping of reality, the interface between magic and mysticism, and the role of secrecy in the transmission of and theurgical use of gnosis.
RG ST 133B From Superman to Spiegelman: The Jewish Graphic Novel This survey of graphic novels by Jewish authors will include selections of early comics, works by American authors such as Eisner, Spiegelman, and Pekar, and Israeli graphic novels. The seminar-style discussions will address varied themes, including identity, gender, trauma and memory.
RG ST 133C Jewish Law A survey of the development of Jewish Law from the times of the Bible, through the Dead Sea Scrolls, New Testament, Rabbinic Literature, and medieval literature. The main emphasis in this course will be the development of Jewish Law in Judaism throughout history, raising questions of continuity and change.
RG ST 133D Gender in Jewish Culture Explores a variety of approaches towards gender in Jewish culture, engaging topics such as the gender of God, gender roles, gender and nationalism, patriarchy, egalitarianism, and gender as metaphor. Readings include selections from the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, Kabbalah, Yiddish literature, and texts from modern Israeli and Jewish American culture.
RG ST 133E Identity, Feminism, and Secularism in Hebrew Literature Provides a broad overview of Modern Hebrew literature, spanning from its origins in the eighteenth century to the contemporary era. Aims to shed light on the factors that make this literature distinctive and fascinating. The course delves into various themes, such as Jewish identity, feminism, secularism, and Zionism, while examining the interplay and conflicts between different generations of literary works. The readings for the course comprise a selection of short stories in translation, but will be available in Hebrew for interested students. All lectures and discussions will be held in English.
RG ST 133F Image of Jews in Film An introduction to the representation of Jews in film. Individual films are contextualized, followed by a discussion.
RG ST 142A Religious Literature in Hebrew An application of grammatical and analytic skills acquired in introductory Hebrew to the rapid reading of biblical Hebrew texts, complemented by an emphasis on critical and interpretive approaches to the Hebrew bible. Textschange with each offering of the course
RG ST 142B Religious Literature in Hebrew Introduction to poetry of the Hebrew bible with special reference to Cultic songs. Texts will be selected from psalms, song of songs, and Koheleth in order to examine the varieties of poetic style.
RG ST 142C Religious Literature in Hebrew Continuation of Religious Studies 142A and/or 142B
RG ST 157 Advanced Persian Continuation of Intermediate Persian III (RGST 57F).
RG ST 177 Religion and Law A comparative study of the interrelationship of law and religion within society. Examples selected from the legal traditions of small-scale societies, the great civilizations of the past, and modern societies.