Fundamental elements of Modern Ladino, the traditional language of Sephardic Jews of the Balkans and Middle East, including the traditional Hebrew-based alphabet and its Romanization, and basic grammar, syntax and lexicon. Historical stages in the development of Ladino and the social and cultural life of modern Ladino speakers. No prior knowledge of Spanish or Hebrew required.

Introductory orientation to the settings in which Jews have marked out for themselves distinctive identities as a people, a culture, and as a religious community. Examines Jewish cultural history as a production of Jewish identity that is always produced in conversation with others in the non-Jewish world.

Legal, ethical, scientific, and Jewish religious perspectives on contemporary medical and biomedical research practices. Legal and civil rights of women, people with disabilities, minors and minority or marginalized groups. Key differences between secular and Biblical/Rabbinic approaches in interpretation, analysis and application of bioethics, doctor-patient relationships; reproductive methods; abortion; euthanasia; and stem cell research.

Examines literary and cultural production about the Jewish experience in America. Considers ways in which American Jews assimilate and resist assimilation while Jewish writers, filmmakers, comedians, and graphic novelists imitate and transform American life and literature. Emphasizes questions of immigration, identity, gender, sexuality, race, inter-generational trauma, and cultural memory.

Topics include Jews’ and Muslims’ linked encounters with empire, westernization, and nationalism; Jewish culture and identity in Islamic contexts migration and diasporic identities; the impact of Zionism, European Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the State of Israel on Jewish-Muslim relations in the Middle East and beyond; Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Analyzes antisemitism from ancient times to the present, exploring anti-Jewish attitudes, actions, and violence. Uses intersectional frameworks to examine connections with Islamophobia, white supremacy, anti-Black racism, and sexism. Evaluates relationships between antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and Christian Zionism, while mapping antisemitism’s role in American culture wars.

Special topics, the subject matter and depth of which are not included in other literature courses, arranged through consultation among students and faculty members.

Explores the Biblical prophets (in translation) within their Near Eastern contexts. Historicity, literary and rhetorical sophistication, and ideological agendas. Seeks to uncover the meaning and distinctiveness of Israelite prophecy within the context of the larger Near East. No knowledge of the Bible required.

Modern Israeli Hebrew. Core vocabulary, grammar, conversational text, and oral and written communication. Excerpts from modern Hebrew prose and poetry. Second in a sequence of three.

Readings of selected texts in modern Hebrew with continuing emphasis on grammar, syntax, composition, and conversation. Second in a sequence of three.

Examines the language, style, and sophistication of the biblical Book of Proverbs within the context of ancient Near Eastern proverb collections and correlates close readings of the book in the original Hebrew language with various interpretations it has received since antiquity.