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

Meliora Room 206 (M 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

An introduction to the religious and cultural development of Judaism. Will emphasize Judaism as a living tradition, one which has been subject to both continuity and change among its practitioners throughout its history.

Location

Lechase Room 141 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course will explore the gradual evolution of Freud’s thought toward the place and role of religion in society in conversation with other psychoanalytic thinkers, like C. G. Jung and Julia Kristeva. In Freud’s early works, he portrayed religion as a “collective neurosis of mankind” arguing that religious beliefs serve the fulfill the immature psychological and emotional needs of the child within the adult self. Therefore, he firmly advocated for replacing these illusions with a more scientific and materialistic attitude that would be based on science and impassioned observation. However, signaling a dramatic change in Freud’s attitude, his later works present religion as critical for the wellbeing of society and even vital for its survival. In the course we will trace important works and ideas that helped to shape Freud’s intellectual development illuminating his nuanced understanding of religion.

Location

Hylan Building Room 102 (WF 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

This course will trace the representation of Jews in cinema with a special focus on the Holocaust, events that led up to it, and the post-Holocaust world in which Jews had to find new meaning to existential, philosophical, and religious questions. Throughout the course we will pay special attention to issues of gender, the voices and experiences of women,  the LGBTQ community, ethnic and racial differences and divides. In our in-class conversations and analyses we will develop tools to deconstruct major historical events in Jewish history exposing the ways in which they transformed the religious, cultural, and social matrix of Jewish communities locally and globally.

Location

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

This seminar focuses on the problem of religious conflict, competition, hatred, and prejudice among Jews, Pagans, and Christians in the ancient Mediterranean world from c. 300 BCE to c. 400 CE, a period of significant cultural and political change characterized by increased contact among various religious groups which resulted, often, in tension and violence. We study the origins of anti-semitism, the interconnections between religious conflict and political violence, the power of the state to oppress religious groups, etc. Close careful analysis of texts and events from this particular historical-cultural context will provide us with the starting point to address fundamental questions about the nature of religious conflict, religious polemic, and religious oppression in general.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 442 (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

In the twentieth-century, rabbis constructed an amulet against Hitler. The Hebrew Bible expressly forbids the use of magic and witchcraft. At the same time, Jewish textual and material sources reveal a world teeming with angels, demons, exorcism rituals, amulets and spells that go against the grain of normative religion. In this course, we will examine the place of magic in Judaism from the Bible, Talmudic sources, Babylonian incantation bowls, to medieval and early modern books of secrets and magic. Throughout the course, we will consider the relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish forms of magic, attitudes to the natural and supernatural worlds, as well as the use of plants, animals, and other substances in magical procedures. Questions that will frame our discourse: What is the relationship between magic and normative religion? What purpose does magic serve in Jewish life and lived religion? Who are the Jewish magicians? Does gender play a role in Jewish magic?

Location

Meliora Room 219 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)