Director: Andrew Bush (Hispanic Studies); Steering Committee:
John Ahern (Italian), Peter Antelyes (English), Susan H. Brisman
(English); Marc Michael Epstein (Religion), Rachel Friedman (Classics),
Judith L. Goldstein (Anthropology), Luke C. Harris (Political Science),
Maria Höhn (History), William Hoynes (Sociology), Deborah Dash
Moore (Religion), Tova Weitzman (Religion), Debra Zerfman (Psychology);
Participating Faculty: Betsy Halpern–Amaru (Religion), Peter
Antelyes, Pinar Batur–Vander Lippe (Sociology), Nancy Bisaha (History),
Susan H. Brisman, Andrew Bush, Miriam Cohen (History), Andrew Davison
(Political Science), Marc Michael Epstein, Rachel Friedman, Judith L.
Goldstein, Luke C. Harris, Maria Höhn (History), Lynn LiDonnici
(Religion), J. Bertrand Lott (Classics), Marque Miringoff (Sociology),
Deborah Dash Moore, MacDonald Moore, David Schalk (History), Tova Weitzman.
Jewish Studies is a multidisciplinary approach to the diversity of
the history and culture of Jews in Western and non–Western societies.
This approach involves the study of the creation and reproduction of
cultures in Israel, the Diaspora, and multi–ethnic societies in
the ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary world.
Requirements for Concentration: 12 units, including 1) Jewish
Studies 101, 201, and 301, 2) 4 units of college–level Hebrew or
its equivalent (no more than 4 units of Hebrew may be applied toward
the concentration), 3) 2 additional courses on the 300–level, drawn
from either Jewish Studies offerings or the list of approved courses
(including Hebrew 305), 4) remaining units from courses, drawn from
Jewish Studies offerings, approved courses, or Jewish Studies in Comparative
Contexts. Students are encouraged to explore complementary courses in
a variety of disciplines. After consulting with the director, students
should prepare a proposal for the major in Jewish Studies to be approved
by the director and the Steering Committee. Students choosing a concentration
are encouraged to explore language, literature and texts, religious
traditions, history, society, and culture.
No more than 3 units per semester from study away can be counted toward
the concentration. Jewish Studies recommends that students interested
in the Junior Year Away Program in Israel begin the study of Hebrew
in the freshman year.
After declaring a concentration, no required courses may be elected
NRO.
Senior–Year Requirements: Senior Seminar (Jewish Studies
301). The Senior Thesis or Project (Jewish Studies 300) is optional,
but must be elected by students to be considered for Honors in the Program.
The thesis or project should reflect the multidisciplinary orientation
of the Program. It will be graded Distinction, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory.
Requirements for the Correlate Sequence: 6 units, including
Jewish Studies 101, a 300–level seminar in Jewish Studies, and
four other courses, only one of which can be Jewish Studies 290 or Jewish
Studies in Comparative Contexts. At least two courses at the 300–level
are required. Students are urged to complete one year of college–level
study in Hebrew or the equivalent. Up to two units of Hebrew may be
counted toward the correlate sequence. After consulting with the director,
students should prepare a proposal for the correlate sequence in Jewish
Studies to be approved by the director and the Steering Committee. Students
choosing a correlate sequence are encouraged to explore language, literature
and texts, religious traditions, history, society, and culture. The
specific shape of a student's program should reflect student interest
in a disciplinary field, such as history, literature, anthropology,
religion, and should complement concentration requirements. Jewish Studies
recommends that students interested in the Junior Year Away Program
in Israel begin the study of Hebrew in the freshman year. No more than
2 units from study abroad can be counted toward the correlate sequence.
Course Offerings
I. Introductory
101. Jewish Identity/Jewish Politics: An Introduction to Jewish
Studies (1)
Multidisciplinary introduction to the theoretical and methodological
bases for the study of the diversity of Jewish culture. Particular emphasis
is placed on the role of geography, gender, religious status, race and
class in the construction of Jewish identity in interaction with surrounding
communities, through the study of primary sources in historical context,
religious culture, social life, as well as art and literature produced
by and about Jews. Mr. Epstein.
110. Jerusalem Above/Jerusalem Below (1)
Jerusalem has captured the imagination of Jews, Christians and Muslims
for the past three millenia. This course explores the city's fascination
through classical texts, historical accounts and rereadings of the idea
and ideal of Jerusalem through the eyes of guest lecturers utilizing
tools, techniques, and resources from fields as diverse as literature,
geography, history, architecture, sociology, and ethnography. The course
includes an optional study trip to Jerusalem during Spring Break. Mr. Epstein.
180. Keywords and Codewords (1)
After the Second World War several words used primarily with reference
to Jewish experiences were drawn into wider debates. Holocaust, ghetto,
and diaspora became hot–buttons. Gradually they were taken up as
terms of choice for referencing issues central for African Americans
and post colonial emigres. We look at the ways in which terms are hitched
to our trains of thought; and we examine the freight we ask such "keywords"
to haul. We start with books by Raymond Williams and Gary Wills; move
on to the movies Whoopee! and Blazing Saddles; and conclude
with essays, religious and political speeches from the 1960's and 1980's.
Mr. Moore.
[183. Ancient Mythologies] (1)
(Same as Classics 183) Ms. Friedman.
Not offered in 2001/02.
II. Intermediate
201. Jewish Textuality: Sources and Subversions (1)
Jewsmale and female, traditional and radical, East and Westhave preserved,
read, reread and subverted their classical texts in a variety of ways
through their various cultural and personal lenses throughout history.
This course introduces specific and significant themes in Jewish thought
and culture (all of which have practical and political implications
today), and traces them from antiquity, through postmodernity, through
study of the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, and Midrash, and modern texts drawn
from a variety of disciplines. Mr. Bush.
Prerequisite: Jewish Studies 101 or by permission.
221. Voices from Modern Israel (1)
(Same as Hebrew 221) An examination of modern and postmodern Hebrew
literature in English translation. The course will focus on Israeli
voices of men, women, Jews, Arabs, Ashkenazim and Sephardim to investigate
such topics as memory, identity, alienation, the "other,"
community, exile. Authors may include Dalia Ravikovitch, Zelda, Nathan
Zach, Yehudah Amichai, A. B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, David Grossman, Anton
Shammas, Savion Liebrecht and Ruth Almog. Ms. Weitzman.
280. The Holocaust: Dairies (1/2)
The Shoah, or Holocaust, the systematic effort by the Nazis to exterminate
the Jews of Europe, was documented from the very midst of the experience
by some of those who lived through or died in it. This course concentrates
on diaries written during the Shoah itselfincluding accounts in hiding,
in the ghettos, and in the excruciating visibility of Nazi Germany itselfgrappling
with the confusions, reflections and terrors recorded therein. The course
consists of a series of lectures, including distinguished guest speakers,
and discussion group meetings. Mr. Bush.
290. Field Work (1/2 or 1)
298. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
III. Advanced
Prerequisite for all 300–level courses unless otherwise specified:
1 unit at the 200–level or permission of instructor.
300. Senior Thesis or Project (1)
Optional for students concentrating in the program. Must be elected
for student to be considered for Honors in the program.
Permission required.
301. Senior Seminar in Jewish Studies (1)
Addressing developments in Jewish Studies, the seminar affords students
the opportunity to present their own scholarly work in the field and
to place modern Jewish studies in the context of other contemporary
intellectual developments. Topics may vary from year to year, but will
reflect program issues such as history and memory, cultural contact
and conflict, practice and representation. Ms. Goldstein.
Open only to seniors.
Permission required for non–majors.
315. Jews, Jewish Identity and the Arts (1)
This course examines the relationship of Jews with the arts from ancient
times through the postmodern period. Topics addressed include the definition
of Jewish art and the attitude of Jewish tradition toward art, iconism
and aniconism, Jews as artists, Jewish patronage, and Jewish scholarship
concerning both Jewish and non–Jewish art. We discuss the role
of identity politics in the artistic and art historical world, as well
as self–definition, self–presentation and self–hatred
among artists, patrons and scholars of art history. Mr. Epstein.
[340. Classical Jewish Culture] (1)
This course considers classical Jewish culture as it existed prior
to Emancipation and, in some cases, has endured into the present. Changing
yearly topics. Ms. Moore.
Not offered in 2001/02.
350. Confronting Modernity: Critical Utopias in the 1960's (1)
The agenda of the Camelot years included an explicit search for National
Purpose. Briefly the path led through commune movements and idealistic
civil engagement. This course examines how a group of mostly marginal
Jewish intellectuals was wrestling with utopian and distopian dimensions
of community and culture. The class reads material by Herbert Marcuse,
a living link between the Germany of Kurt Weill and the U.S.A. of Bob
Dylan. We also examine writings by other Brandeis scholars, including
Lewis Coser, Maurice Stein, Abraham Maslow, Frank E. Manuel, and Rosabeth
Moss Kanter. Mr. Moore.
399a or b. Advanced Independent Work (1/2
or 1)
Approved Courses
Classics 219 The Roman Empire: From the Julio–Claudian
Era through the Fall (1)
Hebrew 105–106 Elementary Hebrew (1)
Hebrew 205a Continuing Hebrew (1)
Hebrew 206b Continuing Hebrew (1)
Hebrew 298 Independent Work in Hebrew (1)
Hebrew 305a Advanced Hebrew (1)
History/Religion 248 Out of the Ghetto (1)
History/Religion 249 The Jewish Experience in
the Twentieth Century (1)
Religion 225 The Hebrew Bible (1)
Religion 245 Religion and Antisemitism (1)
Religion 255 Western Mystical Traditions: Kabbalah
(1)
Religion 320 Studies in Sacred Texts: The Matriarchs
and Their Sisters (1)
Religion 346 Studies in Jewish Thought and History:
Portraits of Biblical Women (1)
Jewish Studies in Comparative Contexts
American Culture 275 From Melting Pot to Multiculturalism:
Race and Ethnicity (1)
Classics 106 Crosscurrents: History and Culture
of the Ancient Mediterranean (1)
English 326 Studies in Ethnic American Literature
(1)
Hispanic Studies 226 Medieval and Early Modern
Spain: Jews, Muslims and Christians in Medieval Spain (1)
History 237 Germany, 1890–1990 (1)
History 257 Justice (1)
History 337 The Rise and Fall of Nazi Germany
(1)
History 369 Themes in Twentieth Century Urban
History: Social Reform and the Evolution of the Welfare State (1)
Political Science 237 Law of Race and Gender
Antidiscrimination the United States (1)
Political Science 247 The Politics of Difference
(1)
Political Science 256 Politics and Conflict in
the Middle East (1)
Political Science 375 The Three Religions of
the Book and Political Theory (1)
Religion 150 Western Religious Traditions (1)
Religion 220 Text and Tradition (1)
Religion 266 Religion in America (1)
Sociology 271 Forms of Social Conflict (1)
Sociology 272 Genocide and Social Theory (1)
Sociology 366 Racism and Intellectuals (1)
Hebrew Language and Literature
I. Introductory
105a–106b. Elementary Hebrew (1)
Introduction to the language. Basic phonics and grammatical structures.
Stress on development of reading comprehension, simple composition,
and conversational skills. For Hebrew 105, no background in the language
is assumed; admission to Hebrew 106 is possible with the demonstration
of previous work equivalent to Hebrew 105. Ms. Weitzman.
May not be counted toward fulfillment of requirements for concentration.
Open to all students.
221b. Voices from Modern Israel (1)
(Same as Jewish Studies 221)
Prerequisite: One 100–level course or permission of instructor.
II. Intermediate
205a, 206b. Continuing Hebrew (1)
Formal study of Hebrew language with emphasis on oral practice and
writing skills. Ms. Weitzman.
Prerequisite: Hebrew 105–106, or equivalent of two years in high
school.
298. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
III. Advanced Hebrew
305a. Advanced Hebrew (1)
Expansion of language proficiency through intensified study of cultural
and literary texts, including poetry, prose, essays, newspapers, films,
songs. Extensive discussion of issues related to contemporary Israel.
Ms. Weitzman.
Prerequisite: Hebrew 205/206 or equivalent.