Course Offerings
As always, check BUonline for the latest updates and the Harpur Bulletin for course descriptions and details.
SUMMER 2021
TERM I (06/01-07/02)
Constitutional Law - JUST 280J - Gen Ed: C
Instructor: Michael Kelly
Constitutional Law: History and Practice
A constitution establishes the imagined social, legal and political frameworks for
a society. Constitutions can be a set of written aspirations and outlines, or collections
of traditions and practices that represent the “civil” expectations within a legal
and political system. Constitutional law is that body of law that is the constitution,
whether by tradition or in writing, as well as the layers and collections of the interpretations
of the law and the jurisprudence (legal theory) behind these. But, it is also the
study of the constitution and those constitutional practices, including debates on
the meaning and legitimacy of them. In this course, we will examine the history of
Constitutional Law, from Roman, Jewish and Medieval European Law (e.g. the Law of
the Visigoths, the Magna Carta), to the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of the
Rights of Man. We will see within these the close relationship between religious authority
and orthodoxy, Christianity and Judaism, and the origins of Constitutional Law, including
in the first Constitution, the Law of the Visigoths.
Jewish New York - JUST 351 - Gen Ed: C, H, P
Instructor: Gina Glasman
An examination of the immigrant experience in early twentieth century New York City
with a focus on newly arrived Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. This class explores
the dynamic interplay between place and population that belongs so acutely to the
shifting landscape of this emergent metropolis. An eclectic mix of sources - documentary
film and studio photography, urban architecture and the family story – are our guides
through this history of Jewish New York.
American Jewish Thought - JUST 352 / RELG 380B - Gen Ed: C, H, P
Instructor: Randy Friedman
This course offers both a historical and a theological study of the American Jewish
community, from its origins through contemporary times. We engage central historical
and sociological studies of American Jews in relation to Protestant, Catholic, and
Baptist Americans, as well as other minority groups. We will also examine central
philosophical and theological texts in American Judaism. Students will also read short
works of American Jewish literature. We will examine how specific Judaic thinkers
transform aspects of the Judaic tradition to fit the challenges of religious life
in the modern and democratic age, and the response(s) to this transformation. Question
include: the relationship between theology and democratic culture, challenges to inherited
religious traditions, the influence of feminist thought on religious practice, and
the place and function of religious authority. The final third of the term will be
spent analyzing rabbinic rulings on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
Intro to Asian Philosophy - RELG 180C / AAAS 180A - Gen Ed: C, H
Instructor: Aaron Schultz
Throughout the course, we will cover the following Asian philosophical traditions:
Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. We will consider the ways in which these
traditions approach questions about Ethics, Epistemology, and Metaphysics. During
our investigation we will assess how philosophically defensible these views are. Our
focus will primarily be on primary source texts.
TERM II (07/12-08/13)
Religions of the World - RELG 101/ JUST 100 / AFST 180E - Gen Ed: G, H
Time: Distance Learning
Instructor: Douglas Jones
What does it mean to study various religions from an academic perspective? How do
we, as outsiders at a public university, discuss different traditions responsibly?
Answering questions like these and developing our skills as scholars of religion is
of no small importance in an increasingly global society. This class will take a thematic
approach to a number of traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam. Prominent themes include the history of Religious Studies as a discipline,
religion and popular culture, religion and violence, the history of utopian thought,
and the status of new and controversial movements across the globe.
Law and Society in the Middle Ages - JUST 280P - Gen Ed: C, G, N
Instructor: Michael Kelly
Medieval law is practically synonymous with violence, conjuring up images of amputated
digits, burnings at the stake, legalized vengeance and murder, and other gruesome
acts. In part, this is a fair representation – medieval law was at times the nastiest
bit of society and at all times a form of moral and political domination. Medieval
law was more than this, though. Much of medieval law and the legal communities that
were its product, and vice versa, were governed by complex civil litigation that had
its origins in the law of the Roman Empire and early “barbarian” kingdoms. In this
class, we learn about these laws and codifications, about medieval jurisprudence and
debates on constitutionality and precedent, customary law, etc. We will see too how
medieval law changed, or not, as it approached law and society of the emerging early
modern state, capitalism and secularism. All readings will be provided in English.
Judaism and Politics – JUST 384E - Gen Ed: C, H
Instructor: Gina Santiago
This course will focus on some of the key concepts and questions of social and political
philosophy through the study of Jewish sources. We will survey and critically engage
with ancient, modern, and contemporary Jewish texts (beginning with the Hebrew Scriptures)
and the various ways in which they tackle the concepts of justice, political authority,
forms of government, rights, the relationship between religion and political power,
political participation (e.g., voting, running for office, etc.), wealth redistribution,
economic justice, and equality. While we will study sources primarily within a philosophical
framework, we will also consider the historical and cultural contexts in which the
above concepts and questions were addressed. The course is open to all students; a
background in philosophy or Judaic Studies is not required.
FALL 2021
JUDAIC STUDIES
Intro to Judaic Studies - JUST 101 - Gen Ed: H
Cross listed: RELG 180A
Time: T/R | 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Randy Friedman
This survey course, appropriate for first and second year students, will examine the
course of Jewish history, philosophy, culture and religion through over three millennia.
The course will include key sections of the Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic writings, medieval
and early modern philosophy, as well as 19th and 20th century political works, art,
and literature. The course is broken into four sections: 1) Race, Ethnicity, People,
Nation, Religion: We will explore the categories of race, ethnicity, people-hood and
nation, and religion, and consider how each might apply to or fit Judaism and Jews.
2) Gods, Sources, Interpretations, Traditions: We will study the central categories
of most religious traditions, beginning with the idea of a deity (god), and look at
central texts in the Judaic tradition. 3) Faith, Suffering, and Justice: We will read
through two difficult Biblical stories, the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), and portions
of the Book of Job. How do we fit the existence of evil and suffering with the belief
in a god? 4) From Exodus to Passover.
No background is required.
Survey of American Jewish Literature - JUST 140 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: COLI 180R / ENG 280B
Time: W 4:40-7:40
Instructor: C. Beth Burch
Through the Golden Door: Survey of American Jewish Literature: This course traces
through literature the realities and challenges of being Jewish in America from after
the Civil War to the present. We will read in all genres, exploring topics such as
the immigrant experience, acculturation and assimilation, anti-Semitism, generational
conflicts and differences, gender issues, and continuing themes in the body of work.
Quizzes, short pieces of writing, mid-term examination, and final examination.
History and Capitalism - JUST 180B - Gen Ed: C, G
Cross listed: HIST 181F
Time: T/R | 10:05 -11:30
Instructor: Michael Kelly
In this year-long course sequence, we will explore two fundamental components of modern
life: history and capitalism. Whether we are at any moment thinking about history
or capitalism consciously or not, critically or with reverence, both are absolutely
foundational to our identities, to our imaginations of ourselves and our societies,
to the way we envision our political, religious and social trajectories, the way we
think, believe, and know. The positions we take towards and the ways that we act within
history and capitalism constitute the very fabric of who we are, why we are, and how
we see life.
Jewish History Ancient to 1500 - JUST 201- Gen Ed: G, N
Cross listed: RELG 280A / CLAS 280J / HIST 285E
Time: T/R | 11:40-1:05
Instructor: Michael Kelly
This survey course examines the history, culture, philosophy, religion, and political
experiences of Jews from the Biblical period through the second temple period, to
the medieval period. Themes include the relationship between Jews, Christians and
Muslims, Jews under foreign political rule (Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans),
and the social and economic history of Jews in Europe through the middle ages.
Ancient Cities - JUST 280Q - Gen Ed: G , N
Cross listed: ANTH 280S / CLAS 280C / HIST 287C
Time: T/R | 04:25 pm-05:50 pm
Instructor: Jeffrey Becker
This course is an introductory survey of the urban centers of the ancient Near Eastern,
Egyptian, and Mediterranean worlds. In this course students will explore the development
of urbanism in these areas by studying the archaeological remains from the cities
of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, from the Neolithic period until the
foundation of Constantinople in the 4th century A.D. The course will focus on comparing
the characteristics of urbanism and the archaeological evidence for urbanization in
different cultures. Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able
both to define what constitutes a “city” in each of the cultural contexts that we
have studied and to identify the unique traits that each of the cultures studied brings
to the urban equation.
Race/Ethn in Ancient N. Africa - JUST 284E - Gen Ed: G , N , W
Cross listed: ANTH 282R / CLAS 283E / HIST 281G
Time: T/R | 02:50 pm-04:15 pm
Instructor: John Howell Stark
We will examine several cultures that inhabited ancient North Africa (Egyptians, Nubians/Kushites,
the Jewish communities in Egypt, the Carthaginians, and possibly, given enough time,
several ethnic groups of northwest Africa often collectively described by outsiders
as ‘Berbers’) before and during the period of Greek and Roman influence around the
Mediterranean. To understand these diverse societies we will use the tools of cultural
anthropology: ancient Greek and Roman literary texts, native and western art and archaeology,
inscriptions, papyri, and coins, qualitative and some quantitative analysis of data,
and modern scholarly studies in ethnicity to see how these cultures lived and how
they influenced, and were influenced by, the Greeks and Romans. We will also, at times,
employ geography and physical and linguistic anthropology to comprehend the changes
in African peoples’ lives from pre-dynastic to Byzantine Egypt and from the cultures
of native Numidians to Semitic Carthage to the Christianized Roman province of Africa.
Throughout the term, we will try to find as much objective truth as we can about these
important ethnic groups and their societies, in spite of the frequent absence of native
texts and reliance on Greek and Roman perceptions of ‘the other’; we will, therefore,
also treat issues of imperialism, oppression, prejudice, racism and alterity as applied
to these peoples by their conquerors. Greek and Roman ethnographic curiosity about
the Mediterranean world and diverse ethnic practices will be continually examined
beside modern studies in social science to further our awareness of how the native
or early populations of North Africa maintained or adapted their cultures under foreign
rule. Format: Through reading and discussion of Greek (Herodotus, Euripides, Polybius)
and Latin (Horace, Livy, Juvenal, Ammianus Marcellinus, Sallust) authors and modern
studies of Egyptians, sub-Saharan Africans/Nubians, the Alexandrian Jewish community,
and the ‘Berber’ tribes of North Africa, we will engage ancient and modern conceptions
of race and ethnicity daily. Students will deliver an oral paper on a topic in classical
North African ethnic studies and an original deliberative debate speech as a member
of the Carthaginian senate on the pros or cons of a third war with Rome. Other assignments
will include an extensive collection of analytical essays in a comprehensive midterm
exam and substantial daily discussion of readings.
The Nazi State - JUST 284A – Gen Ed: H
Cross listed: GERM 241N/ GMAP 281A/ HIST 281K
Time: M/W/F | 10:50 - 11:50
Instructor: Harald Zils
The course looks at the Nazi regime in Germany between 1933 and 1945, at the organization
and inner functioning of the government and administration. Topics include the Nazi
rise to power, party structures, "Gleichschaltung" of society, economy, and media,
persecution of minorities, the situation of workers and peasants, the role of the
churches etc. Course taught in English.
American Jewish Women Writers - JUST 340 – Gen Ed: H, O
Cross listed: COLI 480B / ENG 380A/ WGSS 383A
Time: T | 4:25 - 7:25
Instructor: C. Beth Burch
This course will survey texts written in English by American Jewish women from the
Civil War to the present as they move out of the kitchens and sweatshops and onto
their own pages. Exploring the historical context surrounding their work, we will
address chiefly the writers’ contributions in fiction and non-fiction, focusing on
key issues of immigration, acculturation, assimilation, family, sexuality, religious
practice, and the experience of being or becoming American. Requirements: frequent
oral reading and active class participation; two formal presentations related to the
background reading; written critiques of others' presentations; quizzes, final examination,
and full-on class participation.
Holocaust Literature - JUST 341 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: ISRL 380C / COLI 380B / ENG 380M
Time: T | 4:25 - 7:25
Instructor: Paul-William Burch
Students in this course read literature of the Holocaust, the Churban, or the Shoah—including
diaries, journals, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and works of popular culture, informed
by the belief that literary responses to the Holocaust are, as the poet Paul Celan
has written, in themselves "material evidence of that which-occurred." The course
includes works by First Generation writers, victims and survivors of the Shoah who
bear direct witness to the horror, as well as pieces by Second Generation writers—that
is, children and “offspring” of Holocaust survivors who bear witness to the witnesses
and to events that they did not live through but that shaped their lives.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Cross-listed with English and Comparative Literature.
Not for First year students.
Jewish New York - JUST 351 - Gen Ed: H, P, W
Cross listed: YIDD 351 / HIST 380B
Time: T/R | 4:25-5:50
Instructor: Gina Glasman
From Pogroms to the Promised City - An exploration of why Eastern European Jews came to New York in the era of mass
migration and what they made of city life once they arrived. Jewish New York is a
study in both urban and immigrant history, examining how a newly arrived society responded
to America’s signature metropolis in an urban moment of extraordinary dynamism.
Modern Yiddish Culture - JUST 354 - Gen Ed: H, J
Cross listed: YIDD 354 / GERM 380H
Time: T/R | 11:40 - 1:05
Instructor: Gina Glasman
In the half century before the Second World War, a Yiddish speaking "Jewish Street"
stretched from Buenos Aires to Boston, from London to Lodz, with many cities in between.
What characterized the culture of this mostly urban and modernizing society is the
subject of this class. Cinema and short stories, poetry and politics provide our vehicle
to explore the world of Eastern European Jewry in a time of radical transformation
and approaching catastrophe (all material is in English). Note: If a student has already
taken a 200-level version of Modern Yiddish Culture they will not receive credit for
this course.
World War I and the Jews - JUST 380A - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: ISRL 385Z / HIST 381N
Time: T/R | 01:15 pm - 02:40 pm
Instructor: Allan Arkush
This course will investigate Jewish involvement in World War I, in all of the major
belligerent countries, as well as the ways in which the war altered the Jewish world.
Topics will include anti-Jewish pogroms on the Eastern Front, the rise in anti-Semitism
in the ranks of the German Army, the worldwide lobbying for the Balfour Declaration,
and the way in which the war reshaped Eastern European Jewry.
Jews and Crime - JUST 384B - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: HIST 385H
Time: T/R | 01:15 - 02:40
Instructor: Jonathan Karp
This course examines both the stereotypes surrounding Jewish criminality and specific
cases of Jews’ actual involvement in criminal activity, from criminal gangs in nineteenth-century
Europe and prostitution rings in early twentieth-century Latin America, to the rise
of Jewish mobsters like Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Meyer Lansky in mid-twentieth-century
America. We try to put Jewish criminality in historical perspective, examining the
role it played in non-Jews’ perceptions and in the Jewish community’s own efforts
to come to terms with the reality and image of criminals in their midst.
Contemporary Jewish Identities- JUST 384E- Gen Ed: H, W
Cross listed: RELG 380A / HIST 385G
Time: W | 5:50 - 8:50
Instructor: Allan Arkush
This course will examine diverse articulations of Jewish identity in contemporary
fictional and non-fictional writings. It will focus on a large number of American,
Israeli and European intellectuals who approach the question of Jewish identity in
very different ways. The figures to be studied represent secular, religious, Zionist,
anti-Zionist, universalist and particularist outlooks and are often engaged in dispute
with each other.
Public Opinion - JUST 389B
Cross listed: PLSC 340
Time: M/W | 9:25 - 10:50
Instructor: Jonathan Krasno
Examines the nature and dynamics of public opinion in American politics with a focus
on the major trends in public opinion since World War II. Students examine different
approaches to measuring and understanding what drives public opinion. Moreover, they
focus on the effects of public opinion on the political process, including public
policy and elections.
Kafka and his Readers - JUST 484C
Cross listed: COLI 480U / COLI 481 / COLI 535F / GERM 480U / TRIP 580M
Time: W | 1:10 - 4:10
Instructor: Neil Pages
Seminar explores the work and reception of Franz Kafka (1883-1924), arguably the most
famous writer of German Modernism and the inspiration for the troublesome idiom “Kafkaesque.”
We will examine the Kafkan text with and against some of the cultural productions
that have emerged from it, from the illustrations of R. Crumb, to the installation
art of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, to musical compositions, the films of
Steven Soderbergh and Michael Haneke, the work of visual artists like Jeff Wall, the
literary texts of authors like Jonathan Franzen, Haruki Murakami and J.M. Coetzee
and the criticism of thinkers like Benjamin, Adorno, Derrida and Blanchot. While considering
Kafka’s literary legacy, his academic function, his impact on thinking about art and
representation, and the debates about the translation of his work, we will also reflect
on the process of reading and interpretation generally as well as on what literature
does and the ways in which literary criticism works.
Socialism & The Jews- JUST 484D - Gen Ed: C, N
Cross listed: HIST 485M / HIST 576L
Time: M | 03:30 - 06:30
Instructor: Jonathan Karp
The history of socialism has intersected in numerous and at times contradictory ways
with Jewish life. On the one hand, Jews' stereotypical identification with commerce,
business, and capitalism has made them targets of left-wing antisemitism. On the other,
Jews participated disproportionately in the socialist movements of different countries,
and individual (if sometimes non-identifying) Jews like Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky
were among the leaders and major theorists of socialist movements. Was there something,
therefore, in Judaism as a religion or in the historical Jewish experience that has
shaped this affinity between Jews and socialism? This class will examine key aspects
of such connections and paradoxes by looking at the Jewish components of socialist
movements in Europe, the United States, and the modern State of Israel.
Holocaust in Global Perspective - JUST 490 - Gen Ed: C , G , N
Cross listed: HIST 486D
Time: TR | 10:05 - 11:30
Instructor: Dina Danon
This course positions the Holocaust not solely as a European story but a global one
with implications for Jewish communities across the world. In addition to the experiences
of central and eastern European Jewries, the course will also emphasize the experiences
of Jewish communities in the Sephardi heartland of the eastern Mediterranean as well
in North Africa and Middle East. The course will then study how the Holocaust has
been represented in various contexts, most notably the United States and Israel. As
an upper-level seminar, the course will consider a diversity of historiographical
issues, among them questions of agency, causation, collaboration, and resistance,
methodological approaches such as micro-history, gender history, oral history, public
history, and fields of inquiry such as postcolonial and gender studies.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Religions of the World - RELG 101 - Gen Ed: G, H
Cross listed: JUST 100 / AFST 180E
Time: TR | 11:40 - 01:05
Instructor: Douglas Jones
What does it mean to study various religions from an academic perspective? How do
we, as outsiders at a public university, discuss different traditions responsibly?
Answering questions like these and developing our skills as scholars of religion is
of no small importance in an increasingly global society. This class will take a thematic
approach to a number of traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam. Prominent themes include the history of Religious Studies as a discipline,
religion and popular culture, religion and violence, the history of utopian thought,
and the status of new and controversial movements across the globe.
Christianity - RELG 120- Gen Ed: G, H
Time: TR | 10:05 - 11:30
Instructor: Douglas Jones
As the largest of the world’s religions, most people in the United States have some
ingrained sense of what, precisely Christianity involves. However, we often miss the
diversity of belief and practice existing under the umbrella of a monolithic tradition.
Taking as “Christian” any movement which identifies as such, this course explores
the rich diversity of the faith from the first century to the present Topics include
the evolution of orthodox theology, millennialism and utopianism, reform and revolution,
Christianity in the age of Trump, modern televangelism, and religious violence.
Intro to African Religion - RELG 180D - Gen Ed: H, W
Cross listed: AFST 171 / ANTH 280L / SOC 180A
Time: T/R | 10:05 - 11:30
Instructor: Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
E. A. Wallis Budge defined African religion as “the worship of the souls of the dead,
commonly called Ancestor Worship.” Also, Diodorus, a Greek historian, wrote over 2,000
years ago that blacks were “the first to be taught to honor the gods and to hold sacrifices
and processions and festivals and other rites by which men honor the deity; and …
sacrifices practiced among the Ethiopians [black people] ... are those which are the
most pleasing to heaven.” Thus, the course reviews the history of religion as a discipline,
nature and phenomenon of African religion, conception of God and gods and goddesses,
ancestors and elders, witchcraft, and rituals and symbols that offer meaning to the
lives of believers.
African & Western Religions - RELG 280J - Gen Ed: G , H , W
Cross listed: AFST 205 / ANTH 280Y / SOC 280C
Time: T/R | 01:15 pm - 02:40
Instructor: Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
The course introduces students to African religion, Christianity and Islam in Africa,
and the resultant religious and cultural transformation of Africa. This “triple” religious
and cultural heritage has seriously affected African attitude toward religion and
spirituality. Therefore, the course explores African theological concepts and ancestor
worship, Christian and Islamic beliefs, and the dynamic transformation of Christianity
and Islam on Africans.
Arabic Civilization & Culture - RELG 380B- Gen Ed: G, H, W
Cross listed: AFST 372 / ANTH 380C / HIST 385C / MDVL 380S
Time: T/R | 10:05 - 11:30
Instructor: Moulay Ali Bouanani
This course aims to give an overview of the Civilization and Culture of the Arab peoples
in Africa and elsewhere, starting with their origins and continuing through the present.
A selection of textsin Englishdealing with and pertaining to different aspects and
areas of Arabic life and culture will be read and discussed. The texts have been selected
with the intent to compare and analyze approaches in those written by Arab writers
and those written by non-Arab writers. Among the topics to be covered arebut not
limited to: The origins of the Arabs; pre-Islamic Arab society; Arab-Islamic society
and the Islamic Empire; Arabs in Africa and Europe, Arab-African (Amazigh) Epires,
Arabic-Islamic culture in Africa and its contribution to world culture; decadence
and fall of the Arab-Islamic Empire; European Infiltration and Colonialism (18-19
C); Independence and the creation of Nation-States. We will also analyze and discuss
modern concerns and problems of the area focusing on the Maghrib, the Sahel and West
Africa.
ISRAEL STUDIES
Intro to Israeli Literature - ISRL 120 - Gen Ed: G, H
Cross listed: JUST 120 / COLI 180P
Time: T/R | 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Lior Libman
This survey course introduces students to texts (poems, short stories, novels) and
themes (nation-building, conflict, gender constructions, ethnic and religious tensions)
in Israeli literature from 1948 to the present. We will place literary works within
their historical, cultural and political contexts and examine them to illustrate the
main features of the time. Texts will be read in translation. No previous knowledge
is required. The course is a Core Course for the Minor in Israel Studies, a Literature
Course for the Major/Minor in Hebrew, and an Area Course in Israel Studies for the
Major/Minor in Judaic Studies.
Modern Israel - ISRL 150 - Gen Ed: N
Cross listed: JUST 150 / HIST 150
Time: T/R | 11:40-1:05
Instructor: Shay Rabineau
This course presents an overview of the history of Israel from its origins in the
Zionist movement to the present. Key topics include: political relations and international
diplomacy leading to the establishment of the state in 1948; Israel's wars with its
neighbors; conflict with the Palestinians; religion and government; internal divisions
between Ashkenazic and Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews; and Israeli cultural life. No previous
knowledge is assumed or required. Students who had taken the course under the original
number will not receive credit for re-taking the course with the new number.
Walking the Land - ISRL 321 - Gen Ed: H, O
Cross listed: JUST 321 / HIST 321
Time: T/R | 2:50 - 4:15
Instructor: Shay Rabineau
Walking The Land: Hiking and Pilgrimage in Modern Israel/ Palestine/ The Holy Land
- This course explores the religious traditions and political movements that have
attached significance to the act of walking the land between the Jordan River and
the Mediterranean Sea, beginning in the late Ottoman period and continuing to the
present day. Students who had taken the course under the original number will not
receive credit for re-taking the course with the new number.
The Kibbutz in Israeli Culture - ISRL 324 - Gen Ed: H
Cross listed: JUST 380D
Time: T/R | 1:15-2:40
Instructor: Lior Libman
The course focuses on representations of the kibbutz, a unique Israeli social formation
which aimed at combining Zionism and Socialism, nation-building and the construction
of a new, just society. Throughout the past hundred years, the kibbutz has been portrayed
in countless literary texts and visual images. In this class, we will analyze and
discuss selected literary and cinematic works from different genres and periods to
examine the history of the kibbutz-image and the relationship between it and the kibbutz’s
history, while also asking, in a broader context, how social and political visions
are shaped in, and are shaping, images. Texts will be read in translation. No previous
knowledge is required, but for students who took Intro to Israeli Lit. this course
will be a continuation of their studies. The course is an Area Course in Literature
for the Minor in Israel Studies, a Literature Course for the Major/Minor in Hebrew,
and an Area Course in Israel Studies for the Major/Minor in Judaic Studies.
HEBREW AND YIDDISH
Hebrew I - HEBR 101 - Gen Ed: FL1
Cross listed: HEBR 501
Time: M/T/W/R | 9:40 - 10:40
Instructor: Orly Shoer
Hebrew 101 is the first semester of Modern Hebrew. The course is designed only for
students with very little or no previous experience in the language. It offers a communicative
introduction to Modern Hebrew language and its culture. It emphasizes all facets of
the language – comprehension, speech, reading, grammar and writing. The focus of instruction
is on enabling students to develop basic vocabulary and communicative skills in Modern
Hebrew centering on the students' immediate surroundings and simple daily activities.
By the end of the course students will be able to read and write short stories, voice
their opinion, converse and use basic grammar. Prerequisites: None
Hebrew III - HEBR 203 - Gen Ed: FL3
Cross listed: HEBR 503
Time: M/W/F | 10:50 - 11:50
Instructor: Orly Shoer
Hebrew 203 is the third course in the Modern Hebrew program sequence, and the last
course needed to fulfill the Binghamton University’s foreign language requirement.
It focuses on increasing students' confidence in using the language in different social
settings. This course is designed to advance the Hebrew learner to the intermediate-high
level by introducing complex grammatical structure forms and sentences. Grammar teaching
covers three of the main verb structures. The course concentrates on improving speaking,
writing, as well as, working on text analysis and comprehension skills. Prerequisites:
HEBR 102 with a grade of C- or better, a placement exam, or permission of the instructor.
Texts and Conversations I - HEBR 311 - Gen Ed: FL3
Cross listed: HEBR 505
Time: M/W/F | 01:10 - 02:10
Instructor: Orly Shoer
Hebrew 311 is an advanced-intermediate Hebrew language and culture course that is
intended for students who wish to further develop their vocabulary building and practice
all four language skills, with an emphasis on reading comprehension, grammar, syntax,
composition, vocabulary building and conversation. Students will advance their Hebrew
language skills through reading, discussing and writing about a variety of texts,
with some emphasis placed on short articles. Prerequisites: HEBR 204 with a grade
of C- or better, a placement exam, or permission of the instructor.
Yiddish I - YIDD 101 - Gen Ed: FL1
Cross listed: JUST 180A / YIDD 501
Time: M/W/F | 10:50 – 11:50
Instructor: Gina Glasman
Yiddish 101 is the first semester of the Yiddish language course sequence and is intended
for beginners. It introduces students to the Yiddish language and its culture. It
emphasizes all facets of the language – comprehension, speech, reading, grammar and
writing. The focus of instruction is on enabling students to develop basic skills.
