Jewish Studies Courses at Carolina
MASTER LIST OF COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
NOTE: This list of courses was compiled in November 2015; some courses shown are new and still undergoing approval.
| American Studies |
| AMST 253 A Social History of Jewish Women in America (JWST 253, WMST 253) (3). Course examines the history and culture of Jewish women in America from their arrival in New Amsterdam in 1654 to the present and explores how gender shaped this journey. |
| AMST 360 The Jewish Writer in American Life (3). This course will investigate through literature, film, and song the encounter of Eastern European Jews and their descendants with Anglo-Protestant America over four generations. |
| AMST 486 Shalom Y’all: The Jewish Experience in the American South (JWST 486) (3). This course explores ethnicity in the South and focuses on the history and culture of Jewish Southerners from their arrival in the Carolinas in the 17th century to the present day. |
| Asian Studies / Modern Hebrew |
| ASIA 60 First-Year Seminar *: Israeli Culture and Society: Collective Memories and Fragmented Identities (3). The course explores selected themes and case studies pertinent to culture and society in modern Israel, with emphasis on debates about “Israeliness” in various cultural and social arenas. |
| ASIA 89 First-Year Seminar: Special Topics (3) *. Israeli Popular Culture Special topics course. Content will vary each semester. |
| ASIA 235 Israeli Cinema: Gender, Nation, and Ethnicity (3). The course explores major periods and trends in Israeli cinema. Focus is given to issues pertaining to gender, ethnicity, and the construction of national identity. |
| ASIA 277 The Conflict over Israel/Palestine (HIST 277, PWAD 277) (3). See HIST 277 for description. |
| ASIA 357 The Arab-Jews: Culture, Community, and Coexistence (3). This course is designed to examine Jewish life in Arab lands in the last century by examining culture, language, and the communal life that the Arab-Jews shared with their neighbors. |
| ASIA 425 Beyond Hostilities: Israeli-Palestinian Exchanges and Collaborations in Cinema, Literature and Music This new course focuses on collaborations and exchanges between Israelis and Palestinians in the realm of culture, and particularly in literature, cinema, and music. |
| ASIA 490 Advanced Topics in Asian Studies (1–4) *. Language, Exile and Homeland in Zionist Thought and Practices The course topic will vary with the instructor. |
| HEBR 101 Elementary Modern Hebrew I (JWST 101) (4). Introduces the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. |
| HEBR 102 Elementary Modern Hebrew II (JWST 102) (4). Prerequisite, HEBR 101. Continued instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. |
| HEBR 142 Jerusalem in Israeli Literature, Cinema, and Art (3). A focus on stories, poems, essays, paintings, and films in which Jerusalem and its people figure prominently. Course will address the multifaceted and often schizophrenic description of the city. |
| HEBR 203 Intermediate Modern Hebrew I (JWST 203) (4). Prerequisite, HEBR 102. Second-year level instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. An introduction to representative literary works is included. |
| HEBR 204 Intermediate Modern Hebrew II (JWST 204) (4). Prerequisite, HEBR 203. Continued instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. An introduction to representative literary works is included. |
| HEBR 305 Advanced Modern Hebrew I (JWST 305) (3). Prerequisite, HEBR 204. Third year of instruction in modern Hebrew with an emphasis on Israeli culture, literature, and media. |
| HEBR 306 Advanced Modern Hebrew II (JWST 306) (3). Prerequisite, HEBR 305. Third year of instruction in modern Hebrew with an emphasis on Israeli culture, literature, and media. |
| HEBR 436 Language, Exile, and Homeland in Zionist Thought and Practice (3). Employing Zionist and post- and anti-Zionist documents, treatises, and mostly literary and cinematic texts, this class will focus on the relations between language, Jewish-Israeli identity, and the notion of homeland. |
| Classical Archaeology |
| CLAR 650 Field School in Classical Archaeology (6). (Huqoq dig.) This course is an introduction to archaeological field methods and excavation techniques, through participation in archaeological excavation. |
| Communications |
| COMM 652 Media and Difference (3) *. Southerners and Jews in Film. Prerequisite, COMM 140. Permission of the instructor for nonmajors. This course examines critical and theoretical issues concerning the representation and study of various modes of difference, such as sexuality, race, and gender, in specific media texts. |
| English/Comp Lit |
| ENGL 129 Literature and Cultural Diversity (3) *. The Holocaust and Slavery in American Fiction and Film Studies in African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American, Anglo-Indian, Caribbean, gay-lesbian, and other literatures written in English. |
| ENGL 289 Jewish American Literature and Culture of the 20th Century (JWST 289) (3). Through readings in a wide range of genres, this course will examine major factors and influences shaping Jewish American literature and culture in the 20th century. |
| Folklore |
| FOLK 481: The Material Life of Jewish America (JWST 481) |
| FOLK 490 Special Topics*: Traditions in Transition: Jewish Folklore and Ethnography |
| FOLK 505: Traditions in Transition: Jewish Folklore and Ethnography (JWST 505) |
| German/Slavic |
| GERM 56 First-Year Seminar*: Germans, Jews, and the History of Anti-Semitism (3). This course seeks to explore the historically difficult position of minorities in the modern world, using the situation of Jews in Germany from the 18th century to the Holocaust as a case study. |
| GERM 225 Popular and Pious: Early Modern Jewish Literature (3). This seminar covers popular and pious literature written by and for Jews in the 15th to 18th century in German-speaking countries. Originally written in Old Yiddish, this literature preserved the popular European genres and nonfiction accounts of Jewish community and family life. |
| GERM 270 German Culture and the Jewish Question (CMPL 270, JWST 239, RELI 239) (3). A study of the role of Jews and the “Jewish question” in German culture from 1750 to the Holocaust and beyond. Discussions and texts (literary, political, theological) in English. |
| GERM 875 Germans, Jews and the Pursuits of Literature, 1749-1918 |
| SLAV 281 Holocaust Cinema in Eastern Europe (CMPL 281) (3). A critical look at varieties of cinematic representation and memorialization of the Holocaust, from those countries of Europe where it mostly took place. Taught in English. All films in (or subtitled in) English. |
| SLAV 425 Holocaust Cinema in Eastern Europe |
| SLAV 464 Imagined Jews: Jewish Themes in Polish and Russian Literature (JWST 464) (3). Explores the fictional representation of Jewish life in Russia and Poland by Russian, Polish, and Jewish authors from the 19th century to the present. Readings in English for non-Slavic concentrators. |
| SLAV 465 Literature of Atrocity: The Gulag and the Holocaust in Russia and Eastern Europe (JWST 465, PWAD 465) (3). Literary representation in fiction, poetry, memoirs, and other genres of the mass annihilation and terror in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union under the Nazi and Communist regimes. Readings in English for non-Slavic concentrators. |
| SLAV 469 Coming to America: The Slavic Immigrant Experience in Literature (JWST 469) (3). Fictional and autobiographical expressions of the Slavic and East European immigrant experience in the 20th century. Readings include Russian, Polish, Jewish, and Czech authors from early 1900s to present. Readings in English for non-Slavic concentrators. |
| History |
| HIST 82 First-Year Seminar*: The Search for Modern Jewish Identity (3). This course explores diverse experiences of modernity among Jewish populations from the mid-18th century to the present under the influence of political, cultural, and socioeconomic changes. Diaries, memoirs, literature, and film challenge students to develop their own analyses while becoming familiar with arguments among scholars of Jewish life. |
| HIST 153 Jewish History: From Medieval to Modern Times (JWST 153) (3). This class surveys the history of the Jews from Middle Ages to Modernity. It focuses on the development of Jewish religion and culture, and the establishment of Jewish communities in the Western, Atlantic and Middle Eastern Worlds. It also explores the development of anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish violence. |
| HIST 158 Early Modern European History, 1450–1815 (3). Intellectual and social structures, dynamics of social and political change, principles of authority, and bases of revolution from the Reformation to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. |
| HIST 190 Special Topics in History (3) *. The Search for Modern Jewish Identity. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will focus on some particular topic or historical approach. Course description available from the departmental office. Closed to graduate students. |
| HIST 262 History of the Holocaust: The Destruction of the European Jews (JWST 262, PWAD 262) (3). Anti-Semitism; the Jews of Europe; the Hitler dictatorship; evolution of Nazi Jewish policy from persecution to the Final Solution; Jewish response; collaborators, bystanders, and rescuers; aftermath. |
| HIST 276 The Modern Middle East (ASIA 276) (3). This course introduces students to the recent history of the Middle East, including a comparison of the Middle East to the United States. |
| HIST 308 The Renaissance and the Jews (JWST 308) (3). The Renaissance (1300–1600) is known as a time of great artistic, scientific, and political renewal. But did Jews, the only religious minority in Europe, get an opportunity to benefit from and participate in that progress? This class studies the history of the Jews at a time of great cultural change. |
| HIST 330 Jesus and the Jews: From the Bible to the Big Screen (JWST 330) (3). This class will study the history of the claim that the Jews are responsible for Christ’s death. Students will examine the power of this idea to travel through time and space and discuss how it is portrayed differently and with different purposes throughout history. |
| HIST HNRS 353 The Jews and the Passion* HIST HNRS 353 Ghettos and Shtetls? Urban Life in East European Jewish History* |
| HIST 391 Living on the Edge: Love, Work and Death Through Jewish Eyes |
| HIST 398 Undergraduate Seminar in History (3)*. Antisemitism: History, Causes, Consequences. Permission of the department. The course is in general limited to 15 students. The subject matter will vary with the instructor. Each course will concern itself with a study in depth of some historical problem. Students will write a substantial research paper. |
| HIST 451 1492: The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (JWST 451) (3). The largest and most prosperous Jewry of Europe lived in medieval Spain. The 1492 expulsion, driven by the Inquisition and Catholic monarchy, not only ended Spanish Jewish life but also forced a traumatic redefinition of Jewish identity. This course focuses on the causes and consequences of the expulsion of 1492. |
| HIST 485 Modern East European Jewish History (JWST 485) (3). Eastern Europe was one of the largest centers of Jewish civilization from premodern times to the Second World War, giving rise to important religious, cultural, and political developments in Jewish modernity. This course examines main developments of Jewish society from the late 18th century until the aftermath of the Holocaust. |
| HIST 490 Special Topics in History (3) *. Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Early Modern World. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will focus on some particular topic or historical approach. Course description available from the departmental office. |
| HIST 490 Special Topics in History (3) *. Holocaust and Genocide. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will focus on some particular topic or historical approach. Course description available from the departmental office. |
| HIST 538 The Middle East and the West (ASIA 538) (3). This course explores changing interactions between the Middle East and the West, including trade, warfare, scientific exchange, and imperialism, and ends with an analysis of contemporary relations in light of the legacy of the past. |
| HIST 890 The Third Reich in Comparative Perspective: Fascism and Genocide |
| Music |
| MUSC 390H Honors Seminar in Music (3) *. Hearing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . Detailed investigation of a specific musical topic from historical and/or theoretical perspectives. |
| Peace, War and Defense |
| PWAD 465 Literature of Atrocity: The Gulag and the Holocaust in Russia and Eastern Europe (JWST 465, SLAV 465) (3). See SLAV 465 for description. |
| Policy |
| PLCY 490 Special Topics in Public Policy (3) *. US-Israel Relations . Special topics in public policy for undergraduate and graduate students. |
| Polish |
| PLSH 412 20th-Century Polish Literature and Culture (JWST 412) (3). A survey of the major works of 20th-century Polish literature and culture in English translation. Some readings in Polish for qualified students. |
| PLSH 425 The Jew in Polish Literature |
| Religious Studies |
| RELI 63 First-Year Seminar: The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls (3). In this seminar students learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient manuscripts dating to the time of Jesus from caves around the site of Qumran by the Dead Sea. They include early copies of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and sectarian works of the Jewish community that lived in Qumran. |
| RELI 78 First-Year Seminar: Reading the Bible: Now and Then (3). An introduction to the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. We will look at the biblical text as modern interpreters and through the eyes of the Bible’s earliest Jewish and Christian interpreters with special attention to changing assumptions about how to read the Bible and the nature of Scripture itself. |
| RELI 89 First-Year Seminar: Special Topics (3) *. Religion in Pre-Modern Literature. Special topics course. Content will vary each semester. |
| RELI 103 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Literature (JWST 103) (3). This course introduces students to the various books of the Hebrew Bible and to the history and culture of ancient Israel, focusing on the formation of national identity, ancient conceptualizations of divinity, ritual practice, and modes of social regulation, all of which are set against the background of the ancient Near East. |
| RELI 106 Introduction to Early Judaism (JWST 106) (3). This course surveys Jewish history and religion during the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods, from the destruction of the First Jewish Temple (Solomon’s Temple) in 586 BCE to the Muslim conquest of Palestine (640 CE). |
| RELI 107 Introduction to Modern Judaism (JWST 107) (3). The course offers a comprehensive understanding of the development of Judaism from the late Middle Ages to contemporary times. |
| RELI 108 Classic Jewish Texts: From Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls to Kabbalah and Hassidism (3). This course will explore Jewish literary works that are considered “fundamental,” “classic,” “traditional” (often, all of the above), including the Hebrew Bible, the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud, midrashic collections, works by Maimonides, major codes of Jewish law, major kabbalistic, philosophic, poetic, and ethical works, hassidic compositions, and more. |
| RELI 109 History and Culture of Ancient Israel (3). An examination extending from Hebrew origins to the Babylonian exile and including political history as well as social and religious institutions. |
| RELI 110 The Archaeology of Palestine in the New Testament Period (CLAR 110, JWST 110) (3). This course surveys the archaeology of Palestine (modern Israel and Jordan) from the Persian period (ca. 586 BCE) to the Muslim conquest (640 CE). |
| RELI 123 Introduction to Jewish Studies (JWST 100) (3). An introduction to the broad scope of Jewish history, culture, and identity, from biblical times to the 21st century and from the Middle East to the New World. |
| RELI 143 Judaism in Our Time (JWST 143) (3). An examination of Judaism in its two major centers, demonstrating how different social and cultural environments shape very different interpretations and practices of the Jewish tradition. |
| RELI 199 Topics in the Study of Religion*: What is Scripture?* RELI 199 Topics in the Study of Religion*: Introduction to Rabbinic Literature |
| RELI 201 Ancient Biblical Interpretation (3). The course looks at the origins of biblical interpretation, how the Hebrew Bible was interpreted around the turn of the Common Era, the key formative period for early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. We consider the nature of interpretation as an endeavor, as well as how the Bible came to be viewed as Scripture. |
| RELI 205 Sacrifice in the Ancient World (3). This course examines the religious phenomenon of sacrifice with a focus on examples from the ancient Mediterranean world (including Greece, ancient Israel, and the Near East). |
| RELI 206 Prophecy and Divination in Ancient Israel and Judah (JWST 206) (3). An examination of prophecy and divination in the Israelite-Jewish traditions and in their environments, including an analysis of the major biblical prophets. |
| RELI 208 The Birth of Christianity (3). An analysis of the origin of the Christian church and its early expansion, with particular emphasis on the problems evident in the shift from a Jewish to a Gentile framework. Paul’s role in defining and resolving the issues is considered in detail and evaluated in the light of subsequent events. |
| RELI 211 Classical Hebrew I: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (3). An introduction to the culture and history of ancient Israel through an exploration of the language of the Hebrew Bible. Students will learn the essentials for basic engagement with biblical Hebrew, then consider what this linguistic evidence reveals about the historical and cultural background of the Hebrew Bible. |
| RELI 212 Classical Hebrew II: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (3). Prerequisite, RELI 211. This course explores the linguistic background of the Hebrew Bible, giving special attention to the literary aspect of biblical interpretation. Specific topics include the forms of the Hebrew verb, prose and poetic genres in the Hebrew Bible, wordplay and repetition, narration and dialogue. |
| RELI 224 Modern Jewish Thought (3). This course examines how contemporary thinkers have considered philosophy, ethics, and theology from a Jewish perspective. Methodological points of inquiry include the role of interpretation in Judaism, revelation and redemption, authority and tradition, pluralism and inclusion, suffering and evil, gender and Jewish philosophy, and 20th-century approaches to God. |
| RELI 242 New Religious Movements in America (3). An introduction to new religious movements in the United States, with emphasis on the nature of conversion and the role of founders. |
| RELI 243 Introduction to American Judaism (JWST 243) (3). Course provides a comprehensive introduction to American Judaism, its various movements, institutions, theological, and liturgical characteristics, as well as its standing within the larger framework of religious life in America. |
| RELI 321H Topics in Religion and Culture*: Jewish Culture History |
| RELI 343 Religion in Modern Israel (JWST 343) (3). Examines the major religious groups that operate in the state of Israel and influence its social and cultural development; analyzes the relationship among religion, state, and society in Israel. |
| RELI 401 Introductory Biblical Hebrew I (3). The first part of a two-semester introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew. |
| RELI 402 Introductory Biblical Hebrew II (3). Prerequisite, RELI 401. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite. The second part of a two-semester introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew. |
| RELI 403 Intermediate Classical Hebrew I (3). Prerequisite, RELI 402. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite. A consolidation of the fundamentals of classical Hebrew grammar via readings of biblical texts of various genres (including both prose and poetry). |
| RELI 404 Intermediate Classical Hebrew II (3). Prerequisite, RELI 403. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite. Further readings of classical Hebrew texts, focusing on biblical poetry as well as early postbiblical material (e.g., nonbiblical texts from Qumran, Mishnah/Tosefta). |
| RELI 420 Post-Holocaust Ethics and Theology (3). This course examines the challenges posed to ethics and theology by the Holocaust. We will address philosophical and moral issues such as the problem of evil, divine omniscience, omnipotence, suffering, theodicy, representation, testimony, and an ethics of memory. |
| RELI 444 Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism (JWST 444) (3). The seminar examines the developments in gender roles and in sexuality in contemporary Judaism. |
| RELI 446 Christian-Jewish Relations throughout the Ages (3). An exploration of the varied and complex relationships which have developed between Christianity and Judaism, from the first century to the 21st century. |
| RELI 450 Sexuality in Jewish Tradition and History (3). This course deals with various topics related to sexuality and marriage in Jewish tradition and history: sex outside of marriage, wedding ceremonies, regulation of marital sex, menstruation, homosexuality, and more. |
| RELI 503 Exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls (JWST 503) (3). A comprehensive introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the different Jewish groups connected with them. |
| RELI 512 Ancient Synagogues (CLAR 512, JWST 512) (3). Prerequisite, RELI 110. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite. This is a course on ancient synagogues in Palestine and the Diaspora from the Second Temple period to the seventh century CE. |
| RELI 525 Seminar in Religion and Literature (3) *. Rewriting Scripture in Second Temple Judaism. Seminar topic varies. |
| RELI 542 Religion and the Counterculture (3). The course examines the interaction between the values and messages of the counterculture and religious groups, ideas, and practices during the Vietnam War era. It also investigates the impact of countercultural norms and styles on the current American religious scene. |
| RELI 565 Medieval Jews and the Bible (3). This course explores the Jewish interpretation of the Bible, focusing on important commentaries from influential medieval Ashkenazi and Sephardic thinkers. |
| RELI 566 Jewish Legal Literature (3). This course explores many aspects of the Halakhah, the Jewish traditional legal system, focusing on issues such as rituals, holidays, religious obligations and prohibitions, and laws regulating sexual activity. |
| RELI 590 Topics in the Study of Religion (3) *. “Repentance”. Permission of the instructor. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will always be focused on a particular problem or issue. |
| RELI 602 What Is Scripture? Formations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Canon (JWST 602) (3). The course traces the past and continued canonical processes that define what the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has been and is today, with a focus on the history of biblical interpretation. |
| RELI 605 Joseph–King of Dreams: Joseph in Bible and Tradition |
| RELI 608 The Messiah and the Apocalypse (3). Ideas concerning the Messiah and the end of the world held by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Emphasis on the beginning of the Christian era. |
| RELI 697 Capstone: Undergraduate Seminar (3). Majors only. Concentrating on a different theme each year, this departmental seminar introduces the different areas and approaches in religious studies. Required of majors in religious studies with a concentration in Jewish studies; graduate students may enroll. Concentrating on a different theme each year, the course offers intensive grounding in key areas of and approaches to Jewish studies. Combines exploration of broad topics with scholarly rigor and specificity. |
| RELI 703 Critical Approaches to the Hebrew Bible |
| RELI 712 Early Jewish History and Literature |
| RELI 812 Seminar in Religion and Culture: Diaspora Judaism* |
| RELI 812 Seminar in Religion and Culture: Jews and the Ends of Theory* |
| RELI 812 Seminar in Religion and Culture: Walter Benjamin* |
| RELI 890 Christianity and Judaism |
| Spanish |
| SPAN 252 Argentine Jewish Culture (3). An introduction to the study of Jewish culture in Argentina, using different cultural products as an approach to understanding the process whereby Jews in Argentina moved from being poor immigrants to having prominent roles in the society. Restricted to students in the Buenos Aires summer study abroad program. |
| SPAN 253 Argentine Jewish Film (3). Students experience Buenos Aires through films. Studying the historical and social background through readings, films, and visits to the sites where Jewish life in Buenos Aires is taking place helps students make authentic connections between fiction and reality. Restricted to students in the Buenos Aires summer study abroad program. |
November 2015