Judaic Studies Courses: Winter 2008

15JUDC102-001
Basic Hebrew I (5 Credit Hours)
Dr. Matthew Kraus
MTWHF 10:00-10:50
This course continues the first-year introduction to modern Hebrew language and culture. As a 5-credite-hour course, it is the second quarter of the three-quarter sequence that fulfills the A&S language requirement. The course fulfills Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC115-001
Extended Basic Hebrew 5
Dr. Matthew Kraus
MWF 11:00-11:50
This course continues the second year of instruction in modern Hebrew language and culture. As a 3-credit-hour course, it is the second quarter of the six-quarter sequence that fulfills the Judaic Studies degree requirement for Hebrew language. The course fulfills Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC128-001
History of Jewish Civilization II
Dr. Matthew Kraus
MWF 2:00-2:50
This course examines Jewish civilization from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Enlightenment as interpreted through Jewish historical, religious, literary, and cultural developments. All three History of Jewish Civilization courses are required for Judaic Studies majors and minors, but they do not have to be taken in sequence. Non-majors and non-minors may take any or all of the Jewish Civilization courses in any order. The course fulfills Breadth of Knowledge requirements HP and DC.

15JUDC229-001
Sacred Texts: Hebrew Scriptures
Mr. John Brolley
MWF 9:00-9:50
This course is an introductory survey of the Hebrew Bible in English translation. No familiarity with the Bible is assumed, and absolutely all viewpoints are welcome. The course fulfills Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC231-001
(FRESHMAN SEMINAR): Biblical Poetry
Mr. John Brolley
MWF 11:00-11:50
This course will study the poetry of the Bible and its relationship to common ancient Near Eastern poetic forms. Along the way, attention will be called to the relationship of the poetry to parallel prose narratives. Students will be asked to analyze biblical passages and to generate original writings in specific biblical styles. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirement HU.

15JUDC313-001
Topics in Modern Judaism - The Bible and the Western Intellectual Tradition
Prof. Mark Raider
TH 11:00-12:20
The Hebrew Bible recounts the story of Moses, the Israelites, and the prophets and is anchored in the Mesopotamian narrative tradition. The Synoptic Gospels extend the biblical narrative through a retelling of the life of Jesus and were constructed by the writers of the Christian Bible. Together these texts provided the wellspring for pre-modern theologians and biblical commentators from Augustine to Dante to Martin Luther. Over the centuries, parallel to the rise of rationalism, secularism, and humanism, the Bible continued to exert considerable influence on Western thought and culture. This course explores the complex relationship between the biblical narrative and modernity through an examination of seminal works by key literary and intellectual figures including William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, and James Joyce. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC329-001
The Evolution of the Angel
Mr. John Brolley
MWF 12:00-12:50
This course is an introduction to angels as they are treated in the religious texts and traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. The course will primarily deal with texts and ideas from the first millennium BCE through the medieval period, but there will also be discussions of modern religious and cultural perspectives on angels. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirement HU.

15JUDC332-001
Advanced Hebrew
Staff
TH 12:30-1:50
This course continues the three-quarter sequence of advanced readings and conversation in contemporary Hebrew. Newspaper sources, short stories and poetry will be discussed and analyzed, and grammar points reviewed. As a 3-credit-hour course, it is the fifth quarter of the six-quarter sequence that fulfills the Judaic Studies degree requirement for Hebrew language. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC343-001
Medieval Mediterranean Jews of the 4th-15th centuries
Prof. Steven Bowman
MW 12:00-1:20
This course is intended to introduce students to the development of Jewish settlement and society in North Mediterranean lands of Byzantium, Italy, and Spain. The course is a counterpart to 15 JUDC 330, Jews and Islam, but each course may be taken by itself. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirement HP.

15JUDC353-901
Women in Jewish Civilization
Ms. Arna Fisher
W 6:30-9:10
This course examines the roles and images of women in Jewish literature, law and liturgy from biblical times to the present. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC373-001
Film and Holocaust
Prof. Frederic Krome
T 4:00-6:20
Students will view and analyze films portraying Jews during the Holocaust; selections will include a wide variety of films, ranging from Nazi propaganda to postwar documentaries and artistic reconstruction. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements LT and DC.

15JUDC374-001
Jewish Humor/Women's Humor
Dr. Gila Safran-Naveh
TH 11:00-12:20
In this course students will learn how humor reveals the cultural identity of a people, a nation, or an ethnic group. The course also explores the particular ways in which men and women confront social, racial and psychological problems through humor. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements LT and DC.

15JUDC382-001
Studies in the Holocaust
Prof. Steven Bowman
MW 3:00-4:20
The holocaust of European Jewry was one of the major events of the 20th century for Jews and for Western civilization. This course will examine its origins in Anti-Semitism, delineate the stages of the exclusion, expulsion, and murder of some six million Jews, and plumb Nazi policies that pursued the destruction of tens of millions of non-Jews. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirement DC.

15JUDC492-001
Senior Thesis
Staff
(Days and times to be announced)
15 JUDC 492 is open only to Judaic Studies majors, minors, and certificate students, and candidates for the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies upon approval. The course requires a project to be approved by student's advisor. 15 JUDC 492 may be taken as the second offering in a three-part course sequence (15 JUDC 491-492-493) or may be substituted for the second quarter (15 JUDC 498) of the two-part Judaic Studies Capstone sequence after completion of the first Capstone quarter (15 JUDC 497).

15JUDC497-001
Capstone Seminar in Judaic Studies
Staff
(Days and times to be announced)
The Judaic Studies Capstone is an introduction to methods and approaches in Judaic Studies through in-depth study of a selected topic in Jewish history, thought or literature. The Capstone sequence is required of Junior and Senior majors in Judaic Studies. May be repeated; 15 JUDC 491, 492, or 493 (Senior Thesis) may be substituted for the second quarter (15 JUDC 498) of the Capstone sequence. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirements HU and DC.

15JUDC510-001
Anti-Semitism
Prof. Mark Raider
TH 9:30-10:50
This course invites students to examine different manifestations of anti-Semitism throughout history in varied geographical settings, and to consider the historical, sociological, religious, and psychoanalytic analyses that attempt to explain it. This course fulfills the Breadth of Knowledge requirement SE.