Catalogue

Jewish Studies

jewishstudies.bard.edu

Faculty

Cecile E. Kuznitz (director), Dror Abend-David, Bevin Blaber, Joshua Boettiger, Leon Botstein, Bruce Chilton, Yuval Elmelech, Elizabeth Frank, Joel Perlmann, Shai Secunda 

Overview

Jewish Studies explores the many facets of the Jewish experience, with course offerings ranging across several millennia and continents. Students concentrating in Jewish Studies also moderate into a divisional program. They may focus, for example, on classic texts of rabbinic Judaism, the modern Jewish experience in Europe, or the dynamics of contemporary Jewish life in Israel or the United States.

Requirements

Moderation follows the procedure for the primary program. The board consists of the student’s adviser, who is a member of the Jewish Studies concentration, and two faculty members from the divisional program. The Moderation should demonstrate progress in both Jewish Studies and the student’s divisional program. Senior Projects are directed by a member of the Jewish Studies faculty. The Senior Project board should include at least one member of the divisional program into which the student moderated.

Students are required to take a minimum of five courses in the concentration, including a core course in Jewish Studies, consisting of one approved course from Historical Studies and one from Interdisciplinary Study of Religions, such as Religion 104, Judaism; History 181, Jews in the Modern World; and at least 4 credits in a Jewish language, typically Hebrew.

When choosing Jewish Studies electives, at least one course must be outside the division of the student’s primary program; one course must be an Upper College conference or seminar; two Jewish Studies courses should be taken prior to Moderation; and two semesters of Hebrew at the 200 level count as one elective.

Courses

Jewish Poetry from the Bible to the Present
Jewish Studies 111
CROSS-LISTED: LITERATURE, MES, RELIGION
The course begins with a deep dive into the Psalms and other examples of biblical verse and then turns to the poetry, culture, and influences of the medieval Hebrew poets who wrote in Andalusian Spain; Eastern European Yiddish writers from the early 20th century; Soviet writers composing in the shadow of Stalin; and the work of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and his Israeli counterpart, Yehuda Amichai. 

Jewishness beyond Religion​
Jewish Studies 120 
CROSS-LISTED: HISTORICAL STUDIES
In the premodern world, Jewish identity was centered on religion but expressed as well in how one made a living, what clothes one wore, and what language one spoke. In modern times, Jewish culture became more voluntary and more fractured. While some focused on Judaism as (only) a religion, both the most radical and the most typical way in which Jewishness was redefined was in secular terms. This course explores the intellectual, social, and political movements that led to new secular definitions of Jewish culture and identity.

From Shtetl to Socialism: East European Jewry in the Modern Era
Jewish Studies 215 / History 215
See History 215 for a full course description.

Hebrew Language and Culture I-II
Hebrew 101-102
See Languages and Literatures chapter for a course description.

Intermediate Hebrew I-II
Hebrew 201-202
See Languages and Literatures chapter for a course description.