Judaic Studies Courses: Winter 2005
Advanced Electives can be viewed here.
HEBREW
JUDC 102 Elementary Hebrew Mrs. Gutmark MWF 10-10:50
In this course, students will acquire basic conversational and grammatical Hebrew skills. Students will learn primary grammatical structures and develop a vocabulary that will allow them to carry basic conversations in modern Hebrew. In addition to the linguistic aspects of the course, students will be introduced to various facets of modern Israeli culture - the culture in which modern Hebrew developed and continues to evolve. Students will listen to live Israeli radio, read newspapers at basic level, watch movies and video clips, learn songs, eat Israeli food, play games, and learn about the Jewish holidays. Emphasis is placed on developing basic skills: listening, reading, writing, comprehension, and conversation. The course is tailored to accommodate students on different levels.
JUDC 202 Intermediate Hebrew Mrs. Gutmark MWF 9-9:50
Games, Israeli movies, songs, and newspapers, recordings of conversations, art, Israeli feast, celebrating holidays, live Israeli radio; these are some of the means by which Modern Hebrew is taught in this Intermediate-level class. This course is a dynamic combination of grammar, syntax, vocabulary, prose and poetry, and Israeli culture. Emphasis is put on developing the basic skills: listening, reading, writing, comprehension, and conversation. Students have the opportunity to teach their class-mates and give oral presentations regularly. Group work, cooperative learning and discussions are used in every class. In-class work is supplemented by multimedia activities in the mandatory language lab, using the audio-visual and interactive web sites, in order to give students multiple learning opportunities, suited to a variety of learning styles.
JUDC 332 Advanced Hebrew Dr. Fine TTh 9:30-10:50
In this course students will learn to read Biblical and Rabbinic texts in the original Hebrew. We will begin to learn ancient syntax and grammar in the process of reading these texts and holding much of our classroom dialogue in modern Hebrew.
CORE COURSES
JUDC 128 History of Jewish Civilization Dr. Klein MWF 11-11:50The Middle Ages are the bridge between the worlds of the Bible and the rabbis and the Judaism of today. This second part of the survey will trace the development of Jewish civilization from the rise of Islam until the eve of the Enlightenment. It will focus on three aspects of medieval Jewish life: political and cultural relations with the external world; community building; and Jewish thought. You will meet famous figures from Rashi to Maimonides, as well as ordinary Jewish men and women; you will encounter mystics and mothers, poets and philosophers, communal leaders and criminals.
JUDC 128H Honors Jewish Civilization Dr. Klein MWF 11-11:50 + M 2-4
Students in Honors Jewish Civilization take JUDC 128, plus an additional tutorial in which students will have a chance to discuss selected texts in depth and to explore some of the themes of JUDC 128 further. Assignments are selected to introduce different genres of medieval writing by and about Jews. 128H is required for majors.
JUDC 497 Capstone Seminar Dr. Kaplan M 1-4
The course examines Jewish nationalism and Zionism as diverse cultural, intellectual, and political movements within the context of modern Jewish and European history. We trace the origins of the Jewish national idea and study its many transformations during Enlightenment, Emancipation, and the rise of competing European nationalisms. Topics will include: The origins of the Jewish national idea; the impact of Enlightenment and Emancipation of European Jewry; Antisemitism and Jewish nationalism; Jewish critics of Zionism; varieties of Zionist thought; Zionist culture; the Arab-Jewish encounter; Zionism and the Holocaust; issues of Post-Zionism. All Junior and Senior majors should register for the Capstone seminar
ELECTIVES
JUDC 229 Hebrew Scriptures Mr. Brolley T 6:30-9:10 (night)
This course provides the student with an overview of the Hebrew Bible in English translation, without neglecting the significance of biblical Hebrew. We will examine and discuss basic issues of scripture and canon, and will occasionally compare Judaism’s and Christianity’s approaches to the biblical writings. There will also be extensive discussion of such topics as literary genre, authorship and editorial activity, and historical context. Throughout the quarter, we will engage a broad range of scholarly opinion concerning the Bible’s composition and content.
JUDC 321 Demons Mr. Brolley TTh 11-12:20
This course focuses on the figure of the demon in Near Eastern writings of several time periods. Our main emphasis is on the interaction between the Bible’s portrayal and non-biblical writings’ portrayals of demons and the demonic. For example: why does the Book of Job offer a picture of Satan that is so different from those offered in New Testament writings? How long a history does the figure of Lilith have, and why do English translations of the Bible translate her name as “screech owl” or “tailless ape”? And how do later religious writings – Jewish, Christian, and Muslim -- reflect the Bible’s take on demons?
JUDC 330 Jews and Islam Dr. Bowman Th 6:30-9:10 (night)
Jews and Arabs have had a long and symbiotic relationship prior to the 20th century. The course will focus on the medieval period from the 7th to the 17th centuries when mutual influences were greatest and provide the background for understanding the modern controversy.
JUDC 343 Medieval Mediterranean Jews Dr. Bowman TTh 11-12:15
This course will provide an advanced introduction to the sources and their historical background of the Jewish communities of Byzantium, Italy, and Spain from the 4th to the 15th centuries. Emphasis will be given to the literary accomplishments of Southern Italy during its Hebrew Renaissance of the 10th-11th centuries.
JUDC 374 Jewish and Women’s Humor Dr. Naveh TTh 11-12:15
This course investigates humor in its various guises and highlights its place in American society as it negotiates race, ethnicity, gender, and class relations. Students explore through the study of primary documents (stand up comedians/comediennes, Jewish and other ethnic groups, original video tapes and films stressing Jewish/women’s experience in America, live performances, interviews, etc.) the particular ways in which men and women confront social, racial, and psychological problems by using humor. Students learn about the psychological complexity of humor, laughter, etc., the catharsis experienced through laughter, and the specific ways in which humor reveals the cultural identity of a people, a country, or an ethnic group.
JUDC 380 Dead Sea Scrolls Dr. Fine T 6:30-9:10 (night)
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls beginning in 1947 caused a sensation throughout the world. These two thousand year old documents, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, tell the story of a small sect of Jews during the Roman period (1st century BCE-1st century CE) and of their unique religious lifestyle. These scrolls teach us much about more mainstream forms of Judaism during this period, including the religion of the Pharisees, Saducees and Essenes. The Dead Sea scrolls also help to understand the rise of Christianity and the religion of the Talmudic Rabbis. Students in this course will study the Dead Sea Scrolls in translation as documents of First Century Judaism. Fieldtrip.
JUDC 393 Biblical Archaeology Dr. Bowman TTh 2-3:15
What has archaeology discovered to illuminate the past recorded in the Bible? Whereas the Bible defined to a great extent ancient history until the modern period, new civilizations were uncovered in the 19th and 20th centuries that appeared to challenge the biblical authority. How too has archaeology stimulated modern nationalism and entered the lists of regional conflicts? This course will look at the discoveries, their interpretations, and their repercussions on the world of the Bible
JUDC 481 Spanish Jewry Dr. Klein MWF 12-12:50
This is a survey of the history of Spanish Jews from the Muslim conquest of Spain in the eighth century to their expulsion in 1492. These seven centuries saw the greatest levels of mutual toleration and coexistence among Jews, Christians and Muslims achieved at any time during the Middle Ages. Jews flowered in this environment. Spanish Jews were poets, politicians and philosophers; courtiers, criminals and courtesans. You will meet Spanish Jews and their neighbors through contemporary sources, from philosophical treatises to religious polemics to erotic love poetry. This course will introduce you to the history of this important community, and its relationship to the Muslim and Christian societies which surrounded it, including economic, cultural and religious interactions, mutual influence, and violent conflict.
JUDC 508 Freud and Judaism Dr. Naveh TTh 2-3:15
This course focuses on Freud’s depiction of society and social change on the backdrop of his own experience as a Jew and as an ambition intellectual living in a Europe in turmoil. Students will investigate pivotal primary texts, such as Moses and Monotheism, The Future of an Illusion , and Civilization and Its Discontents, to understand Freud’s views on religion, politics, nationalism, sexuality, and gender and to uncover the underlying sources of his thinking. Secondary works by Gilman, Gay, Faber and Rieff will be studied to elucidate further the work of this giant controversial figure who has revolutionized our way of thinking about human sexuality, human drives, aggression and the subconscious.
JUDC 510 Antisemitism Dr. Krome MWF 9-9:50
This course will examine the history of Antisemitism from Antiquity to the present. Special attention will be paid to the origin, development, and long term impact of Christian Anti-Judaism, with particular emphasis on the Blood Libel. The growth of modern racial Antisemitism, and the image of the Jew in popular literature, will also be examined. The class will also consider the relationship between image/rhetoric and Antisemitic violence.
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Department of Judaic Studies, 50 McMicken, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0169 E-mail: Judaic.Studies@uc.edu Tel: 513.556.2297
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