Course Offerings

As always, check BUonline for the latest updates and the Harpur Bulletin for course descriptions and details.

Download the JUST Academic Planning Chart here (pdf, 320KB)

Winter 2019

Jewish New York - JUST 351 - Gen Ed: C, H, P
Time: Distance Learning
Instructor: Gina R Glasman
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 shaped and responded to America's signature metropolis in an urban moment of extraordinary dynamism.

Queer Jews In Medieval Spain - JUST 380B / RELG 380B - Gen Ed: C, H
Time: Distance Learning
Instructor: Michael Kelly
Queer Jews: LGBTQ in the Jewish Golden Age of Medieval Iberia: The 10th-12th centuries in Medieval Iberian History represent the Jewish Golden Age. The period saw a massive flourishing of philosophical and theological output, of literary production – in Arabic, Hebrew and newly-forming romance languages – the translation of old literature and invention of new forms, technological advancements, and overlapped the "convivencia" – the living together – of Christians, Jews and Muslims inside of a shared cultural and social space. One of the lesser discussed and yet maybe the most remarkable feature of the Jewish Golden Age, however, is the exceptional amount of homoerotic literature, homosexual relationships and general expression of LGBTQ identities. There is, for instance, arguably more queer Hebrew poetry – including secular Hebrew poetry (e.g. of Samuel ibn Naghrillah) and writing from this period than from the whole body of modern Hebrew, and certainly so before the 1990s. In this class, we'll explore the queer texts of rabbis, of Talmud and Aggadah commentators, poets, grammarians, anonymous Jewish satirists, and other Jewish thinkers, writers and political players who contributed to this vibrant queer discourse of the Jewish Golden Age.

God or Cthulu? Control of Government - RELG 382A / ANTH 381A 2cr. course
Time: Distance Learning
Instructor: Blake P. McCabe
Religion and government have had a long history of friendship and conflict, from the Spanish inquisition to the Kingdom of Israel to China's ban on prosthylatizing. Today, religion is discussed throughout our news media, with abortion, ISIS, Muslim immigration, and new religions being founded. People joke about Cthulu and the flying spaghetti monster, though they are part of actual, recognized religions. This course will explore how religion and government are entangled in today's world through unusual case studies. We will explore the influence on and effect of social policies on religious groups in various countries or nations.

Surviving the Holocaust - JUST 480R / ITAL 481R / ITAL 581R
Time: Distance Learning
Instructor: Eva L Bovi
Surviving the Holocaust: A Literary Perspective - This course will examine what it means to write about the Holocaust; that is, what it implies to bear witness to a traumatic experience such as the Shoah. We will look at trauma and the narration of the traumatic event in a variety of genres - prose, memoir, poetry and graphic novel. We will seek to answer the questions: What is gained/lost/recovered in the act of bearing witness to tragedy and what is the cost to the victim? How are the roles of victim and perpetrator assigned in the Holocaust? How does survivor guilt factor into the way the story is - has to be told? What are the narrative devices employed by survivor-authors? How does the experience of having been a victim of the Shoah define Primo Levi and the survivor in general? The issue of language and the violence done to language during the Holocaust will also be examined. With Primo Levi at the center of the discourse, we will analyze the act of writing about the Holocaust, considering how his narrative style differs from that of other important survivor-authors. In addition, we will consider the contribution that the different genres make to the understanding of the event through literature. Italian majors will be expected to read the works in the original Italian, as well as complete a short essay in Italian. This is a 4-credit course, which means that students are expected to do an entire semester's worth of work in three weeks. This work includes completing the assigned readings, posting in the discussion forums, preparing written assignments, and other course-related tasks.

 Spring 2019 

JUDAIC STUDIES

Survey of American Jewish Literature - JUST 140 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: ENG 280I / COLI 180R
Time: W 4:40-7:40
Instructor: Connie 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.

Jewish History 1500 to Modern - JUST 202 - Gen Ed: G
Cross listed: RELG 280C / HIST 285E
Time: T/R 1:15-2:40
Instructor: Allan Arkush
The second half of the survey course on Jewish history can be taken independently and requires no previous background. It covers the tumultuous period from the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain to the creation of the modern State of Israel. Topics covered include Jewish messianic movements, emancipation, the rise of American Jewry, and the Holocaust.

Post Holocaust Literature - JUST 343 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: COLI 331F / ENG 380E
Time: T 4:25-7:25
Instructor: Paul Burch
This course addresses primarily fiction and memoir written after the Holocaust by second- and third-generation descendants of survivors of the Shoah. Central to our reading will be issues of representation, authenticity, the role of memory, the problems and limits of language, questions of trauma, the phenomenon of post-memory, and the development of post-Holocaust Jewish identities. Note: Not appropriate for first-year students.

Renaissance & Early Modern Jewish History – JUST 344 - Gen Ed: N, W
Cross listed: HIST 381K
Time: TR 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Jonathan Karp
Beginning at the close of the 15th century and ending on the cusp of the 18th, our course tells the story of an in-between age that contains the dramatic movement of Jews across Europe and the Mediterranean basin, the ghettoization of some communities, the opening up of others, the rise of new ideas, new economic relationships, of messianic fever and humanistic thought. This course will have a global flavour as we seek to define a key chapter in the history of both Eastern and Western Jewry.

The Holocaust - JUST 345A - Gen Ed: H, W
Cross listed: HIST 345A / GERM 380G / GMAP381A
Time: TR 4:25-5:50
Instructor: Gina Glasman
The Holocaust: A Victims' History How did the Jews of Europe respond to German occupation and its machinery of death during the Second World War? Our class will explore an answer to this question by seeking to reconstruct a history of the Holocaust through the voices of its victims. We will examine various forms of contemporary testimony including diaries and the spoken word. Works of history, as well as documentary cinema, will also frame our conversation about chronicling the effects of Nazi genocide through the surviving record of the murdered and the dead.

Modern Yiddish Culture - JUST 354 - Gen Ed: H, J
Cross listed: YIDD 354 /GERM 380K
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.

At Home in the Diaspora - JUST 375 - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: RELG 380F / ISRL 380C / HIST 385N
Time: W 5:50-8:50
Instructor: Allan Arkush
This course will trace the emergence of positive attitudes toward the worldwide dispersion of the Jews from the 19th century to the present. It will examine the rejection of the idea that Jews living outside of Palestine are by definition in Exile, the diverse ideologies of the proponents of diaspora nationalism, the diasporists' critique of Zionism and their involvement in the establishment of alternative Jewish homelands – both in fact and in fiction.

The Origins and Impact of Hasidism – JUST 380C - Gen Ed: C, W
Cross listed: RELG 280B / HIST 381V
Time: M 1:40-4:40
Instructor: Jonathan Karp
Hasidism was one of the great spiritual movements in Jewish history-- as well as one of the most controversial. This course explores both the rise of Hasidism in the middle of eighteenth century and the extraordinary impact it exerted on the Jewish world and beyond. We analyze the latest scholarly theories surrounding the movement's inception in Poland and rapid conquest of the East European Jewish masses. We trace different forms of opposition to Hasidism, both among traditionalists and modernizers. Finally, we survey the many ways in which Hasidism inspired new approaches to Jewish literature, music and culture in Europe, Israel, and the United States. No previous knowledge of Jewish History is assumed.

Religious Harmony in Islamic Spain - JUST 380G - Gen Ed: G, H, W
Cross listed: AFST 370/ARAB 386C/MDVL 382H/WGSS 380F
Time: TR 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Moulay Ali Bouanani
This course acquaints students with the contribution of Muslims, Christians and Jews to Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain & Portugal), from the eighth century to the 1400's. In the Islamic far west, Andalusian society was different from what existed in the Arabic-Islamic East and far more developed and sophisticated than any civilization Europe had known. During this time period, Al-Andalus was the most materially advanced area of Europe. Ethnic (Arabs, Iberians, North Africans) and religious minorities such as Christian Muwallads and Mozarabs enjoyed a high degree of tolerance and, like the Jews, formed prosperous and erudite communities. Women were, with the exception of those of Baghdad, the envy of even other Arabic-Muslim women. Cordoba was the most splendid city on the European continent with magnificent buildings, gardens, libraries, baths. There was a stable political system that facilitated opulence, education, beautiful homes, well-designed cities and towns, art and scholarship. This course will examine the civilization and culture of Islamic Spain and the contribution of each of the religious groups to its greatness.

Archaeology of the Middle East - JUST 386B - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: ANTH 374 / CLAS 381U
Time: M/W/F 9:40 – 10:40
Instructor: Michael Sugerman
We will explore the cultures of Israel, Palestine, and neighboring regions, from the earliest human presence in the area through the rise of Islam. We will study the first people, the earliest villagers, and the urban societies of the Bronze Age and Iron Age (the "Biblical period"). We will also investigate the incorporation of the region into a series of empires: Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and Islamic. We will also discuss the history of archaeological research in Israel and Palestine during the 19th and 20th-centuries, and the politics of archaeology in the region today.

Holocaust Fiction - JUST 441 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: ENG 450J / COLI 480T
Time: W 4:40-7:40
Instructor: Paul Burch
Issues of memory, representation, and voice are addressed in the reading of Holocaust fiction. The class reads through the prism of the literature of witness novels and short stories—most by Holocaust survivors—including works by Appelfeld, Fink, Borowski, Grynberg, Lustig, Nomberg- Przytyk, Rawicz, Kosinski, and Wiesel. Several short papers, mid-term examination, and final examination are required. Accompanied by a speaker/lecture series. Notes: prerequisite, sophomore standing; not appropriate for first-year students. Required texts may include: Lawrence Langer, Art from the Ashes (Anthology), Piotr Rawicz, Blood from the Sky, Jerzy Kosiński, The Painted Bird, Elie Wiesel, Gates of the Forest, Hans Keilson, The Death of the Adversary, David Grossman, See Under: Love, André Schwarz-Bart, The Last of the Just.

The Bible in Arabic - JUST 480E
Cross listed: COLI 482A / COLI 580T
Time: TR 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Tarek Shamma
In this course we will examine the long history of the Jewish and Christian Bibles in the Arabic language. Moving from early efforts in pre-Islamic Arabia, we will focus on major periods of translation and reception in the Classical age of the Islamic empire, down to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We will look at the various Arabic versions of the Bible in their historical contexts, exploring their functions in Arabic-speaking Christian and Jewish communities, as well as in their wider cultural and linguistic context/ in the Muslim world. Conceptions of the Bible (as mediated through translations of various kinds) were an important part, not only of the religious life of Arab Christians and Jews, but also in the intellectual life of the in the Muslim world at large. This latter aspect will be the focus of this course, as we examine how the Bible figured in religious apologetics (especially between Muslims and Christians), and more importantly how it was instrumental in formulating philosophical, theological, as well as social and political positions among intellectuals of all faiths. We will see, for example, how Christian and Jewish intellectuals employed the translation and interpretation of the Bible to negotiate their position within the larger Islamic sociopolitical context, and sometimes in relation to other denominations within their own communities. The course will rely mainly on secondary sources in English, so knowledge of Arabic or Biblical languages is not required.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Religions of the World - RELG 101 - Gen Ed: G, H
Cross listed: JUST 180B
Time: T/R 1:15-2:40
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.

Intro to African Religion - RELG 180D - Gen Ed: G, H
Cross listed: AFST 171 / ANTH 280L / SOC 180C
Time: T/R 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
E. 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." From ancient Egypt-Nubia to the Yoruba and the Akan, students are introduced to the nature and phenomenon of African religion, cosmologies and conceptions of God and deities, ancestors and elders, witchcraft, sacrifices, and rituals and practices that order the lives of believers.

Radical Religious Movements – RELG 312 - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: JUST 312
Time: T/R 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Douglas Jones
This course focuses on movements that are deemed radical by their contemporaries. Topics will vary from week to week, though generally we will focus on the self-professed religious identity of these movements alongside their relationship with the broader religious culture. Do radical religions consider themselves radical? How do they communicate with, or seek to influence, the mainstream? Major themes include the proliferation of utopian and messianic movements in the seventeenth-century, socialism and religion, religion and violence, religion and suicide, the anti-cult movement in America, and the relatively recent appearance of sci-fi religions. Students who took RELG 212 course will not receive credit for 312.

Saints and Sinners - RELG 380D - Gen Ed: H
Cross listed: CLAS 381S / COLI 381E / MDVL 381L
Time: T/R 04:25-05:50
Instructor: Tina Chronopoulos
In this course we will study the lives of folks who lived during the Classical and Late Antique Periods in the Greco-Roman Mediterranean and who were considered by their contemporaries and later authors to have lead saintly or sinful lives, broadly conceived. Ultimately, we will try to arrive at an understanding of what saintliness and sinfulness meant in the time period under consideration (ca. 10 CE – 600CE) and how this was constructed, and which cultural and political forces were at work to make this so. Throughout, we will be trying to answer questions such as "What or who is a saint/sinner" and "who determines this status and who benefits from it?". We will examine the origins and development of this new genre of writing by considering its relationship to the novel and biography. We will read representative accounts of sinners and saints from Classical and Late Antiquity (e.g. in no particular order: Caligula, Perpetua & Felicity, Simeon Stylites, Mary of Egypt, Mary/Marinos, Messalina, Martin of Tours, Nero, Matrona of Perge, and others) to answer these questions and also examine whether the binary good/saint – sinner/bad holds true.

ISRAEL STUDIES

Israeli Coming-of-Age Narratives - ISRL 205 - Gen Ed: H, W
Cross listed: JUST 205, COLI 280F
Time: M/W/F 9:40-10:40
Instructor: Lior Libman
At the center of Coming-of-Age Narratives stands a protagonist in the process of becoming: a youngster being educated, learning about themselves, about the world, and about life, overcoming obstacles, maturing, forming their identity. In this class, we will explore the thematic and structural characteristics of such narratives, focusing on Israeli examples in their historical and cultural contexts. We will look at tensions between the individual and their society in the moral and psychological development of the protagonist, and will delve into questions of national affinities, class, gender and sexuality in their passage from childhood to adulthood. 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.

Cultures and Society in Israel - ISRL 227 - Gen Ed: G, N
Cross listed: JUST 227 / RELG 280A
Time: T/R 10:05-11:30
Instructor: Blake McCabe
This course is a study of the many religious, ethnic, political, and linguistic dimensions of modern Israeli culture and society. It examines the forces that affect them, the divides between them, their interactions with each other, and their manifestations in music, film, art, and literature. This course will also have a strong emphasis on the use of Jewish law in Israel, intermarriage, non-Orthodox conversion, and Jewish minority groups (such as the Falash Mura, Beni Menashe and Bnei Ephraim).

Israeli Palestinian Conflict in Literature - ISRL 327 - Gen Ed: H, O
Cross listed: JUST 380A / COLI 331V
Time: M/W/F 1:10-2:10
Instructor: Lior Libman
The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been represented in a wide body of Israeli and Palestinian literary works of varied genres. In this course, we will read, analyze and discuss, side by side, poems, short stories and novels by both Israeli and Palestinian writers exploring questions of homeland, exile and return, longing and belonging, Self and Other. We will examine the relationships between historical, political and literary narratives, and the ways in which images and metaphors both reflect and shape national affinities. We will also juxtapose the geo-political conflict with other core issues such as religion, ethnicity, gender and sexuality.

ISRL-PALS Conflict - ISRL 385Z - Gen Ed: G, N
Cross listed: JUST 380P /ARAB 385C / HIST 385J
Time: T/R 11:40-1:05
Instructor: Shay Rabineau
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Israel-Palestine comprises the territory that lies between the Mediterranean Sea (on the west), Lebanon (in the north), the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula (on the south) and the Jordan River (on the east). Although it covers a small geographic area and includes a relatively small population (compare present-day Israel's 8 million citizens with Egypt's 90 million), the dispute between the two rival sets of nationalisms which claim the sole right to control this territory has remained at the forefront of international attention for more than half a century. This course will examine the origins of the Arab-Israeli dispute from the mid-nineteenth century through the founding of the state of Israel and expulsion/flight of three quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes till the present day. Among the topics to be examined: the social history of Palestine up to Zionist colonization, the origins of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, varieties of Zionism, Zionism and colonialism, seminal events and their consequent symbolic connotations (the 1936 "Great Revolt," the 1948 "Nakba" [disaster]) and creation of the state of Israel, the construction of a national consensus in Israel, 1967 and its aftermath, the intifada, and the redefinition of the conflict as a result of Oslo, the second intifada, the security fence, HAMAS, Hizbollah and the Lebanon War.

Environmental History of Israel - ISRL 427 - Gen Ed: G, N
Cross listed: JUST 427 / ENVI 481N
Time: T/R 1:15 - 2:40
Instructor: Shay Rabineau
This course focuses the problems and possibilities associated with settling large numbers of people in the contested land of Israel-Palestine with its limited natural resources, and examines the dynamics between environmental issues, politics, technology, and military conflict in the modern Middle East.

LANGUAGE

Hebrew II - HEBR 102 - Gen Ed: FL2
Time: M/T/W/R 8:30 – 9:30
Instructor: Orly Shoer
Second semester of the communicative introduction to the language and its culture. Provides a thorough grounding in reading, writing, grammar, oral comprehension, and speaking.
Prerequisites: HEBR 101 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

Intermediate Hebrew - HEBR 204 - Gen Ed: FL3
Time: M/W/F 9:40 – 10:40
Instructor: Orly Shoer
Intermediate-level language and culture course with emphasis on the reading of literary and non-literary texts, grammar and writing.
Prerequisite: HEBR 103 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

Texts and Conversations II - HEBR 312 - Gen Ed: FL3
Time: M/W/F/ 10:50 – 11:50
Instructor: Orly Shoer
In this course students will advance their Hebrew language skills through reading, discussing and writing about a variety of short fiction and nonfiction texts and visual material. Writing practice and reviewing of grammar will be incorporated through the presented materials. Taught in Hebrew. Prerequisites: HEBR 204 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

Yiddish II - YIDD 102 - Gen Ed: FL2
Time: M/W/F 10:50 – 11:50
Instructor: Gina Glasman
Follows on from Yiddish 101 as students sharpen their linguistic skills with more complex sentence structure, a deeper knowledge of tenses and cases, and a broader vocabulary. In addition, we explore Yiddish culture through film, stories, folk sayings and the occasional joke! As always lyrics from Yiddish popular song provide the backbone of the class, and individual attention is a feature of the instruction. Note: interested students can join 102 directly without having taken 101. (Instructor permission needed.) 

 Fall 2018

                                                              
Intro to Judaic Studies - JUST 101
Time: T/R 1:15-2:40
Gen Ed: H, W
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. No background is required.

Religions of the World - RELG 101
Cross listed: JUST 180B / AFST180E / ANTH 180C
Time: T/R 11:40-1:05
Gen Ed: G, H
Instructor: Doug 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. ​

 
Jewish History Ancient to 1500 - JUST 201
Cross listed: RELG280A / HIST285E
Time: M/W 9:40-11:05
Gen Ed: G, N
Instructor: Jonathan Karp
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. No background is required. 

Jewish Non-Profit Organizations - JUST 259
Cross listed: HDEV 259
Time: T/R 10:05-11:30
Gen Ed: J
Instructor:  Barbara Goldman-Wartell
The Jewish Non-Profit Organizations course will look at the organizations and systems that make up the Jewish community in the United States. The goal of the course is to deconstruct the concept of “community” and to understand how institutions fulfill the purposes of community. We will introduce the course by learning about the history of the Jewish community and Jewish communal institutions in the U.S. and how they came to create the landscape of organizations that exist today. We will also use different tools for analyzing organizations and how they function. The main part of the course will explore the rich, diverse and complex landscape of Jewish communal organizations that exist today. We will cover many types of organizations, some emerging organizations and how they fit into the landscape of the Jewish Non-Profit world.

Jewish Resistance in Antiquity - JUST 287A
Cross listed: RELG 280D / HIST 285D
Time: M 4:40-7:40
Gen Ed: C, H
Instructor: Michael Kelly
The ancient world was full of passive and violent resistance. In this class, we will examine the diverse range of rioting and rebellion that occurred in antiquity (c. 200 bc – ad 600), with an emphasis on those events, discourses, texts and representations pertaining to Jewish struggles, both personal and communal. We will also, when possible, compare ancient representations of resistance to readings from today, in order to reflect on changing attitudes - about protest, violence, equality and justice - and how those shape our understanding of Jewish history.

Holocaust Literature - JUST 341

Cross listed:  COLI 380B / ENG 380M
Time: M 4:40-7:40
Gen Ed: C, H
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. THIS COURSE IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS.

Jewish New York - JUST 351
Cross listed: HIST 380B
Time: T/R 4:25-5:50
Gen Ed: H, P, W
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.

German Jews - JUST 368
Cross listed: ISRL 385Z / HIST 385P / GERM 380D
Time: T/R 1:15-2:40
Gen Ed:
Instructor: Allan Arkush
This course will examine the lives of representative German Jews from the middle of the 18th century to the beginning of the Nazi era. It will focus on these individuals’ relationship to Judaism and Jewish life and the changing German world in which they lived. Among the figures studied will be philosophers (Moses Mendelssohn), politicians (Gabriel Riesser and Walter Rathenau), rabbis (Leo Baeck), and feminists (Bertha Pappenheim). Selected Topics: the fight for Jewish civil rights in the 19th century, the reception of Jews in the German public sphere, responses to anti-Semitism, new philosophies of Judaism.

The Ghetto, the Jews and the City - JUST 371
Cross listed: HIST 385M
Time: T/R 11:40-1:05
Gen Ed: A, C
Instructor:  Gina Glasman
European Jewry has often been a quintessentially urban society and culture, both by way of reputation, and as a matter of fact. Our class will explore this urban personality across time and space, beginning with the mandated pre-modern ghettos of central and southern Europe and ending with the ethnically rooted neighbourhoods of Vienna and Paris, Berlin and London in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Along the way, we will consider related themes, including civic & minority identity, the nature of toleration, and the place of the city within broader society. When possible, we will ground our conversation in contemporary material culture, including urban landmarks, post-cards and various kinds of visual media.

Historic Conversion to and from Judaism - JUST 380C
Cross listed:  RELG 380A  / HIST 385E
Time: W 5:50-8:50
Gen Ed: C, H
Instructor: Allan Arkush
This course will concentrate on the history of conversion to and from Judaism. It will begin with an examination of Jewish and Christian missionary efforts in antiquity and conclude with a study of conversion from Judaism in modern Europe and conversion to Judaism in contemporary Israel. The readings will include the autobiographies of converts both to and from Judaism. Additional notes: H The personal narratives of converts constitute a window into the way in which thoughtful and troubled human beings deal with questions of fundamental importance. Selected Topics: Conversion to Judaism in the Hellenistic world, inauthentic conversions in the era of the Spanish Inquisition, waves of conversion from Judaism in 19th and early 20th century Europe, current controversies over conversion in the State of Israel.

The Coming of the Rabbis - JUST 386M
Cross listed: RELG 380D
Time: W 4:40-7:40
Gen Ed: G, W
Instructor: Michael Kelly
The Coming of the Rabbis: the Emergence of Rabbinical Judaism and its Implications - In this class, we will explore the dramatic rise of rabbis and rabbinical literature in late antiquity (c. 100 bc to ad 600) and analyze together the immediate and lasting effects of this moment on Judaism, as a faith, as an identity, and as a historical phenomenon. In this period, which begins around the occupation of the Land of Israel by the Roman Empire and the destruction of the Temple, Judaism underwent tremendous changes, including the invention of new holidays, the appearance of numerous sects and factions, a regular stream of professed messianic figures, and nearly endless riots and revolts. Perhaps the most significant development was the emergence of the rabbis who found within this historical milieu a space to become the voices of Judaism. This became manifest in writing with the Mishnah, a century or so after the destruction of the Temple, followed by the Gemara and two versions of the Talmud, all of which we will read as part of this class.

Intro to Israeli Literature - ISRL 120
Cross listed: JUST 120 / COLI 180P
Time: T/R 10:05-11:30
Gen Ed: G, H
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
Cross listed: JUST 150 / HIST 150
Time: T/R 11:40-1:05
Gen Ed: N
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.

Cultures and Society in Israel - ISRL 227
Cross listed: JUST 227 / LING280E / ANTH 280C
Time: M/W/F 9:40-10:40
Gen Ed: G, N, W
Instructor: Assaf Harel
This course examines the complexity of contemporary Israeli culture and society. To gain an introductory understanding of Israeli experiences today, we will begin with the formation of political Zionism and move on to engage with the increasing diversity of Israeli society and culture. We will explore central themes in Israeli life such as religion and secularism, minority majority relations, military, gender, sexuality, pop culture and globalization. Throughout the course, we will critically discuss the readings, films and clips in order to develop a reflexive awareness of our own analytical and personal positions in relation to the subject matter. In addition, you will pursue individual research projects that will deepen your familiarity and understanding of a sociocultural question pertaining to Israel and thus gain training in research, writing and presentation skills. By the end of this course, you will possess basic knowledge and analytical tools that will enable you to critically examine Israeli culture and society.
 
Walking the Land - ISRL 321
Cross listed: JUST 321 / HIST 321
Time: T/R 1:15 - 2:40
Gen Ed: H, O
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
Cross listed: JUST 380D
Time: T/R 1:15-2:40
Gen Ed: H
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. 

Religion and Faith in Israel - ISRL 386K
Cross listed: JUST386B / RELG 380G
Time: M/W/F 1:10-2:10
Gen Ed: C, N
Instructor: Assaf Harel
This course examines religion in Israel from an ethnographic perspective. That is, it centers on knowledge that emerges from real-life encounters and experiences. Accordingly, we will engage with ethnographic works as a way of gaining a deeper understanding of the diversity of Israeli religious realities. The course will cover topics such as Religious Zionism, Ultra Orthodoxy, fundamentalism, Christian pilgrimage, Islamic and Jewish revival, New Age and more.

HEBREW

Hebrew I - HEBR 101
Time: M/T/W/R 8:30 – 9:30
Gen Ed: FL1
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
Time: M/W/F 9:40 – 10:40
Gen Ed: FL3
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
Time: M/W/F/ 10:50 – 11:50
Gen Ed: FL3
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

Yiddish I - YIDD 101
Cross listed: JUST 180A
Time: M/W/F 10:50 – 11:50
Gen Ed: FL1
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.
 

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