2014-2015 Catalog

JWSC 11000-11100-11200. Biblical Aramaic; Old Aramaic Inscriptions; Imperial Aramaic.

Three quarter sequence in Aramaic spanning Biblical Aramaic (Autumn), Old Aramaic (Spring), and Imperial Aramaic (Winter).

JWSC 20001-20002-20003. Jewish History and Society I-II-III.

Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. Students explore the ancient, medieval, and modern phases of Jewish culture(s) by means of documents and artifacts that illuminate the rhythms of daily life in changing economic, social, and political contexts. Texts in English.

JWSC 20004-20005-20006. Jewish Thought and Literature I-II-III.

Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. Students in this sequence explore Jewish thought and literature from ancient times until the modern era through a close reading of original sources. A wide variety of works is discussed, including the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and texts representative of rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, and modern Jewish culture in its diverse manifestations. Texts in English.

JWSC 20300-20400-20500. Elementary Yiddish I-II-III.

The goal of this sequence is to develop proficiency in Yiddish reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Touchstones of global Yiddish culture are also introduced through song, film, and contemporary Yiddish websites.

JWSC 20452. Writing the Jewish State. 100 Units.

This seminar examines the role of literature in the Zionist movement. We will read utopian descriptions of the Jewish State, poems about its foundation and short stories that criticize its actions. Particular attention will be paid to the literature of war and to questions of genre. How are generic choices motivated by the author's political positions and how do these choices define the impact of a work? If there is student interest, a section will be created for reading sources in Hebrew.

Instructor(s): N. Rokem     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of Hebrew not required.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30452,CMLT 30452

JWSC 20911. Jews and Judaism in the Classical Era and Late Antiquity: From Temple to Text, from “Land” to “Torah” 100 Units.

This course will address the thousand-year evolvement of post-Biblical Judaism from a Temple and Land orientation to the emergence of Rabbinic Judaism. The first section of the course will focus on the political and cultural effects of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods on Jews and Judaism, with a stress placed not only on the social and political developments in Judea but on the early stages and subsequent growth of Jewish diaspora communities as well. In this context special attention will be given to the variegated literary corpus produced by Jews both in Judea and the diaspora. The second section will analyze the changes in Jewish life and self-identity in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70CE, and the gradual emergence of Rabbinic Judaism as an alternative expression of Jewish religious commitment. The Roman Empire's embracing of Christianity on the one hand, and the growing assertiveness of a Babylonian Rabbinic community on the other, will also be closely examined.

Instructor(s): I. Gafni     Terms Offered: Winter 2015
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 20911,HIJD 30911,NEHC 20491

JWSC 22000-22100-22200. Elementary Classical Hebrew I-II-III.

The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to read biblical Hebrew prose with a high degree of comprehension. The course is divided into two segments: (1) the first two quarters are devoted to acquiring the essentials of descriptive and historical grammar (including translation to and from Hebrew, oral exercises, and grammatical analysis); and (2) the third quarter is spent examining prose passages from the Hebrew Bible and includes a review of grammar.

JWSC 22201-22302. Tannaitic Hebrew Texts I-II.

This course consists of readings in the Mishnah and Tosefta, the main corpus of legal and juridical texts assembled by the Palestinian academic masters during the second and early third centuries. Goals are to introduce: (1) views and opinions of early rabbinic scholars who flourished in the period immediately following that of the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls; (2) aspects of the material culture of the Palestinian Jews during that same period; and (3) grammar and vocabulary of what is generally called “early rabbinic Hebrew” and thereby to facilitate the ability to read and understand unvocalized Hebrew texts.

JWSC 22300-22400-22500. Intermediate Classical Hebrew I-II-III.

A continuation of Elementary Classical Hebrew. The first quarter consists of reviewing grammar, and of reading and analyzing further prose texts. The last two quarters are devoted to an introduction to Hebrew poetry with readings from Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophets.

JWSC 23000-23100-23200. Medieval Jewish History I-II-III.

This sequence does NOT meet the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter sequence deals with the history of the Jews over a wide geographical and historical range. First-quarter work is concerned with the rise of early rabbinic Judaism and development of the Jewish communities in Palestine and the Eastern and Western diasporas during the first several centuries CE. Topics include the legal status of the Jews in the Roman world, the rise of rabbinic Judaism, the rabbinic literature of Palestine in that context, the spread of rabbinic Judaism, the rise and decline of competing centers of Jewish hegemony, the introduction of Hebrew language and culture beyond the confines of their original home, and the impact of the birth of Islam on the political and cultural status of the Jews. An attempt is made to evaluate the main characteristics of Jewish belief and social concepts in the formative periods of Judaism as it developed beyond its original geographical boundaries. Second-quarter work is concerned with the Jews under Islam, both in Eastern and Western Caliphates. Third-quarter work is concerned with the Jews of Western Europe from the eleventh through the fifteenth centuries.

JWSC 24500. America's White Ethnics: Contemporary Italian- and Jewish-American Ethnic Identities. 100 Units.

Using American Italians and Jews as case studies, this course investigates what it means to be a white “ethnic” in the contemporary American context and examines what constitutes an ethnic identity. In the mid-20th century, the long-standing ideal of an American melting-pot began to recede. The rise of racial pride, ushered in by the Civil Rights era, made way for the emergence of ethnic identity/pride movements, and multiculturalisms, more broadly, became privileged. To some extent, in the latter half of the 20th century America became a post-assimilationist society and culture, where many still strived to “fit-in,” but it was no longer necessarily the ideal to “blend-in” or lose one’s ethnic trappings. In this context, it has become not only possible, but often desirable, to be at the same time American, white, and an ethnic. Through the investigation of the Jewish and Italian examples, this discussion-style course will look at how ethnicity is manifested in, for example, class, religion, gender, nostalgia, and place, as well as how each of these categories is in turn constitutive of ethnic identity. The course will illustrate that there is no fixed endpoint of assimilation or acculturation, after which a given individual is fully “American,” but that ethnic identity, and its various constituent elements, persists and perpetually evolves, impacting individual identities and experience, and both local/group specific and larger cultural narratives even many generations after immigration.

Instructor(s): L. Shapiro     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CHDV 27317,CRES 27317

JWSC 25000-25100-25200. Introductory Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

This three quarter course introduces students to reading, writing, and speaking modern Hebrew. All four language skills are emphasized: comprehension of written and oral materials; reading of nondiacritical text; writing of directed sentences, paragraphs, and compositions; and speaking. Students learn the Hebrew root pattern system and the seven basic verb conjugations in both the past and present tenses, as well as simple future. At the end of the year, students can conduct short conversations in Hebrew, read materials designed to their level, and write short essay.

JWSC 25300-25400-25500. Intermediate Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

The main objective of this course is to provide students with the skills necessary to approach modern Hebrew prose, both fiction and nonfiction. In order to achieve this task, students are provided with a systematic examination of the complete verb structure. Many syntactic structures are introduced (e.g., simple clauses, coordinate and compound sentences). At this level, students not only write and speak extensively but are also required to analyze grammatically and contextually all of material assigned.

JWSC 25600-25700-25800. Advanced Modern Hebrew I-II-III.

This course assumes that students have full mastery of the grammatical and lexical content of the intermediate level. The main objective is literary fluency. The texts used in this course include both academic prose, as well as literature. Students are exposed to semantics and morphology in addition to advanced grammar.

JWSC 25601. Advanced Readings in Modern Hebrew. 100 Units.

Although this course assumes that students have full mastery of the grammatical and lexical content at the intermediate level, there is a shift from a reliance on the cognitive approach to an emphasis on the expansion of various grammatical and vocabulary-related subjects. After being introduced to sophisticated and more complex syntactic constructions, students learn how to transform simple sentences into more complicated ones. The exercises address the creative efforts of students, and the reading segments are longer and more challenging in both style and content. The language of the texts reflects the literary written medium rather than the more informal spoken style, which often dominates the introductory and intermediate texts.

Instructor(s): N. Rokem     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): HEBR 20503 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): HEBR 30601,LGLN 23001,LGLN 33001

JWSC 26115. Topics in the Philosophy of Religion: The Challenge of Suffering from Job to Primo Levi. 100 Units.

This course will focus on authors from the Jewish tradition, although some attention will be given to Catholic and Protestant perspectives, as found, for example, in liberation theology and in certain forms of religious existentialism. We will look at the various ways in which contemporary philosophers of Judaism have dealt with suffering, evil and God, especially after the experience of the Shoah. We will examine the often repeated claim that Judaism has approached the philosophical and religious challenges of suffering more through an ethics of suffering than on the basis of a metaphysics of suffering. After an introductory discussion of Maimonides on the Book of Job, readings for the course may come from authors such as E. Lévinas, J.B. Soloveitchik, Y. Leibowitz, H. Jonas, A. Lichtenstein, D.W. Halivni, D. Shatz, and E. Berkovits. The course will culminate in a philosophical analysis of some of the most important writings of Primo Levi.

Instructor(s): A. Davidson     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): All students interested in enrolling in this course should send an application to aschulz@uchicago.edu by 12/01/2014. Applications should be no longer than one page and should include name, email address, year and major for undergraduates, department or committee for graduate students. Applicants should briefly describe their background and explain their interest in, and their reasons for applying to, this course.
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 25115,DVPR 35115,HIJD 35115,ITAL 25115,ITAL 35115,PHIL 35115,RLST 25115

JWSC 26310. Their Brothers' Rights: Western and Eastern Jews in the Long Nineteenth Century. 100 Units.

The course deals with interventions by “Western” Jewries on behalf of Jewish communities in the “East,” especially imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire, between the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) and the eve of the First World War. The course will follow two axes of interpretation: first, the global conditions established through international relations, focusing on the principle of the balance of power and accompanied by conferences and congresses; second, from the mid-nineteenth century onward, the transformation from intercession by notables to a kind of nongovernmental Jewish diplomacy undertaken by organizations promoting education, welfare, and civil equality.

Instructor(s): D. Diner     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 23515,GRMN 23510,SLAV 23510

JWSC 26600. Zionism and Palestine. 100 Units.

This course has three broad aims, the first of which is to explore the various strands of early Zionist thinking in Europe during the late 19th and early 20th century. The second aim is to analyze how the European Zionists who came to Palestine created the Jewish state in the first half of the 20th century. The third aim is to examine some key developments in Israel’s history since it gained its independence in 1948. While the main focus will be on Zionism and the state of Israel, considerable attention will be paid to the plight of the Palestinians and the development of Palestinian nationalism over the past century. (D)

Instructor(s): J. Mearsheimer     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor. Enrollment limited.
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 28500

JWSC 27301-27401. Intermediate Yiddish I-II.

This sequence combines an intensive review of grammar with the acquisition of more advanced grammatical concepts. Specific attention is paid to regional variants in grammar and orthography. Students develop their reading and writing skills by focusing their attention on the literature of the Yiddish press and the work of Abe Cahan.

JWSC 28914. Munich-Chicago Performance Laboratory: Jephta's Daughter. 100 Units.

In July 2015, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich will present the world premiere of a piece tentatively titled Jephta's Daughter, to be directed by Saar Magal (choreographer and director, Tel Aviv) and conceived by Magal in collaboration with University of Chicago professor David Levin. Magal and Levin will offer a laboratory course in which to prepare the piece. As presently conceived, the piece will combine theater, dance, oratorio, film, contemporary composition, and a variety of contemporary performance idioms to adapt and interrogate the story of Jephta's daughter (in the Book of Judges, from which the story is adapted, she remains nameless). We are hoping to attract students keen to explore a broad cross-section of materials through seminar-style discussion and experimentation on stage. (We will work through biblical criticism, films like Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers (2013) or Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love-Faith-Hope, operas like Mozart's Idomeneo, oratorios like Handel's Jephta and Carissimi's Jephta, and a range of critical theory, including Rene Girard's Violence and the Sacred and Derek Hughes's Culture and Sacrifice). Stage work will encompass improvisational, physical, and text-based work. Students with an interest in any of the following are especially welcome: adaptation, theater practice, performance theory, dramaturgy, design, and/or editing.

Instructor(s): David Levin, Saar Magal     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduate students require consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 28914,GRMN 38914,MUSI 28914,MUSI 38914,RLIT 38914,RLST 28914,TAPS 28417

JWSC 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Undergraduate Program Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

JWSC 29900. BA Paper Preparation Course. 100 Units.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Undergraduate Program Adviser
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Required of honors candidates. May be taken for P/F grading with consent of instructor.