Children of the Revolution | JST 4936 (27186)

Crosslist: FRT 3004 (17214), JST 4936 (27193)

T 1:55 PM – 2:45 PM  (Period 7) and R 1:55 PM – 3:50 PM (Periods 7-8)

Instructor: Gayle Zachmann | Syllabus Coming Soon

A survey of the French literary avant-gardes, their histories and legacies, this course focuses on how literary and intellectual movements engage with cultural politics, and more particularly, the legacies of the French Revolution, the Dreyfus Affair, and the threat and memory of the Holocaust. The class examines how and why different generations of artists and writers on the frong lines would appeal to the legacy of the French revolution to engage with national narratives of liberty, equality, citizenship, fraternity and human rights. The course is taught in English and counts for the French & Francophone and Jewish Studies major and minors, the European Jewish Studies Certificate, and the Certificate in Holocaust Studies.

Jewish American Cinema | JST 3930 (21110)

Crosslist: LIT 4930 (20009)

T 3:00 PM – 4:55 PM (Periods 8-9) and R 4:05 PM – 4:55 PM (Period 9)

Instructor: Dragan Kujundžić | Syllabus Coming Soon

The course screens and discusses films related to Jewish emigration to the US, the first sound film, the Holocaust, Israeli Cinema, Jewish-American women in film, Jewish humor and comedy. Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator  and Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino; Fiddler on the Roof,  (and the novel by Sholem Aleichem); the extensive critical analysis of the first sound movie, The Jazz Singer; Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg and The Pianist by Roman Polanski.  Jewish humor (Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters and Whatever Works with Larry David), films by Paul Mazursky, Sidney Lumet, David Mamet.  Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot) and Mel Brooks (The Producers, Blazing Saddles), the Coen Brothers, (Serious Men). Marty Supreme and Bad Shabbos will be screened. Particular attention will be given to films by or about Jewish women, (Yentl by and with Barbara Streisand), Vita Activa (Hannah Arendt), Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman) Golda Meir (Golda with Helen Mirren) and Svetlana Boym: Exile and Imagination,  among others.

Jewish History (1492-1750) | JST 3930 (27075)

Crosslist: WOH 3931 (27011), ASH 3931 (27014), EUH 3671 (26823)

T 3:00 PM – 4:55 PM  (Periods 8-9) and R 4:05 PM – 4:55 PM (Period 9)

Instructor: Yehoshua Ecker | Syllabus Coming Soon

Kafka and Kafkaesque | JST 3930 (23656)

Crosslist: GEW 4730 (25797), LIT 4930 (22851), GET 3930 (17215)

T 1:55 PM – 2:45 PM (Periods 7) and R 1:55 PM – 3:00 PM (Periods 7-8)

Instructor: Eric Kligerman | Syllabus Coming Soon

This seminar will explore the writings of Franz Kafka and the effect that his literary legacy has had on literature and film. Our objective will be to analyze how elements of modern consciousness and “the Kafkaesque” reappear in selected texts of later modern and postmodern writers and filmmakers.

Novel Memory | JST 3930 (27188)

Crosslist: FRW 4552 (25777), FRW 655 (25778), JST 4936 (27192)

T 4:05 PM – 7:05 PM (Periods 9-11)

Instructor: Gayle Zachmann | Syllabus Coming Soon

Combining literary analysis with historical inquiry, this course offers a deep dive into French literature and cultural history. It is ideal for students interested in France, memory studies, French Jewish history, and the evolution of the French novel. Focusing on literary realism, naturalism, and impressionism, the class examines history, memory, and heritage discourse in French literary production of the 19th and 20th centuries. Works studied address literature and war, as well as socio-cultural, technological, and aesthetic transformations of the periods. Authors studied include Eugénie Foa, Honoré de Blazac, Ben-Lévi, Emilie Zola, Marcel Schwob, Marcel Proust, Vercors, Simone de Beauvoir and Elsa Triolet. Class is taught in French and counts for French majors and minors as well as the Certificate in European Jewish Studies and the Certificate in Holocaust Studies. 

Visual Anthropology JST 3930 (26365)

Crosslist: JST 4936 (27334), ANT 3390, ANG 5395

R 9:35 AM – 12:35 PM (Periods 3-5)

Instructor: Jack Kugelmass | Syllabus Coming Soon

Photography and film have long been indispensable tools for doing ethnography. This course explores examples of that and teaches students how to think photographically and produce mini ethnographies of the world around them. Neither photographic prior experience nor a camera separate from a smart phone  are necessary to take this course.

Women and Religion (Quest Course) | IDS 42935 (1685, 16826, 18845)

Class #16825: M, W 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6) and F 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6)

Class #16826: M, W 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6) and F 1:55 PM – 2:45 PM (Period 7)

Class #18845: M, W 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6) and F 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM (Period 8)

Instructor: Rachel Gordan | Syllabus Coming Soon

Women and religion have played central roles in American popular fiction since the terms “America” and “fiction” came into popular use in the 18th century. Women have always been the bulk of the fiction-reading public; novels that treat religious life have waxed and waned in popularity but have always been what publishers call “steady sellers.” This was particularly true in the mid-20th century. After World War 2, many women who had moved into the paid workforce during the War returned to the domestic sphere, and mainstream religions (Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism) assumed a new centrality in public discourse as Americans reckoned with the horrors of the Holocaust and the atom bomb. TV, with its seemingly unlimited possibilities of genre and subject-matter, was only just becoming a staple of the middle-class home. In this “golden age” of American literature, fiction captured the centrality of gender and religion in society.

This course examines best-selling fictions dealing with women and religion, first in the immediate post-WW2 period and then in the late 20th century, as the popular culture pendulum swung in a more secular and, for women, “liberated” direction. Emphasis is placed on understanding works in historical context as well as on critical self-reflection; students are invited to understand how, like the authors they study, their own position as people with specific gender identities and relationships to religious practice (including being a non-religious person) affects what and how they read.

Why Is There Evil in the World? (Quest Course) | JST TBD

Crosslist: REL 1411 (24688, 24689, 24690)

M, W 1:55 PM – 2:45 PM (Period 7) and F 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6)

Instructor: Yaniv Feller | Syllabus Coming Soon

The problem of evil has been a focus of intense reflection by philosophers, theologians, psychologists, and novelists. Students will address this key theme in the human condition in this course. The class will enable students to analyze this question in written form and orally by drawing on a variety of methodologies from different fields in the humanities, including philosophy, religion, history, and art.

International Relations of the Middle East | JST 3930 (21447)

Crosslist: TBD

MWF 12:50 PM – 1:40 PM (Period 6)

Instructor: Artur-Or Honig | Syllabus

Want to understand the Middle East? We will explore six main issues: 1) The role of extra-regional powers in stabilizing or exacerbating the region; 2) the factors determining the success and failures of different Middle Eastern countries to gain regional dominance; 3) factors determining the success of regional actors, such as Israel or Saudi Arabia, in courting the alliance of extra-regional powers; 4) the degree to which religion and other identity-related issues (such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) shape regional dynamics; 5) the role of fundamentalist Islam in shaping the region and preventing conflict resolution; 6) why don’t we see liberalism, capitalism or democracy flourishing in most of the region and what are the implications of that for the regional dynamics. No background knowledge is required.

Israel and the World | JST 3930 (21446)

Crosslist: TBD

MWF 10:40 AM – 11:30 AM  (Period 4)

Instructor: Artur-Or Honig | Syllabus Coming Soon

Small states have to conduct themselves in particular ways in world affairs in order to survive and prosper. Yet, studies which look into the factors shaping the diplomatic standing of small states are still lacking given that IR theories have been concerned mostly with great powers. This study will examine the case of Israel. This small state is very often at the centre of world attention. It gets more headlines, and more policy attention from different states and bodies than any other actor which is not an adversarial great power. It is also the USA’s best ally in the vast area between NATO countries and Japan. Given these facts, this course seeks to explain Israel’s evolving relationship with various states and intergovernmental bodies around the world.

Sephardi Documentary Films | JST 3930 (21059)

Crosslist: HBR 4930 (23717),  REL 3938 (21494)

W 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Periods 8-10)

Instructor: Yehoshua Ecker | Syllabus Coming Soon

The Other Promised Land | JST 3930 (25656)

Crosslist: LAH 3931 (24987), LAS 4935 (26391)

MWF 12:50 APM – 1:40 PM (Period 6)

Instructor: Raanan Rein | Syllabus Coming Soon

This course focuses on European immigration in general and Jewish immigration in particular to Argentina, and the social integration of different ethnic groups from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries.

Children of the Revolution | JST 4936 (27186)

Crosslist: FRT 3004 (17214), JST 4936 (27193)

T 1:55 PM – 2:45 PM  (Period 7) and R 1:55 PM – 3:50 PM (Periods 7-8)

Instructor: Gayle Zachmann | Syllabus Coming Soon

A survey of the French literary avant-gardes, their histories and legacies, this course focuses on how literary and intellectual movements engage with cultural politics, and more particularly, the legacies of the French Revolutuion, the Dreyfus Aggair, and the threat and memory of the Holocaust. The class examines how and why different generations of artists and writers on the frong lines would appeal to the legacy of the French revolution to engage with national narratives of liberty, equality, citizenship, fraternity and human rights. The course is taught in English and counts for the French & Francophone and Jewish Studies major and minors, the European Jewish Studies Certificate, and the Certificate in Holocaust Studies.

#Holocaust: Trauma and Memory in Israeli Film and Literature | JST 3930 (26362)

Crosslist: HBT 3235 (26361), LIT 4930 (26389)

MWF 1:55 PM – 2:45PM (Period 7)

Instructor: Roy Holler | Syllabus Coming Soon

Selfies at Auschwitz. @eva.stories turning a real teenage Holocaust diary into Instagram content. Twitter flooded with Holocaust denial in 140 characters or less. The ways we remember the Holocaust have become messy. Not that they were ever simple.

Long before the digital age, the Holocaust profoundly shaped the Zionist project and played a central role in the establishment of the Israeli state, which continues to understand itself through narratives of destruction and rebirth. We will begin #Holocaust by examining how Holocaust memory has been used and constructed in Israeli society. Through Hebrew literature, film, and other cultural works produced alongside key twentieth century political events, we will explore how Holocaust memory was shaped, mobilized, and woven into the story of the Jewish nation.

We will then turn to the digital era, from viral Instagram projects to the spread of denial through podcasts and social media. We will investigate how these platforms enable the circulation of survivor testimony, connect different generations, and create new battlegrounds for confronting denial and distortion.

Novel Memory | JST 3930 (27188)

Crosslist: JST 4936, FRW 4552, FRW 6556

T 4:05 PM – 7:05PM (Periods 9-11)

Instructor: Gayle Zachmann | Syllabus Coming Soon

Combining literary analysis with historical inquiry, this course offers a deep dive into French literature and cultural history. It is ideal for students interested in France, memory studies, French Jewish history and the evolution of the French novel. Focusing on literary realism, naturalism and impressionism, the class examines history memory and heritage discourse in French literary production of the 19th and 20th centuries. Works studied address literature and war, as well as socio-cultural, technological and aesthetic transformations of the periods. Authors studied include Eugénie Foa,
Honoré de Balzac, Ben-Lévi, Emilie Zola, Marcel Schwob, Marcel Proust, Vercors, Simone de Beauvoir and Elsa Triolet. Class is taught in french and counts for French majors and minors as well as the Certificate in European Jewish Studies and the Certificate in Holocaust Studies.

Post-Holocaust American Jews (Quest Course) | IDS 2935 (25835, 125836, 25837)

Class #25835: M, W 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM (Period 8) and F 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM (Period 8)

Class #25836: M, W 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM (Period 8) and F 4:05 PM – 4:55 PM (Period 9)

Class #25837: M, W 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM (Period 8) and F 5:10 PM – 6:00 PM (Period 10)

Instructor: Rachel Gordan | Syllabus Coming Soon

This course examines the lasting impact of the Holocaust on American culture and society, exploring its influence on attitudes toward antisemitism, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, philosophical thought, and cultural memory in films, comics, and museums.

Representations of War & Political Violence | JST 3930 (23655)

Crosslist: GET 3580 (20049), LIT 3003 21500

T 10:40 AM – 12:35 PM (Periods 4-5) and R 11:45 AM – 12:35 PM (Period 5)

Instructor: Eric Kligerman | Syllabus Coming Soon

This course sets out to probe the cultural, social and political functions of horror in relation to shifting moments of historical violence. In addition to exploring the horror genre in literary and cinematic works of the imagination, we will ultimately apply the aesthetic, epistemic and ethical questions arising in the genre to shifting representations of traumatic history. As we map out the history and themes behind this popular genre, our aim is to probe the intersections between horror and its socio-cultural and historical contexts. 

Vampire Cinema | JST 3930 (21111)

Crosslist: LIT 4930 (20008)

T 5:10 PM – 6:00 PM (Periods 10) and R 5:10 PM – 7:05 PM (Periods 10-11)

Instructor: Dragan Kujundžić | Syllabus Coming Soon

Vampires, werewolves, ghosts and apparitions from Bram Stoker, to Francis Ford Coppola and Anne Rice. The course will address issues of vampire and vEmpire (the imperial politics behind vampirism), vampirism and psychoanalysis, vampirism and modernism, vampirism and cinema, queer, gay and lesbian vampires, vampires of East and Central Europe, vampirism and anti-Semitism, vampirism and religion, vampirism and nationalism, history of blood in religion, film and literature, etc.