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Explores the mystical tradition within Judaism from ancient times to the present. With roots in the Hebrew Bible, Jewish mysticism is one of the oldest forms of mysticism and has had an influence on some of the greatest philosophical traditions of western civilization. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

 

Global Seminar: Jews and Muslims: The Multi-Ethnic History of Istanbul

JWST/IAFS/RLST 3530 Core: Human Diversity

JWST 3930

 

The Jewish Studies Internship program connects students with community service organizations, incorporating concepts of Jewish learning and tikkun olam (“repairing the world”). Learn beyond the classroom by interning in a local non-profit or community organization that connects with the Program in Jewish Studies through its mission and/or program. Interns will be supervised by a faculty member as well as the employer housing the intern. Recommended prereqs., JWST/GSLL 2350 or HIST/JWST/RLST 1818 or HIST/JWST 1828. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.

 

Capstone in Jewish Studies

JWST 4000

 

Serves as the final product for students completing the major in Jewish Studies.  The capstone asks students to design a project under the supervision of a mentor that serves as the summation of their past work in Jewish Studies.  Capstone projects can take the form of a thesis, film, or other medium and must engage the student’s second language. Restricted to senior Jewish Studies (JWST) majors only.

 

 

Global Seminar: Justice, Human Rights and Democracy in Israel and the West Bank

JWST 4302/IAFS 3502 Core: Contemporary Societies

 

Explore the challenges and complexities of justice, democracy and human rights in Israel and the West Bank through field trips, course work and service learning projects with Jerusalem based non-profit organizations. Acquire new knowledge and lived experience on critical issues facing Israelis and Palestinians with the wider scope of Middle East politics. Recommended prereqs., ANTH/JWST 4050 and IAFS/JWST 3600. For International Affairs majors, credits can be applied to Africa/Middle East Geographic Concentration (3 credits) and Functional Area IV, Institutions, Rights and Norms (3 credits). Credits can also be applied to the . Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: contemporary societies. Visit the   for more information.

 

 

Ethics, Medicine, and the Holocaust: Legacies in Health and Society

JWST 4800/5800

 

This course engages the disturbing fact that German health care professionals actively participated in the architecture and machinery of the Third Reich. It explores the implications of the facts for contemporary health care ethics and expands beyond the Holocaust to consider the ramifications for our understanding of the problem of evil in general.

 

Independent Study in Jewish Studies

JWST 4900

 

Graduate Topics in Jewish History: Modern Childhood in Israel/Palestine

JWST 5348

 

Historically, Palestinian and Israeli children have been part of different narratives, from victims, to martyrs to political actors. These narratives refer not only to the conflict but also to concepts of childhood, adulthood, agency, work, life cycle and culpability. In this course, we will read memoirs, academic monographs and fictional works in order to think about Israeli and Palestinian histories, as well as the history of childhood: a specific period in humans’ lifespans, and a cultural and political category.  In addition to weekly readings and discussion, students in this upper division course will complete a final essay or creative project exploring one theme discussed in the course in more depth.

 

Graduate Independent Study in Jewish Studies

JWST 5900

 

Representing the Holocaust

JWST/GRMN 2502 Core: Ideals and Values

 

Examines how the memory of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany is increasingly determined by the means of its representation, e.g., film, autobiography, poetry, architecture. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

 

Introduction to Jewish Culture

JWST/GSLL 2350 Core: Human Diversity

 

Explores the development and expressions of Jewish culture as it moves across the chronological and geographical map of the historic Jewish people, with an emphasis on the variety of Jewish ethnicities and their cultural productions, cultural syncretism, and changes. Sets the discussion in a historical context, and looks at cultural representations that include literary, religious, and visual texts. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.

 

Modern Jewish Literature

JWST/GSLL 2551 Core: Literature and the Arts

 

Examines Jewish experience through the study of literary texts from around the world, mainly from the 20th and 21st centuries. Discusses issues pertaining to secularism and tradition; diasporas and homelands; modernity and questions of identity raised by the intellectual transitions brought about by political and social emancipation; sexualities; enormous changes wrought by population redistributions, world wars and rapid cultural transformations. Same as GSLL 2551. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

 

 

Women, Gender & Sexuality in Jewish Texts and Traditions

JWST/RLST 3202 / WGST 3201 Core: Human Diversity

 

Reads some of the ways Jewish texts and traditions look at women, gender and sexuality from biblical times to the present. Starts with an analysis of the positioning of the body, matter and gender in creation stories, moves on to the gendered aspects of tales of rescue and sacrifice, biblical tales of sexual subversion and power, taboo-breaking and ethnos building, to rabbinic attitudes towards women, sexuality and gender and contemporary renderings and rereadings of the earlier texts and traditions. Taught in English. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.  The role of the body, and concepts of purity and contamination in Jewish ritual and sexuality will also be explored.

 

 

 

Israeli Literature: Exile, Nation, Home

JWST/HEBR 4203 Core: Literature and the Arts

 

Examines the creation and development of Israeli literature from its pre-State beginnings to the present day, from the writings of immigrants for whom Hebrew was not their mother tongue to a literature written by native Hebrew speakers. Considers texts written by Israeli Jewish and Arab writers and explores how ideas of exile, nation and home play into the Israeli experience. Recommended prereqs., ENGL/JWST 3677, GRMN/JWST 2502; HEBR/JWST 2551; WRTG/JWST 3020. Same as HEBR 4203. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

 

Russian Jewish Experience

JWST 4401 RUSS 4401/5401 Core: Literature and the Arts

 

This course examines the experience of Russian Jews from the late 19th century to the present through fiction and films dealing with challenges of co-existence of Jews and their neighbors. We will explore the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalinism, the Holocaust, and the post-Stalin period. We will also look at the place of Jews as individuals and as a minority within Russian and Soviet society, as well as Jewish-Russian emigration to America and elsewhere at the turn of the 21st century. Taught in English. Recommended prereq., any 1000 or 2000-level undergraduate literature course. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: literature and the arts.

 

 

Anthropology of Jews and Judaism

JWST/ANTH 4050

 

Explores topics in Jewish anthropology. Course will use the lens of anthropological inquiry to explore, discover and analyze different concepts within Jewish culture. Topics explored will include customs, religious practices, languages, ethnic and regional subdivisions, occupations, social composition, and folklore. Courses will explore fundamental questions about the definition of Jewish identity, practices and communities. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. ANTH 4050 and JWST 4050 are the same course.

 

 

Bible as Literature

JWST/ENGL 3310 Core: Ideals and Values

 

Surveys literary achievements of the Judeo-Christian tradition as represented by the Bible. Restricted to sophomores/juniors/seniors. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

 

Jewish-American Literature

JWST/ENGL 4677 Core: Human Diversity

 

Explores the Jewish-American experience from the 19th century to the present through writers such as Sholom Aleichem, Peretz, Babel, Singer, Malamud, Miller, Ginsberg, and Ozick. The Jewish experience ranges from the travails of immigration to the loss of identity through assimilation. Restricted to sophomores/ juniors/seniors. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity. Formerly JWST/ENGL 3677.

 

 

 

First Year Seminar: God

FYSM 1000

 

Does it make sense to believe in God, and should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals lead their lives?  This course will explore diverse responses to these questions in ancient and modern sources.  We will devote special attention to topics such as the reasons for evil and undeserved suffering, the nature of revelation and religious experience, and role of religion in contemporary politics.  We will wrestle with issues such as the possibility of belief in God in the wake of events such as the Holocaust, the relationship between science and religion, and the implications of belief in God for debates surrounding topics such as torture and poverty.

 

 

Beginning Modern Hebrew, First Semester

HEBR 1010

 

First semester Hebrew is an introductory course designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of Hebrew. Begins with the Hebrew alphabet and develops rudimentary, conversational reading and writing skills. By the end of the semester students are expected to have attained basic understanding and expressive abilities in Hebrew. Credit not granted for this course and HEBR 1050.

 

Beginning Modern Hebrew, Second Semester

HEBR 1020

 

Builds on skills introduced in HEBR 1010, focusing on speaking, comprehension, reading and writing. �鶹��Ժ learn new verbal tenses and paradigms. The course blends communicative method with formal grammatical instruction. By semester's end students will be able to speak, comprehend and write basic Hebrew. Department enforced prereq., HEBR 1010 (min. grade C-). Credit not granted for this course and HEBR 1050.

 

Intensive Beginning Modern Hebrew

HEBR 1050

 

Same material as HEBR 1010 and 1020 combined in one course. This course focuses on acquiring the basic ability to understand and speak modern Hebrew. Develops basic reading and writing skills and provides exposure to the fundamentals of Israeli culture. Credit not granted for this course and HEBR 1010 or HEBR 1020.

 

Intermediate Modern Hebrew, First Semester

HEBR 2110 Gen Ed: Language Requirement

 

Third semester Hebrew builds on skills introduced in the first two semesters and focuses on speaking, comprehension, reading and writing. �鶹��Ժ learn new veral tenses and paradigms, modes of expression and syntactical forms. The course blends a communicative method with formal grammatical instruction. By the end of the semester students are expected to be able to converse in, comprehend, and produce written Hebrew at an intermediate level. Department enforced prereq., HEBR 1020 (minimum grade C-).  Approved for GT-AH4. Meets MAPS requirement for foreign language.

 

Intermediate Modern Hebrew, Second Semester

HEBR 2120 Gen Ed: Language Requirement

 

Focuses on texts, while still developing speaking, comprehension and writing skills. �鶹��Ժ build on grammatical understanding while learning some of the more sophisticated verbal paradigms and nominal patterns. The course blends a communicative method with some formal grammatical instruction. By the end of this semester students are expected to converse in, comprehend, and produce written hebrew at an intermediate level. Department enforced prereq., HEBR 2110 (minimum grade C-).

 

Third Year Modern Hebrew, First Semester

HEBR 3010

Focuses on students' active Hebrew language skills acquired in the first four semesters of Hebrew at CU Boulder in weekly conversation and composition sessions. Develops grammatical understanding with a further exploration of the root, verbal and noun systems. �鶹��Ժ are introduced to texts in contemporary Hebrew fiction and poetry, as well as some biblical readings. Department enforced prereq., HEBR 2120 (minimum grade C-) or instructor consent.

 

Third Year Modern Hebrew, Second Semester

HEBR 3020

 

Focuses on students' Hebrew language skills acquired in the first five semesters of Hebrew at CU Boulder in weekly conversation and composition sessions. Develops grammatical understanding with a further exploration of the root, verbal and noun systems. �鶹��Ժ are introduced to texts in contemporary Hebrew fiction and poetry, as well as some biblical readings, academic texts and Israeli newspapers. Department enforced prereq., HEBR 3010 (minimum grade C-).

 

 

 

Introduction to Jewish History: Bible to 1492

JWST/HIST/RLST 1818 Core: Historical Context

 

This course will focus on Jewish history from the Biblical period to the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. We will study the origins of a group of people who call themselves, and whom others call, Jews. We will focus on place, movement, power/powerlessness, gender, and the question of how to define Jews over time and place. This course introduces Jews as a group of people bound together by a particular set of laws. It will look at their dispersion and diversity, explore Jews’ interactions with surrounding cultures and societies, introduce the basic library of Jews, and analyze how Jews relate to political power. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

 

Introduction to Jewish History: Since 1492

JWST/HIST 1828 Core: Historical Context

 

Surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day.  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 variegated and complex story that unfolded.  Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: historical context.

 

History of Modern Israel/Palestine

JWST/HIST 4338

 

This course explores the history of modern Israel, a crossroad of Europe and Asia from the late Ottoman Empire to the present. Main topics will include nationalism and colonialism, development of Zionist ideology, development of Palestinian nationalism, establishment of the Jewish settlement (Yishuv) under British rule, the founding of the Jewish nation-state, relations with neighbors, and the aftermath of the 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982 wars. Recommended prereqs., HIST/JWST/RLST 1818, HIST/JWST 1828, HIST 1308 or JWST/GSLL 2350.

 

 

Topics in Jewish History: Tel Aviv: Urban History and Culture

JWST/HIST 4348

 

This seminar offers a multifaceted exploration of the city of Tel Aviv, founded in 1909 as a new Jewish garden suburb of the city of Jaffa, which it eventually annexed. Tel Aviv, planned from the ground up as a model Zionist city, was the site of Zionist political and cultural activity, a symbol for the movement’s development, and a space in which the meanings of Zionism have been continually contested. Through inquiries into urban studies, city planning, architecture, identity, space, politics, language, culture, and conflict we will use the prism of one metropolitan area to explore themes in urban studies, the history of Palestine and Israel, the tensions of Zionist and Israeli state building, and Israeli-Palestinian relations in the 20th and 21st centuries. Recommended prereqs., HIST/JWST/RLST 1818 or HIST/JWST 1828 or JWST/GSLL 2350. Restricted to Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors.

 

History of Modern Jewish-Muslim Relations

JWST/HIST 4378

 

Examines the modern history and culture of Jewish communities under Islamic rule in the Middle East and North Africa; Jews' and Muslims' encounters with empire, westernization and nationalism; representations of Sephardi and Eastern Jews; Jewish-Muslim relations in Europe and the U.S.; and contact and conflict between Jews and Muslims in (and about) Israel/Palestine. Sources include memoirs, diaries, newspapers and films. 

 

 

History of Yiddish Culture

JWST/HIST 4544

 

Jews have produced culture in Yiddish, the vernacular language of eastern European Jewry, for 1,000 years and the language continues to shape Jewish culture today. In this course we will look at the literature, film, theater, music, art, sound, and laughter that defined the culture of eastern European Jewry and, in the 20th century, Jews around the world. Recommended prereqs., HIST/JWST/RLST 1818 or HIST/JWST 1828 or JWST/GSLL 2350.

 

Jews of the American West

JWST/HIST 4837

 

Explores the history of Jewish migration and settlement in the American West. Jewish pioneers in the nineteenth century included explorers, businessmen, and cowgirls that established small communities in territories that had not yet achieved statehood. As westward expansion progressed, Jews continued to find opportunity in the West, balancing assimilation with unique expressions of religious identity. The history of communal institutions including synagogues, hospitals and summer camps offers new perspectives on this underrepresented segment of American Jewry.

 

 

Readings in Global History: Global History of Genocide

HIST 6800

 

We will examine the interplay of politics, culture, psychology, and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, “The most terrible century in Western history.”  Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.

 

Contemporary Jewish Societies

JWST/IAFS/GSLL 3600 Core: Human Diversity

 

This course uses a transnational lens to explore contemporary debates about Jewish people, places and practices of identity and community; places that Jews have called home, and what has made, or continues to make, those people Jewish; issues of Jewish homelands and diasporas; gender, sexuality, food, and the Jewish body; religious practices in contemporary contexts. Readings drawn primarily from contemporay journalism and scholarship.

 

 

Music in Jewish Culture

JWST/MUSC 4122

 

Introduces students to a wide range of musical styles, traditions, genres, performers, composers, events and works that are part of Jewish culture, focusing on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Provides tools for understanding music on its own and in connection with issues of identity, diaspora, memory and liturgy. Includes opportunities for creative and critical engagement with Jewish music.

 

Religion and Feminist Thought

JWST/WGST 3200

 

This course examines the origin of patriarchal culture in the theology and practices of Judaism and Christianity. Explores attitudes and beliefs concerning women as Judeo-Christian culture impacts gender roles and gender stratification through reading and discussion. Women’s religious experience is studied from the perspective of feminist interpretations of religiosity. Recommended prereq., WGST 2000 or WGST/RLST 2800.

 

Reads some of the ways Jewish texts and traditions look at women, gender and sexuality from biblical times to the present. Starts with an analysis of the positioning of the body, matter and gender in creation stories, moves on to the gendered aspects of tales of rescue and sacrifice, biblical tales of sexual subversion and power, taboo-breaking and ethnos building, to rabbinic attitudes towards women, sexuality and gender and contemporary renderings and rereadings of the earlier texts and traditions. Same as HEBR 3202 and RLST 3202 and WGST 3201.

 

 

 

 

After the Holocaust

WRTG 3020 Core: Written Communication

 

How do we, or can we—as individuals and as a society—talk about traumatic events like genocide and their impact on our society? How do the generations who come “after” grapple with the “inherited” or “received” memories and histories of others’ traumatic pasts? As the title for “WRTG 3020: After the Holocaust” suggests, we’ll be using the Holocaust as a starting point for our conversations about the representation and legacies of trauma, history, and memory. Over the course of the semester we’ll also explore how the representation of the Holocaust has influenced the way we relate to other genocidal moments in history. Because this is a writing course, we’ll pay particular attention to the roles that genre and medium/form can play in influencing our knowledge and memory of these events. To this end we’ll look at a wide variety of texts, including short stories, poetry, newspaper articles, historical narratives, memoirs, feature films, art and museum exhibits, and graphic narratives/comics. �鶹��Ժ can expect to encounter a range of written/creative assignments, including an analytical paper, a researched project on a relevant topic of their choice, and a videographic essay that asks them to explore the rhetorical power of images (e.g. photographs, films, etc.) in a more poetic and evocative way. Moreover, in our discussions and written assignments, we’ll continue to develop and use our skills of purposeful reading, critical thinking, and thoughtful writing as we take on the task of trying to understand events that many argue are impossible to comprehend.