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Course Offerings

As always, check BU Brain for the latest updates, course descriptions, details and registration.   

SPRING 2026

Hebrew | Israel Studies | Judaic Studies | Religious Studies | Yiddish

HEBREW 

HEBR 102 -  Hebrew II - Gen Ed: WL2, FYA
Cross listed: HEBR 502
Time: M/T/W/R 9:45-10:45 a.m.
Instructor:  Orly Shoer

Second semester of the communicative introduction to the language and its culture. Provides a thorough grounding in reading, writing, grammar, oral comprehension, and speaking. Prerequisites: HEBR 101 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

HEBR 204 - Intermediate Hebrew - Gen Ed: WL3, FYA
Cross listed: HEBR 504
Time: M/W/F 11 a.m. -12 p.m.
Instructor:  Orly Shoer

Intermediate-level language and culture course with emphasis on the reading of literary and non-literary texts, grammar and writing. Prerequisite: HEBR 103 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

HEBR 312 - Texts and Conversations II - Gen Ed: WL3
Cross listed: HEBR 506
Time: M/W/F 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Instructor:  Orly Shoer

In this course students will advance their Hebrew language skills through reading, discussing and writing about a variety of short fiction and nonfiction texts and visual material. Writing practice and reviewing of grammar will be incorporated through the presented materials. Taught in Hebrew. Prerequisites: HEBR 204 with a grade of C- or equivalent or permission of instructor.

ISRAEL STUDIES

ISRL 180A - First-year Arabic II - Gen Ed: WL2
Cross listed: ARAB 102 
Time: Section 01 M/T/W/R 9:45-10:45 a.m. & Section 02 M/T/W/R 11 a.m. -12 p.m.
Instructor: Farida Badr 

This course is the second in a sequence of courses in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of all official forms of communication and media throughout the Arab world, the register of Arabic taught in countries where Arabic is an official language, the liturgical language of more than two billion Muslims worldwide and millions of Arab Christians, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In this course, students will continue to acquire basic skills in the areas of speaking, reading, writing, and listening. They will further develop the ability to speak about themselves, their lives, and their environment; to initiate and sustain conversations on daily-life topics with educated native speakers; to read simple, authentic texts on familiar topics; to write formal notes and sentences on subjects connected to daily life; to comprehend and produce accurately the basic sentence structures of Arabic; and to understand aspects of Arab culture connected to everyday life, including culturally significant idioms used among friends and acquaintances and important expressions for polite interaction with speakers of Arabic. Prerequisite: successful completion of ARAB 101/501 or the equivalent level of proficiency as determined in advance by the Undergraduate Director.

ISRL 205 - Becoming Israeli - Gen Ed: H, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 205 / COLI 280F
Time: T/R 11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Lior Libman

At the center of Becoming Israeli stands a protagonist in the process of becoming: a youngster being educated, learning about themselves, about the world, and about life, overcoming obstacles, maturing, forming their identity. In this class, we will explore the thematic and structural characteristics of such narratives, focusing on Israeli examples in their historical and cultural contexts. We will look at tensions between the individual and their society in the moral and psychological development of the protagonist, and will delve into questions of national affinities, class, gender and sexuality in their passage from childhood to adulthood. The course is an Area Course in Literature for the Minor in Israel Studies, a Literature Course for the Major/Minor in Hebrew, and an Area Course in Israel Studies for the Major/Minor in Judaic Studies. 

ISRL 215 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Gen Ed: G, N, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 215 / HIST 285B / ARAB 280A
Time: W/F 9:45-11:15 a.m.
Instructor: Shay Rabineau

Israel-Palestine comprises the territory that lies between the Mediterranean Sea (on the west), Lebanon (in the north), the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula (on the south) and the Jordan River (on the east). Although it covers a small geographic area and includes a relatively small population (compare present-day Israel's 8 million citizens with Egypt's 90 million), the dispute between the two rival sets of nationalisms which claim the sole right to control this territory has remained at the forefront of international attention for more than half a century. This course will examine the origins of the Arab-Israeli dispute from the mid-nineteenth century through the founding of the state of Israel and expulsion/flight of three quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes till the present day. Among the topics to be examined: the social history of Palestine up to Zionist colonization, the origins of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, varieties of Zionism, Zionism and colonialism, seminal events and their consequent symbolic connotations (the 1936 "Great Revolt," the 1948 "Nakba" [disaster]) and creation of the state of Israel, the construction of a national consensus in Israel, 1967 and its aftermath, the intifada, and the redefinition of the conflict as a result of Oslo, the second intifada, the security fence, HAMAS, Hizbollah and the Lebanon War.

ISRL 227 - Israeli Cultures - Gen Ed: N, G, T, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 227 / ARAB 280D / ANTH 280P / HMRT 289X 
Time: T/R 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Talia Katz

This course traces the origins, development, and transformation of the Middle East and North Africa from the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th Century CE until the 21st Century. This course will concentrate on the historical evolution of the Middle East and North Africa in terms of political, religious, cultural, economic, social, institutional aspects, and its relationship with other major faith and social traditions throughout the world. While the course is primarily chronological, the following themes will be emphasized: religious traditions and practice; inter-cultural exchanges through trade, diplomacy, migrations, and war; legal traditions; the arts; popular culture; conquest; the impact of European colonization, decolonization, and the rise of nationalism; gender constructions and the status of women; and the relationship between religion and politics. Students are assessed through their class participation, attendance, two-midterm examinations, and a final paper.

ISRL 280A - Second-year Arabic II - Gen Ed: WL3
Cross listed: ARAB 204
Time: MTWR 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Instructor: Farida Badr

ISRL 280A is the fourth in a sequence of courses in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of all official forms of communication and media throughout the Arab world, the register of Arabic taught in countries where Arabic is an official language, the liturgical language of more than two billion Muslims worldwide and millions of Arab Christians, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. In this course, students will continue to acquire more vocabulary and learn fundamental morphological and syntactical structures that allow them to express themselves and respond to communication with ease in predictable situations; request and provide information; write and speak comprehensibly at the sentence level; read basic texts through making use of contextual knowledge and familiar vocabulary; and listen to and comprehend simple and straightforward speech—one utterance at a time. As no language exists in a vacuum, learning about Arab culture will constitute an integral component of this course. Prerequisite: successful completion of ARAB 203/503 or the equivalent level of proficiency as determined in advance by the Undergraduate Director.

ISRL 324 - The Kibbutz in Israeli Culture - Gen Ed: H
Cross listed: JUST 385B
Time: T/R 3:15-4:45 p.m.
Instructor: Lior Libman

The course focuses on representations of the kibbutz, a unique Israeli social formation which aimed at combining Zionism and Socialism, nation-building and the construction of a new, just society. Throughout the past hundred years, the kibbutz has been portrayed in countless literary texts and visual images. In this class, we will analyze and discuss selected literary and cinematic works from different genres and periods to examine the history of the kibbutz-image and the relationship between it and the kibbutz’s history, while also asking, in a broader context, how social and political visions are shaped in, and are shaping, images. Texts will be read in translation. No previous knowledge is required, but for students who took Intro to Israeli Lit. This course will be a continuation of their studies. The course is an Area Course in Literature for the Minor in Israel Studies, a Literature Course for the Major/Minor in Hebrew, and an Area Course in Israel Studies for the Major/Minor in Judaic Studies.

ISRL 380B - Translation, Media & Politics - Gen Ed: H, O, T, W
Cross listed: ARAB 380B / TRIP 380E / GMAP 381C 
Time: M/F 11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Ahmad Ayyad 

This course explores the complex intersections of translation, media, and political discourse in the Middle East. Students will examine how translation practices shape and are shaped by ideological struggles, contested narratives, and power dynamics across languages. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks from translation studies, media studies, and political discourse analysis, the course investigates how translation mediates ideologies, constructs narratives, and challenges power structures within a region historically shaped by linguistic tensions and geopolitical conflict. Through critical readings, media analysis, and case studies, students will develop a deeper understanding of translation as a politically charged act—one that not only reflects but also constructs power relations and political meaning in the Middle East.

ISRL 380C - Law & Life: Israel/Palestine - Gen Ed: N, D, T
Cross listed: JUST 380C / ARAB 380E / HMRT 389X / ANTH 380B / GMAP 381F 
Time: T/R  9:45-11:15 a.m.
Instructor: Talia Katz

This upper-level seminar introduces students to concepts and methods in legal anthropology, focusing on conflict and mass atrocity in Israel/Palestine. As anthropologists in training, we will explore how law both shapes and is shaped by the societies and cultures in which it exists. Topics of study to include: the foundational place of Holocaust trials (e.g. Eichmann, Kastner) in crafting Israeli collective memory, the later shift from criminal to civil law in the adjudication of Nazi genocide, the creation of the Israeli military court system post-1967, the Oslo Peace Process, how international legal institutions as the ICC and ICJ shape local political discourses, and the tensions between the laws of military occupation and armed conflict.  We will ask questions such as: what kinds of compromises do witnesses make when they testify to the ‘unspeakable?’ What narratives are produced through the process of building a legal case, and how do these narratives reflect broader political or cultural discourses? How do different groups understand the failures of law, and what kinds of new institutions or practices do they create in response?

JUDAIC STUDIES

JUST 111 - Philosophy of Religion  - Gen Ed: H, W, FYA
Cross listed: RELG 111 / PHIL 111 / COLI 180L
Time: M/W 9:45-11:15 a.m.
Instructor: Randy Friedman

This introductory course will explore the many philosophical questions which emerge from a study of religious thought. Topics will include the nature of religious subjectivity, divinity, prayer, sacrifice, and faith.  We will study some central biblical and non-Western stories and narratives and literary, philosophical, and theological responses to them. Students will practice techniques of textual exegesis and directly engage texts.

JUST 140 - Survey of American Jewish Lit - Gen Ed: C, H, FYA
Cross listed: ENG 180B / COLI 180R
Time: R 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Connie Beth Burch

Through the Golden Door: Survey of American Jewish Literature: This course traces through literature the realities and challenges of being Jewish in America from after the Civil War to the present. We will read in all genres, exploring topics such as the immigrant experience, acculturation and assimilation, anti-Semitism, generational conflicts and differences, gender issues, and continuing themes in the body of work. Quizzes, short pieces of writing, mid-term examination, and final examination. 

JUST 180B  - History of Holocaust - Gen Eds: D, I, N, T, W
Cross listed: HIST 181C / EEES 181C
Time: M/W 12:15-1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Eliyana Adler

This course will provide the crucial historical context for understanding the genesis and development of genocide in mid-century Europe. We will also look at the responses of different victim groups, both during and after the Holocaust.

JUST 202 - Jewish History 1500 to Modernity - Gen Eds: G, N, I, T, FYA
Cross listed: HIST 285E
Time: T/R 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Allan Arkush

This course surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day. We will first explore the features of the “early modern” period, such as mercantilism and large-scale demographic shifts, and chart the ways in which they transformed the traditional position of the Jew in society. We will then shift to the modern period, which saw a dramatic reordering of political, social, economic, and cultural life. We will study the various ways in which Jews across the world engaged with emerging notions of nationality, equality, and citizenship, as well as with new ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism and antisemitism.  We will examine differing patterns of acculturation and assimilation, as Jews adopted numerous ways to negotiate the tension between the “particular” and the “universal.” By focusing both on European Jewry as well as the Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa, we will chart not one all-encompassing model of Jewish modernity, but a more complex story that unfolded from Marrakesh to Berlin, from Istanbul to Vilna and beyond. This course satisfies the core and survey requirements for Judaic Studies majors and minors.

JUST 280G - Sephardic Roots & Routes - Gen Ed: SRCE, CEL, FYA
Cross listed: HIST 285C / SPAN 281A
Time: T/R 11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Dina Danon & Bryan Kirschen

This interdisciplinary course foregrounds the language and history of Sephardi Jews, or Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 and later dispersed across the Mediterranean. From the perspective of language, Professor Kirschen will guide students in learning Judeo-Spanish, commonly known as Ladino, the vernacular used by Sephardi Jews in the lands of their dispersion until the present day. Students will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with contemporary speakers of the language. Professor Danon will introduce students to the historical experiences of Sephardi Jews, covering key topics spanning from the medieval “Golden Age,” the Expulsion, the reconstitution of Sephardi communities in Ottoman lands, the rise of new nation states, and the Holocaust. Students will gain not only proficiency in an endangered language that spans the Jewish and Hispanophone worlds, but also wide-ranging exposure to a rich and often-overlooked civilization that thrived for hundreds of years. This course will be taught in English; no prior knowledge of Hebrew or Spanish is necessary.

JUST 280J  - Intermediate Persian I - Gen Ed:
Cross listed: PERS 203
Time: M/W 9:45-11:15 a.m. 
Instructor: Omid Ghaemmaghami 

This course advances students from the high-elementary to the intermediate level in reading, writing, speaking, and listening Persian. Building on PERS 102/502, students expand their vocabulary and mastery of core grammar (including compound verbs, past and future narration, the subjunctive, relative clauses, and register shifts between colloquial and formal Persian). Classwork emphasizes paragraph-level communication: students read and discuss short authentic texts (news items, essays, dialogues, and brief literary excerpts), write summaries and short compositions, and engage in pair/group tasks that develop conversational fluency and narrative ability across everyday and academic topics. Audio-visual materials—music, film clips, and contemporary media—are integrated to strengthen comprehension and deepen cultural understanding of practices and perspectives in Iran and other Persian-speaking societies. Successful completion of PERS 102/502 (Elementary Persian II) or equivalent proficiency is required. Completion of PERS 203 fulfills the World Languages WL3 (third-level course) General Education requirement and also meets a requirement of the major and minor tracks in Middle East Studies (MES).

JUST 284E  - AncientMiddleEast: FromTheEast - Gen Ed: I, N, T
Cross listed: ARAB 281A / AMS 283A / HIST 285A / PERS 280A / ANTH 280M
Time: T/R 3:15-4:45 p.m. 
Instructor: John Starks

In this social and cultural history course, student and instructor will investigate the extensive achievements, complex power networks and rivalries, and significant challenges discernible for several major cultures of what Greeks and later “Western” writers termed “the East,” based on their own biases about their own exceptional qualities and the “otherness/alterity” of cultures to their geographic east. While guided by expert contemporary scholars through archaeological and historical study of these cultures’ documents, literatures (when extant), and material artifacts, and the extensive writings of their Greek, Roman, Israelite/Judaic, and other rivals, we will seek to understand “Phoenicians,” Carthaginians, “Syrians” (broadly construed, as in antiquity), and Persians, and from their own perspectives, as often as possible; this will always require critical filtering of the elite and inimical biases, inside and outside their cultures, that still influence perceptions of these powerful ancient civilizations which, at one time or another, exerted their own imperial control and cultural influence over wide expanses around the Mediterranean from the late second millennium BCE to the fifth century CE and beyond, in some form. Investigations will include delving into all aspects of daily life: religion and traditions; politics, law and governmental systems; warfare and diplomacy; economics, labor, crafts, and trade; languages; ethnic identity, suppression, and adaption; socioeconomic differentials in autocratic, oligarchic/plutocratic, and enslaving societies; arts and entertainment; urban planning and architecture, public, monumental, private, and domestic; gender and sexuality; health and living conditions; modes of dress and gesture/expression; aging, death, and memorialization. To this end, we will utilize modern and contemporary artistic, literary, musical, and cinematic/visual performance materials to interrogate the pervasive reach of “Orientalism” in shaping, re-molding, and warping impressions and understandings of these cultures and their later ancestors to the detriment of global peace, interdependence, and human rights. Students will show their command of material and learning outcomes through extensive readings and daily class discussion/debate, regular quizzes, two term essay exams, and a short, group project on a documentary, epigraphical, or material object independent investigation on a topic regarding one of these or other cultures in the larger geographic regions studied during the term, which will be shared on the final exam day.

JUST 340 - American Jewish Women Writers - Gen Ed: H, O
Cross listed: ENG 380Z / COLI 480B
Time: T 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Connie Beth Burch

This course will survey texts written in English by American Jewish women from the Civil War to the present as they move out of the kitchens and sweatshops and onto their own pages. Exploring the historical context surrounding their work, we will address chiefly the writers’ contributions in fiction and non-fiction, focusing on key issues of immigration, acculturation, assimilation, family, sexuality, religious practice, and the experience of being or becoming American. Requirements: frequent oral reading and active class participation; two formal presentations related to the background reading; written critiques of others' presentations; quizzes, final examination, and full-on class participation.

JUST 343 - Post Holocaust Literature - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: ISRL 386K / COLI 331F / ENG 380W
Time: T 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Paul Burch

This course addresses primarily fiction and memoir written after the Holocaust by second- and third-generation descendants of survivors of the Shoah.  Central to our reading will be issues of representation, authenticity, the role of memory, the problems and limits of language, questions of trauma, the phenomenon of post-memory, and the development of post-Holocaust Jewish identities. Note: Not appropriate for first-year students.

JUST 352 - American Jewish Thought - Gen Ed: C, D, H, USD
Cross listed: RELG 380D
Time: M/W 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Randy Friedman

This course offers both a historical and a theological study of the American Jewish community, from its origins through contemporary times. We engage central historical and sociological studies of American Jews in relation to Protestant, Catholic, and Baptist Americans, as well as other minority groups. We will also examine central philosophical and theological texts in American Judaism. Students will also read short works of American Jewish literature. We will examine how specific Judaic thinkers transform aspects of the Judaic tradition to fit the challenges of religious life in the modern and democratic age, and the response(s) to this transformation. Questions include: the relationship between theology and democratic culture, challenges to inherited religious traditions, the influence of feminist thought on religious practice, and the place and function of religious authority. The final third of the term will be spent analyzing rabbinic rulings on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

JUST 380U ​- Jews, Family & Sex in E.ModWor - Gen Ed: G, W
Cross listed: HIST 381V
Time: M/W 5-6:30 p.m.
Instructor: Jonathan Karp

This course surveys the entirety of the early modern Jewish world, particularly Christian Europe and the Ottoman Mediterranean and Middle East, discussing the family as an institution within Jewish law, the promulgation of sexual norms and deviations from them, and the institutions of marriage and child rearing. We will consider the perception of continuity in Jewish family structures over long periods of time as measured against the palpable influence of the institutions and practices of the non-Jewish communities among which Jews lived, with special emphasis on the place of women in Jewish societies. We will also look at the impact of kabbalah, asceticism, and messianic movements on sexual attitudes and practices. The course utilizes rabbinic legal literature, including responsa, ethical musar texts, mystical writings, and the handful of surviving memoirs, among other sources. No previous knowledge of Jewish history is assumed or required. This course meets Judaic Studies major/minor survey requirements.

JUST 384A - Exile or Diaspora?
Cross listed: HIST 385R
Time:  W 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Allan Arkush

From the biblical point of view, the Jews’ loss of the Land of Israel (or Palestine) in antiquity was a punishment and their eventual return from exile a divine (but unpredictable) promise. Jews subsisted on this hope until the early nineteenth century, when the Reform movement sought to replace the idea of exile with that of the “diaspora” as a positive development, an opportunity for the Jews’ to perform a providential mission on a worldwide basis.  Later in the century, secular Jewish nationalists developed the idea of a non-religious and non-territorial Jewish identity that could serve as the basis for semi-autonomous Jewish national entities in the European lands where the Jewish population was sufficiently large, and possibly in the United States. At the same time, and more effectively, Zionists “negated” the diaspora and called for the voluntary reassembling of the Jews in their ancient homeland without waiting for God’s assistance.  Despite their partial success in doing so, however, they have not displaced altogether the older, religious understanding of exile.  In recent years, there has been a resurgence of the idea of diaspora nationalism among Jews opposed to Zionism. This course will examine the evolving attitudes of Jews toward exile and diaspora over a period of more than two millennia.  It will involve close readings of biblical, rabbinic, and modern religious and secular texts.  The aim of the course will be to clarify the similarities and differences between different orientations and to explore the ideological conflicts that arose between their proponents.

JUST 384G - Bitcoin & Jewish History - Gen Ed: H, I, O
Cross listed: ISRL 385A / HIST 385L
Time: M/W 3:15-4:45 p.m. 
Instructor: Michael Kelly

In this course, students will learn what blockchain, crypto and the decentralization movement are and what they can mean for History and the Humanities, with Jewish History as our historical case study. The next stage in the development of the Digital Humanities is its integration of distributed ledger technology in the form of blockchain. The Humanities are only beginning to think about how to productively communicate with and deploy the world of blockchain and its decentralized technology and political mission in its profession. But what is already clear is that blockchain and its array of tools will force the Humanities and Higher Education as a whole to rethink and transform or face becoming outmoded and disconnected from the public, becoming historical relics instead of historical agents. But, how precisely will blockchain decentralize History and the Humanities, and what will this mean for Jewish History?

JUST 385C ​- Jews and Others in US PopMusic - Gen Ed: N, W
Cross listed: HIST 380G
Time: M/W 3:15-4:45 p.m.
Instructor: Jonathan Karp

American Jews have played a prominent if not predominant role in the development of twentieth-century popular music. What distinguishes the Jewish contribution is that it was divided almost equally between the creative and business sides of the music industry. This course broadly surveys the history of modern American popular music, from ragtime to hip-hop, and examines how producing music for sale offers insights into key dimensions of American life, including ethnic and race relations, shifts in the realm of fashion and style, in gender identities and sexuality, and the transformative force of American capitalism. No technical background or specific knowledge of pop music history is assumed or required. But we will listen to a lot of it!

JUST 432 - Sephardi Diasporas - Gen Ed: C, G, I, N, T
Cross listed: HIST 441 / HIST 560B
Time: R 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Dina Danon

Sephardi Diasporas Professor Dina Danon Spring 2026 Course Description: This course traces the Sephardi community from its medieval origins until the present day. Starting with al-Andalus and the “Golden Age” of Spain, we will track developments such as the Reconquista, the Inquisition, and the Expulsion of 1492. We will then follow the paths Sephardi took Jews after the Expulsion, to both western Europe and the Americas and to Ottoman lands. Among the themes we will discuss in this post-Expulsion period are the emergence of converso and crypto-Jewish identities as well as the importance of mercantile and kinship networks. Moving to the Ottoman Empire, we will trace the reconstitution of Sepharadi in the lands of Islam and the establishment of a Ladino-speaking heartland in the eastern Mediterranean. Moving to the modern period, we will study how Sephardi Jews navigated the profound political and cultural changes of the modern period, among them westernization, colonialism, and nationalism. We will explore the dislocation wrought by the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I through the eyes of its Sephardi subjects, and then study their devastating and often forgotten experience of the Holocaust. Finally, we will study the position of Sephardi and “Oriental” Jews in the State of Israel as well as in 21st century Jewish communities across the globe.

JUST 441 - Holocaust Fiction - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: ISRL 385B / COLI 480T / ENG 450Y
Time: R 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Instructor: Paul Burch

Issues of memory, representation, and voice are addressed in the reading of Holocaust fiction. The class reads through the prism of the literature of witness novels and short stories—most by Holocaust survivors—including works by Appelfeld, Fink, Borowski, Grynberg, Lustig, Nomberg- Przytyk, Rawicz, Kosinski, and Wiesel. Several short papers, mid-term examination, and final examination are required. Accompanied by a speaker/lecture series. Notes: prerequisite, sophomore standing; not appropriate for first-year students. Required texts may include: Lawrence Langer, Art from the Ashes (Anthology), Piotr Rawicz, Blood from the Sky, Jerzy Kosiński, The Painted Bird, Elie Wiesel, Gates of the Forest, Hans Keilson, The Death of the Adversary, David Grossman, See Under: Love, André Schwarz-Bart, The Last of the Just.

JUST 480E - Women and the Holocaust - Gen Eds: 
Cross listed: HIST 572A / HIST 485A /, WGSS 480H / GMAP 538E / EEES 480A
Time: M/W 3:15-4:45 p.m.
Instructor: Eliyana Adler

This course will offer students the opportunity and ability to explore the roles of gender and sexuality in Holocaust Studies. Specifically, we will focus on two distinct but related questions. Firstly, is it possible to study women’s experience during the Holocaust? Secondly, if so, how does that knowledge advance our understanding of the larger event?

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

RELG 101 - Religions of the World - Gen Ed: G, H, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 100 / AFST 180E / ANTH 180C
Time: M/W/F 11 a.m. -12 p.m.
Instructor: Michael Kelly

What does it mean to study religion from a scholarly perspective? What is the difference between finding truth by a religious facticity process (method) vs finding it through an academic discipline's science? Answering questions like these and developing our skills as students and researchers of religion is of no small importance in a society competing over truth claims and "facts". This class will take a historical and theological approach to a number of religious traditions with the aim of discovering the foundational (mathematical?) connectivities of world religions.

RELG 280A - Divination in Asia & the World - Gen Ed: 
Cross listed: AAAS 280E / MDVL 280H
Time: M/F 11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Kristina Buhrman 

This course covers how people have tried to understand, predict, and control their fates and their world over history. The focus will be on traditional divination methods as practiced in Asia, but examples from all cultures and periods of history will be discussed. In particular, we will be examining how divination methods travel and change as they encounter new cultures, as in the case of horoscope astrology, which made it from the Mediterranean to the South Asian subcontinent in the Hellenistic Period, and then finally to the islands of Japan before the year 1000. Questions involved will include the distinction between religion, superstition, and scientific observation; modern the cultural and artistic use of divination texts; and the use of divination in politics and protest. Methods and topics will include the Yijing (I Ching) or the Book of Changes, astrology, feng shui, the Mandate of Heaven, oracle bones, and spirit possession. The course will combine historical readings with hands-on experimentation with selected divination methods. No prerequisites required. Suitable for first-year students.

RELG 280B - Islamic Cultures in Africa - Gen Ed: D, H, T, FYA
Cross listed: COLI 280J / SOC 280B / ANTH 280V / AFST 251 / ARAB 281E
Time: M/W/F 9:45-10:45 a.m.
Instructor: Moulay Ali Bouanani 

Islam has a rich cultural and artistic heritage in Africa. With a history that goes back to the seventh century, it is now a vital part of the African cultural landscape. This introductory course explores a range of Islamic cultural productions from the advent of Islam to modern times by Muslim men and women in different regions of Africa from North to South and from East to West. It will focus on religious didactic writings, literature, music, architecture and documentary films in studying the syncretism of Islam and indigenous African religions and/or cultures, and in highlighting the unifying cultural influences of the religion. The course will also attend to the distinctive character of the vast contemporary post-colonial cultural productions in music (religious & profane), film, architecture and literature in large African metropolises with significant Islamic populations, and it will devote attention to the underlying factors and issues of artistic production of Muslims of Africa.

RELG 280C - Practical Utility of Religion - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: JUST 280N / PHIL 280B
Time: W/F 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Michel Kelly

Is religion the opium of the masses (Marx), a tool to prevent progress and evolution (Nietzsche), or is it a path to enlightenment and wisdom in collaboration with quantum physics? What is the point of religion? Why do we need it and how does it still exist in the age of superconductors, AI, AR (Augmented Reality), decentralized networks, the post-internet interplanetary web, Web3 Digital Humanities, deep space observation, and Many-World Theory? Is religion an identity, a way of life, the embodiment of secret truths revealed through science, a promise of tomorrow, or…? What is the practical utility of religion?

RELG 312 - Radical Religious Movements - Gen Ed: C, H, T
Time: T/R 11:45am-1:15 p.m.
Instructor: Douglas Jones

This course focuses on movements that are deemed radical by their contemporaries. Topics will vary from week to week, though generally we will focus on the self-professed religious identity of these movements alongside their relationship with the broader religious culture. Do radical religions consider themselves radical? How do they communicate with, or seek to influence, the mainstream? Major themes include the proliferation of utopian and messianic movements in the seventeenth-century, socialism and religion, religion and violence, religion and suicide, the anti-cult movement in America, and the relatively recent appearance of sci-fi religions. Students who took RELG 212 course will not receive credit for 312.

RELG 361 - Bible and Its Interpretations - Gen Ed: C, H
Cross listed: JUST 361
Time: M/W/F 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Instructor: Douglas Jones

This survey course takes a comparative approach to the history of biblical interpretation by looking at diverse communities within the Jewish and Christian traditions. How have these communities used the Bible to understand their place in history, address present tribulations, and even predict the future? What major conflicts have arisen over the issue of interpretation? Some topics include the theme of movement in the Torah and rabbinical tradition, 18th and 19th century biblical scholarship, the meaning of allegory in Catholic and Protestant interpretation, and the so-called literal sense of scripture. We will also close by considering the issue of biblical interpretation as it relates to new religious movements in America.

RELG 380B - Gods, Kings, and Emperors - Gen Ed:
Cross listed: PLSC 389Y / MDVL 381A / AAAS 381A
Time: T/R 3:15-4:45 p.m. 
Instructor: Kristina Buhrman

An exploration of the concept of divine or blessed rulership, or sacred kings, from god-kings to anointed politicians in the modern day. This course will introduce examples from Asian history, from the earliest examples of priest-kings in pre-Imperial China, to the divine Emperor of pre-war Japan, to contemporary Thai kings and the cult of modern dictators, as in North Korea. We will examine a number of case studies, comparing them to divine rulers in other parts of the world and various historical periods, from Mesopotamia to medieval Europe and to 20th-century revolutionary leaders during the end of the colonial period in Africa and the Middle East. The ways in which concepts of divinely-mandated rule can be used against leaders will be one topic of study, as will the boundary between humans and divine beings. Through these examples we will investigate how leaders take or maintain power, and how they motivate followers to action. No prerequisites required.

RELG 380H - Religion in the Age of Trump - Gen Ed: W
Cross listed: HIST 380E / PLSC 382O
Time: M/W/F 9:45-10:45 a.m.
Instructor: Douglas Jones

The basic assumption behind this course is that American Christianity has evolved in new and unexpected ways, beginning roughly with Trump's first term as President of the United States. The goal is to understand the diverse expressions of Christianity that both support and critically engage with MAGA culture. Over the course of the semester, we will consider the evolution of prophetic and charismatic Christianity, reevaluate the so-called "spirit of capitalism" in a 21st-century context, listen to religious voices on the right and left that seek to bring religion firmly into the public square, and trace the role of prosperity theology, positive thinking, practical antinomianism, and online sermonizing in our emerging religious landscape. 

YIDDISH 

YIDD 102 - Yiddish II - Gen Ed: WL2, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 180A/ GERM 281J / RUSS 280A / YIDD 502
Time: M/W 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Gina Glasman

Follows on from Yiddish 101 as students sharpen their linguistic skills with more complex sentence structure, a deeper knowledge of tenses and cases, and a broader vocabulary.  In addition, we explore Yiddish culture through film, stories, folk sayings and the occasional joke!  As always, lyrics from Yiddish popular songs provide the backbone of the class, and individual attention is a feature of the instruction. Note: interested students can join 102 directly without having taken 101. (Instructor permission needed.)

YIDD 280A - The Story of Yiddish Cinema - Gen Ed: A, C, FYA
Cross listed: JUST 284A / GERM 281D / CINE 285K / RUSS 280D / EEES 280B
Time: T/R 5-6:30 p.m.
Instructor: Gina Glasman

Yiddish cinema had its start in the silent movie era of the early twentieth century.  Today, a movie with any Yiddish content is a rarity.  But in between then and now, Yiddish cinema had a golden age, built upon the cultural appetites of the Jewish Eastern European heartlands, and its Yiddish-speaking, immigrant reinventions in New York City and beyond.  Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this class will examine aspects of this ethnic film scene, and what it once meant (and even now means) to speak Yiddish in the “language” of cinema. 

YIDD 354 - Modern Yiddish Culture - Gen Ed: H, J
Cross listed: JUST 354 / GERM 380K / RUSS 381D / EEES 354
Time: T/R 1:30-3 p.m.
Instructor: Gina Glasman

In the half century before the Second World War, a Yiddish ­speaking "Jewish Street" stretched from Buenos Aires to Boston, from London to Lodz, with many cities in between. What characterized the culture of this mostly urban and modernizing society is the subject of this class. Cinema and short stories, poetry and politics provide our vehicle to explore the world of Eastern European Jewry in a time of radical transformation and approaching catastrophe (all material is in English).