Undergraduate Programs

Come learn the language of the Hebrew Bible and of sleepless Tel Aviv nights! One of the oldest languages in the world, for several centuries Hebrew was used only as a literary tool until it was revived as a national Jewish language starting in the late 19th century. Today, Hebrew is the official language of Israel and is studied and spoken by Jews and non-Jews all around the world. Used in everyday life, songs, films, and on the Internet, Hebrew has never been so young!

This course is the direct continuation of HBRW 101 that is taught in the Fall. Emphasis is on further developing reading, writing, comprehension, and speaking skills, with a focus on cultural orientation and the practical use of Hebrew in meaningful everyday situations. During the semester, students will expand the basic language skills acquired in HBRW 101, enhance their understanding of Hebrew grammar constructions (in particular, verbs in the present and past tense, use of direct object and prepositional verbs, common syntactical constructions), and increase their vocabulary. The course will cover the textbook Hebrew from Scratch vol. 1 from Lesson 3 through Lesson 17, and will be supplemented by additional written, audio, and video materials in Hebrew.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 304E (MWF 11:50AM - 12:40PM)

Welcome to your second year of modern Hebrew! By completion of this second semester of Hebrew at the intermediate level, you will further expand speech interaction in free and authentic informal Hebrew in a variety of everyday situations. Your understanding and use of grammar constructions (in particular, of the verb system) will be enhanced and your vocabulary dramatically increased. You will also develop reading skills enabling you to approach texts written in a higher and more formal style than the one used in speaking and be able to effectively use a Hebrew-English-Hebrew dictionary. The course will continue covering the second volume of the textbook Hebrew from Scratch and will be supplemented by additional written, audio, and video materials in Hebrew.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 304 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This is a one-semester introduction to classical Hebrew. You will learn the writing system (alphabet and pointing/vocalization rules), be familiarized with the main features of biblical Hebrew grammar, and read and analyze selected stories from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in the original. By the end of the semester, you will acquire a solid grounding in biblical Hebrew grammar, vocabulary, and texts. Besides mastering the most frequently appearing biblical constructions and terminology, you will be able to read the Hebrew Bible autonomously and appreciate its unique literary style and narrative flavor. Students from all backgrounds are welcome!

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 442 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course is an introduction to Jewish religion and culture from ancient to modern times. Designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of Judaism, it will examine the formation, ruptures, and changes of Jewish tradition, identity, and culture beginning with the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), continuing through Rabbinic interpretations of law and lore, medieval Jewish thought, early modern Jewish mysticism, the Enlightenment and modern Jewish philosophy, up to contemporary American Jewish feminism. Because this course explores a large swath of the history of Judaism, its peoples, and ideas in various geographic contexts, we will continually question the claim that there exists a single, static, essential entity called “Judaism.” Paying close attention to changes in Jewish religious and cultural self-understanding and traditions across primary and secondary texts, we will instead investigate the possibility that there were and are multiple “Judaisms” just as there were and are multiple “Jews” living in different cultural, religious, and geographic settings throughout time.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 442 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course revolves around the most essential question in modern German history: was Hitler's regime particular to Germany, German culture, and German society, or was merely the manifestation of an immanent quality in all modern nation states? What does it mean to compare any political figure to Hitler? Was his kind of "evil" suis generis or dangerously banal? This course places the rise and fall of the Nazi Party and Hitler in the longer duree of German history, from the Second Empire and WWI, to Weimar, the Nazi State, and the Two Germanys of the Cold War.

Location

Lattimore Room 201 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This course will survey the way in which Jewish music and film engaged the issues of Jewish history, memory, and identity. The first half of the course will focus on the cultural and religious role of song and music in Judaism from their Biblical origins to contemporary Klezmer. The second part of the course will explore the medium of film for the portrayal of Jews, the gendered dimensions of Jewish religious and daily life, as well as formative events in Jewish history. Our discussions of both music and film will aim to contextualise Jewish life and culture in broader discourses of the surrounding society. We will also reflect on geographical and ethnic differences, such as the Sephardi-Ashkenazi divide, cultural influences on the Jews in Yemen and North Africa, Europe and North America. We will also trace enduring themes such as spirituality, suffering, redemption, and personal/world repair (tiqqun) that have played an important role in the development of Jewish culture.

Location

Hylan Building Room 101 (T 3:25PM - 6:05PM)

Is there a uniquely Jewish approach to healthcare? In trying to answer this question, this course will thematically explore the engagement of Jews with health, illness, and medicine from the Biblical to the pre-modern period. Over the course of the semester we will look at the ways in which Jews imagined the human body and therapeutic techniques aimed at affecting its optimal wellbeing. Of particular interest to our study will be the gendered aspects of pre-modern medicine, conceptualizations of health and wellness, the relationship between the body and the soul, and the healing properties of natural substances. The course will also consider non-Jewish medical traditions and their influence on and adaptation into Jewish healing practices. The Jewish legal or halakhic dimensions of caring for the body will also be explored along with questions of folk medicine and alternative cures that at times fell outside of boundaries of Jewish normative praxis.

Location

Wegmans Room 1009 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)