HIST 412/612: Germany’s Jews: From Enlightenment to Destruction to Revival

M/Th 4:05pm-5:20pm
Michael Brenner, Director, Center for Israeli Studies

German-speaking Jews produced Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, Germany was the cradle of both the Jewish Reform movement and modern Orthodoxy, and it was the birthplace of modern Jewish Studies. Of course, Germany was also the home of the Nazi movement that brought most of Jewish life in Europe to a brutal end in the mid-twentieth century. This class will look at the ups and downs of German-Jewish history from the late eighteenth century until our own time. It deals with enlightenment and emancipation, with discrimination and extermination, and with renewal and modern antisemitism. It concludes with the new Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust and its challenges today.

HIST 419/619: Holocaust

T/F 9:45am-11:00am
Dr. Julie Keresztes, Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Postdoctoral Fellow

Traces the history of anti-Semitism and the development of racism that led to the Holocaust. Examines the historical development of the Final Solution. Considers the variety of responses to Jewish persecution by the Nazi perpetrators, the Jews, and the nations of the world.

HIST 443/643: History of Israel

M/Th 11:20am-12:35pm
Michael Brenner, Director, Center for Israel Studies

Traces the development of modern political Zionism in nineteenth-century Europe; the historical background leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948; and the history of Israel since then.

HIST 473/673: American Jewish History

M/Th 12:55pm-2:10pm
Pamela Nadell, Director, Jewish Studies Program

This course traces its historical development by examining the waves of Jewish immigration to the United States and the institutions that American Jews created to sustain their community.

HIST 479/679: Intertwined Narratives: African-Americans and Jews in America

W 5:30pm-8:00pm
Lauren Strauss, Scholar in Residence

This course tackles the complex history of two dynamic groups and their encounters with each other and with American society. African-Americans and American Jews have strong mutual ties based on religious texts, communal traditions, common living spaces, and shared experiences of marginality and persecution. And growing numbers of African-American and biracial Jews challenge the homogeneity of both communities. But they have also experienced America in different ways, which have sometimes caused friction. The racial tensions roiling the nation in recent years and the simultaneous rise of antisemitism have brought negative issues to the fore, but they also offer an opportunity for study, reflection, and greater understanding.

JWST 205: Ancient & Medieval Jewish Civilization

T/F 9:45am-11:00am
Lauren Strauss, Scholar in Residence

Examines the independent Jewish states that flourished in Palestine, the rise of the most important Jewish communities outside the ancient Jewish homeland, and the foreign influences that shaped not only the political life of the Jews but also their internal organization and their creativity. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. Usually Offered: fall.

CORE 105: Antisemitism: Enduring Hatred

M/Th 9:45am-11:00am
Pamela Nadell, Director Jewish Studies Program

Hatred of the Jewish people and Judaism appeared in antiquity and continues to this very day. The phenomenon puzzles scholars, pundits, politicians, Jews, and people around the world. This course studies this complex problem, focusing on specific episodes of this hatred in the past and present, emphasizing its long history in the United States. Students read different genres of literature--history (secondary and primary sources), fiction, and nonfiction--to grapple with the multifarious dimensions of antisemitism, the world's oldest and longest hatred.

CORE 107: Jerusalem: Myth Hist Modernity

T/F 11:20am-12:35pm
Martyn Oliver, Director, Arab World Studies

The course proceeds thematically, beginning with the role of Jerusalem in the mythic imagination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Students then turn to writings reflecting the history of Jerusalem as a physical place and a source of contention for the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the empires of medieval Europe and the Ottomans, the British, the Arabs and the modern State of Israel. Finally, the course turns to the modern era and examines Jerusalem as a modern city and a proxy for disputes over identity, culture, language, and religion. Students visit different places of worship in Washington, DC and invite guest speakers representing a diversity of cultures to class.

HEBR 116: Hebrew, Elementary Modern I

M/Th 9:45am-11:00am
Sarit Lisogorsky, Adjunct Instructor

Focuses on the acquisition of basic vocabulary and grammatical structures in culturally authentic contexts through speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension. Designed for students with no prior experience with Hebrew.

HEBR 216: Hebrew, Intermediate Modern I

M/Th 11:20am-12:35pm
Sarit Lisogorsky, Adjunct Instructor

Refinement of basic language skills in a cultural context. Expansion of vocabulary and grammatical structures and development of communicative skills.

ISR 396/GOVT 317: Israeli Politics

T/F 11:20am-12:35pm
Dan Arbell, Scholar in Residence

This course is divided into two main sections: (1) an overview of the geopolitical history of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict from the pre state era until today. (2) An analysis of the principles that guide Israel’s political system and the cleavages in Israeli society which greatly affect developments and trends in politics and policy.

RELG 486/686 (JWST 496/696/ISR 400): Religions of Israel

T 5:30pm-8:00pm
Gershon Greenberg, Professor

The land of Israel is a crucible for the religions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Druze. This course examines how these religions, and their respective sects, encounter one another culturally and politically in the context of the Land’s sacred geography. The class also explores the development of the religious, scripture-based principles, rituals, and practices contextually: the “centripetal” dimension (how religions have gathered into this sacred space) and the “centrifugal” dimension (the impact of religions in the Land of Israel upon neighboring lands). Students additionally study the applications of religious thought and life in political and diplomatic arenas.

SISU 106-013: Complex Problems Seminar: Global Antisemitism

Th 11:20am-2:10pm
Keith Darden, Professor

SISU 330: US-Israel Relations

M/Th 2:30pm-3:45pm
Guy Ziv, Assistant Professor

This course explores the evolution of U.S. relations with Israel, from pre-1948 American Zionism to President Truman’s decision to recognize the Jewish state in 1948 to America’s role as Israel’s greatest supporter in the world today. Along the way, we will examine key milestones in U.S.-Israel relations, including the wartime American airlift in 1973; the U.S. role in Arab-Israeli peacemaking, from Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy to the two Camp David summits and beyond; and American military, economic, and diplomatic aid to the Jewish state. We will analyze throughout how a combination of sentimental, domestic political, and strategic factors have led to the formation of a wholly unique bilateral relationship characterized at once by both tight bonds and inherent tensions.

JWST 481: Senior Thesis Jewish Studies I

JWST 482—Senior Thesis Jewish Studies II

JWST 491—Internship in Jewish Studies

CORE 107-011: Jerusalem: Myth, History, Modernity

T/F 9:45am- 11:00am
Martyn Oliver, Faculty Chair, AU Core

The course proceeds thematically, beginning with the role of Jerusalem in the mythic imagination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Students then turn to writings reflecting the history of Jerusalem as a physical place and a source of contention for the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the empires of medieval Europe and the Ottomans, the British, the Arabs and the modern State of Israel. Finally, the course turns to the modern era and examines Jerusalem as a modern city and a proxy for disputes over identity, culture, language, and religion. Students visit different places of worship in Washington, DC, and invite guest speakers representing a diversity of cultures to class.

HIST 419/619-001: Holocaust

T/F 11:20am- 12:35pm
Julie Keresztes, Jack, Joseph, and Mandel Morton Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Postdoctoral Fellow

Tracing the histories of antisemitism and racism that led to the Holocaust. Examines the historical development of the Final Solution. Considers the variety of responses to Jewish persecution by the Nazi perpetrators, the Jews, and the nations of the world.

HIST 443/643-001: History of Israel

M/Th 12:55-2:10pm
Lauren Strauss, Senior Professorial Lecturer

This course traces the development of modern political Zionism in nineteenth-century Europe; the historical background leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948; and the history of Israel since then, including patterns of Jewish immigration and its relationship to the Arab world. Cross-list with ISR-443. 

ISR 317-001/GOVT 317-001: Israeli Politics

T/F 11:20am-12:35pm
Dan Arbell, Scholar-in-Residence  

This course provides an overview of the geopolitical history of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict from the pre-state era until the present as well as an analysis of the principles that guide Israel's political system and the cleavages in Israeli society which greatly affect developments and trends in politics and policy. It is mostly conducted as a lecture/discussion course, but also includes reading academic articles, watching films, listening to guest lectures, holding class debates, and discussing current news and developments.

ISR 400-001: Blackness in Israeli Popular Culture and Contemporary Art

M/Th 11:20am-12:35pm
Efrat Yerday, Lecturer

Over 160,000 Jews of Ethiopian origin live in Israel today. This course discusses their various expressions of socio-political art, popular culture, and activism. The course demonstrates especially how contemporary artists of Ethiopian origin are promoting an agenda that reflects their lives including being Black in today's Israel. Crosslist: AFAM-450-002/SOCY-454-001.  

JWST 205-001: Ancient and Medieval Jewish Civilization

M/Th 9:45-11:00am
Lauren Strauss, Senior Professorial Lecturer

Fulfills AU CORE Habits of Mind requirement: Socio-Historical Inquiry. This course examines the independent Jewish states that flourished in Palestine, the rise of the most important Jewish communities outside the ancient Jewish homeland, and the foreign influences that shaped not only the political life of the Jews but also their internal organization and their creativity. 

JWST 491: Internship in Jewish Studies

JWST 481: Senior Thesis Jewish Studies I

JWST 482: Senior Thesis Jewish Studies II

 

SISU 330-004: U.S.-Israel Relations

M/Th 2:30pm-3:45pm
Guy Ziv, Associate Professor

This course explores the evolution of U.S. relations with Israel, from pre-1948 American Zionism to President Truman's decision to recognize the Jewish state in 1948 to America's role as Israel's greatest supporter in the world today. It examines key milestones in U.S.-Israel relations, including the wartime American airlift in 1973; the U.S. role in Arab-Israeli peacemaking; and American military, economic, and diplomatic aid to the Jewish state. The course analyzes how a combination of sentimental, domestic political, and strategic factors have led to the formation of a wholly unique bilateral relationship characterized at once by both tight bonds and inherent tensions.

HEBR 116: Elementary Modern Hebrew I

M/Th 9:45am-11:00am
Sarit Lisogorsky, Adjunct Instructor

Focuses on the acquisition of basic vocabulary and grammatical structures in culturally authentic contexts through speaking, reading, writing, and listening comprehension. Designed for students with no prior experience with Hebrew.

HEBR 216: Intermediate Modern Hebrew 

M/Th 11:20am-12:45pm
Sarit Lisogorsky, Adjunct Instructor

Refinement of basic language skills in a cultural context. Expansion of vocabulary and grammatical structures and development of communicative skills.