Courses
Please consult the online course catalog for cross-listed courses and full course information.
The courses listed below are provided by Student Information Services (SIS). This listing provides a snapshot of immediately available courses within this department and may not be complete. Course registration information can be found at https://sis.jhu.edu/classes.
- AS.130.343 - Dead Sea Scrolls-English
A survey of the manuscripts found at Quran and other sites near the Dead Sea.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Gropp, Douglas Marvin
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.130.346 - Introduction to the History of Rabbinic Literature
Broadly surveying classic rabbinic literature, including the Talmud and its commentaries, the legal codes and the response, this seminar explores the immanent as well as the external factors that shaped the development of this literature, the seminal role of this literature in Jewish self-definition and self-perception, and the role of this literature in pre-modern and modern Jewish culture.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Katz, David
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Open - AS.130.376 - Ancient Magic and Ritual
This course will introduce students to the vast body of rituals that were practiced and performed in antiquity, with a particular emphasis on rituals from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Hebrew Bible. In addition to examining rituals from a comparative perspective, anthropological and sociological studies of ritual will be read and discussed to shed light on the social, cultural, and political significance of ritual in the ancient world and beyond.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Delnero, Paul
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 3:00PM - 4:15PM
Status: Open - AS.210.164 - Elementary Yiddish II
Year-long course that includes the four language skills--reading, writing, listening, and speaking--and introduces students to Yiddish culture through text, song, and film. Emphasis is placed both on the acquisition of Yiddish as a tool for the study of Yiddish literature and Ashkenazic history and culture, and on the active use of the language in oral and written communication. Both semesters must be taken with a passing grade to receive credit. Recommended Course Background: AS.210.163 or instructor permission.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lang, Beatrice
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.194.201 - Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Medieval World
The three most widespread monotheisms have much more in common than is generally portrayed: a common founding figure, a partly shared succession of prophets, closely comparable ethical concerns and religious practices, a history of coexistence and of cultural, religious, social and economic interaction. This course will focus on a number of key texts and historical events that have shaped the relationships between Jews, Muslims, and Christians during the Middle Ages and contributed to their reciprocal construction of the image of the “other.” The geographical center of the course will be the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East, a true cradle of civilizations, religions, and exchange.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Ferrario, Gabriele
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.100.364 - Sacrilegious Jews: Accusations of Ritual Crime in Pre-Modern Europe
This course will examine the history of the accusations of the Jews of ritual crime (blood libel, host desecration etc.) in pre-modern Europe.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Maciejko, Pawel Tadeusz
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: Th 1:30PM - 3:50PM
Status: Open - AS.130.216 - History of the Jews in Modern Times, from the Middle Ages to 1917
A broad survey of the significant political and cultural dynamics of Jewish history in the Medieval, Early-Modern, and Modern Eras.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Katz, David
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.130.373 - Prophets and Prophecy in the Bible
From thundering voices of social justice to apocalyptic visionaries, biblical prophets have been revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims for thousands of years. They have inspired civic leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. yet also provided fodder for modern charlatans promising a utopian future. Yet who were these individuals (orators? politicians? diviners? poets?) and what was the full range of their message as set against the Realpolitik world of ancient Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Jordan?
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lewis, Theodore
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Open - AS.211.333 - The Holocaust in Film and Literature
How has the Holocaust been represented in literature and film? Are there special challenges posed by genocide to the traditions of visual and literary representation? Where does the Holocaust fit in to the array of concerns that the visual arts and literature express? And where do art and literature fit in to the commemoration of communal tragedy and the working through of individual trauma entailed by thinking about and representing the Holocaust? These questions will guide our consideration of a range of texts — nonfiction, novels, poetry — in Yiddish, German, English, French and other languages (including works by Primo Levi and Isaac Bashevis Singer), as well as films from French documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters (including films by Alain Resnais, Claude Lanzmann, and Steven Spielberg). All readings in English.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Spinner, Samuel Jacob
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Open - AS.216.398 - Zionism: Literature, Film, Thought
This course studies the relations between modern Hebrew and Israeli culture and Zionism. Based on a close reading of both literary and non-literary Zionist texts, we will explore the thematic, social and political aspects of the Zionist movement. The course focuses on primary sources and its main goal is to familiarize students with the various ways in which Zionism was formed and understood. In the last part of the semester we will investigate the different meanings of Post-Zionism through contemporary literary and non-literary texts as well as recent Israeli films.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.130.447 - Readings - Hebrew Narrative and Poetry
Intermediate readings in a variety of narratives with some exposure to poetic text. A continuation of AS.130.446.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Medill, Kathryn Anne
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: Th 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.213.334 - Kafka
Franz Kafka is one of the most important — and one of the most challenging — writers of the twentieth century. This course will investigate why both are true. We will analyze a wide range of his works and learn “how" to read Kafka. We will become familiar with his characteristic subjects: law; family; power; institutions; modernity. We will also attempt to become familiar with his characteristic forms and styles and attempt, in the process, to find out what makes Kafka “kafkaesque.” We will also consider his impact on art, literature, film, and thought from his time to the present. All readings in English. German majors/minors should enroll in section 02.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Spinner, Samuel Jacob
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.216.444 - The Apocalypse in Literature and Film
“Everything which we loved is lost! We are in a desert” – this emotional assertion was the reaction to Kazimir Malevich’s 1915 painting The Black Square, as the artist himself recalled it. This sentiment of fearing, warning and even witnessing the end of the world as we know it, will stand at the center of the course. We will study the literary and cinematic representations of this apocalyptic notion and investigate its theoretical, theological, physiological and aesthetic aspects. We will seek to trace the narrative dynamics as well as literary and cinematic means of apocalyptic representations in works from various periods, languages, cultures and religions. Among the issues to be discussed: what is the apocalypse, biblical apocalypse, dystopia and nostalgia, trauma and post trauma, war and the apocalypse, the Holocaust as the end of civilization, the atomic bomb, realism and anti-realism, political changes and the apocalypse in popular culture.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Open - AS.213.334 - Kafka
Franz Kafka is one of the most important — and one of the most challenging — writers of the twentieth century. This course will investigate why both are true. We will analyze a wide range of his works and learn “how" to read Kafka. We will become familiar with his characteristic subjects: law; family; power; institutions; modernity. We will also attempt to become familiar with his characteristic forms and styles and attempt, in the process, to find out what makes Kafka “kafkaesque.” We will also consider his impact on art, literature, film, and thought from his time to the present. All readings in English. German majors/minors should enroll in section 02.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Spinner, Samuel Jacob
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.216.398 - Zionism: Literature, Film, Thought
This course studies the relations between modern Hebrew and Israeli culture and Zionism. Based on a close reading of both literary and non-literary Zionist texts, we will explore the thematic, social and political aspects of the Zionist movement. The course focuses on primary sources and its main goal is to familiarize students with the various ways in which Zionism was formed and understood. In the last part of the semester we will investigate the different meanings of Post-Zionism through contemporary literary and non-literary texts as well as recent Israeli films.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi, Stahl, Neta
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.384.216 - Second Year Hebrew II
Designed to enrich vocabulary and provide intensive grammatical review, and enhance fluency in reading, writing and comprehension. Recommended Course Background: AS.384.215 or permission required.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 1:35PM - 2:50PM, W 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Status: Open - AS.384.116 - First Year Hebrew II
Designed to provide reading and writing mastery, to provide a foundation in Hebrew grammar and to provide basic conversational skills. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: MW 11:30AM - 12:45PM, F 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Status: Open - AS.216.500 - Independent Study
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings:
Status: Open - AS.384.316 - Third Year Hebrew II
Designed to: maximize comprehension and the spoken language through literary and newspaper excerpts providing the student with the language of an educated Israeli. Recommended Course Background: AS.384.315 or permission required. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Spring 2018
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM, M 1:20PM - 2:10PM
Status: Open - AS.130.301 - History of Ancient Syria-Palestine
A survey of the history of Ancient Syria and Canaan, including Ancient Israel.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lauinger, Jacob
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: F 2:00PM - 4:30PM
Status: Open - AS.190.344 - Seminar In Anti-Semitism
Jews exercise a good deal of power in contemporary America.. They are prominent in a number of key industries, play important roles in the political process, and hold many major national offices. For example, though Jews constitute barely two percent of America’s citizens, about one-third of the nation’s wealthiest 400 individuals are Jewish and more than ten percent of the seats in the U.S. Congress are held by Jews. One recent book declared that, “From the Vatican to the Kremlin, from the White House to Capitol Hill, the world’s movers and shakers view American Jewry as a force to be reckoned with.” Of course, Jews have risen to power in many times and places ranging from the medieval Muslim world and early modern Spain through Germany and the Soviet Union in the 20th century. In nearly every prior instance, though, Jewish power proved to be evanescent. No sooner had the Jews become “a force to be reckoned with” than they found themselves banished to the political ma rgins, forced into exile or worse. Though it may rise to a great height, the power of the Jews seems ultimately to rest on a rather insecure foundation. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies. Course is open to juniors and seniors.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Ginsberg, Benjamin
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: M 1:30PM - 3:50PM
Status: Open - AS.130.216 - History of the Jews in Modern Times, from the Middle Ages to 1917
A broad survey of the significant political and cultural dynamics of Jewish history in the Medieval, Early-Modern, and Modern Eras.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Katz, David
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.130.440 - Elementary Biblical Hebrew
Introduction to the grammar, vocabulary, and writing system of biblical Hebrew.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Estrada, Justin Eugene
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings:
Status: Open - AS.191.315 - The Domestic Politics of Israel
Israel’s politics and history are complex, involving multiple military conflicts, domestic struggles and dynamic international relationships. This course will focus on Israel’s domestic politics by tracing the story of the development of its party system and the parties the compose it. A parliamentary democracy with a proportional representation electoral system, Israel’s party system includes multiple parties who represent the various segments of Israeli society. What are the origins of this party system and the parties that compose it? What changes have they experienced and what are the factors that influence those changes? Who are the important actors and what might be motivating them? These questions and others will serve as our guide on a journey to a better understanding of Israel’s domestic politics.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Dolinsky, Alona Olga
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.100.268 - Jewish and Christian mysticism in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period
This course will trace the historical development of Jewish and Christian mysticism between the 12th and the 17th centuries.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Maciejko, Pawel Tadeusz
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: WF 3:00PM - 4:15PM
Status: Open - AS.130.140 - Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
The Bible is arguably the most read and yet most misinterpreted book of all time, one of the most influential and yet most misapplied work of literature. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is Scripture to Jews and Christians yet also a rich collection of literature w/ numerous literary genres that has been highly influential on secular Western culture. At its core, it is our most important literary source that (when wed with archaeology) helps us to understand the people and culture of Iron Age Israel and Judah. This is an introductory course surveying of the books of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) giving primary attention to the religious ideas they contain and the ancient contexts in which they were composed. Topics include: The Academic Study of Religion, Ancient Creation Accounts, Ancestral Religion, The Exodus and Moses, Covenant, Tribalism and Monarchy, The Ideology of Kingship, Prophecy, Priestly Sources, Psalms, Wisdom Literature, and Apocalyptic Thought.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lewis, Theodore
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: MW 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.150.428 - Spinoza’s Theological Political Treatise
The class is a study of Spinoza’s theological and political thought as developed in his Theological-Political Treatise and the Political Treatise. Among the topics to be discussed are: Spinoza’s Bible criticism, the nature of religion, truth and obedience, God’s right and power, Spinoza’s theory of the State, the case study of the ancient Hebrew State, and the freedom to philosophize. Apart from a close reading of Spinoza’s two works we will also discuss Leo Strauss’ reading of Spinoza, and current work on Political Theology and their indebtness to Spinoza.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Melamed, Yitzhak Yohanan
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: Th 10:30AM - 1:00PM
Status: Open - AS.100.339 - In the Land of Others: Minorities in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean
This course examines the socio-political, religious and cultural history of ethno-religious minorities in the pre-modern Mediterranean.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Glazer-Eytan, Yonatan
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Canceled - AS.191.335 - Arab-Israeli Conflict (IR)
The course will focus on the origin and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict from its beginnings when Palestine was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, through World War I, The British Mandate over Palestine, and the first Arab-Israeli war (1947-1949). It will then examine the period of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982, the Palestinian Intifadas (1987-1993 and 2000-2005); and the development of the Arab-Israeli peace process from its beginnings with the Egyptian-Israeli treaty of 1979, the Oslo I and Oslo II agreements of 1993 and 1995, Israel's peace treaty with Jordan of 1994, the Road Map of 2003; and the periodic peace talks between Israel and Syria. The conflict will be analyzed against the background of great power intervention in the Middle East, the rise of political Islam and the dynamics of Intra-Arab politics, and will consider the impact of the Arab Spring.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Freedman, Robert
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: T 4:00PM - 6:30PM
Status: Open - AS.210.163 - Elementary Yiddish I
Year-long course. Includes the four language skills, reading,writing, listening, and speaking, and introduces students to Yiddish culture through text, song, and film. Emphasis is placed both on the acquisition of Yiddish as a tool for the study of Yiddish literature and Ashkenazic history and culture, and on the active use of the language in oral and written communication. Both semesters must be taken with a passing grade to receive credit. Students wishing to retain credits for Elementary Yiddish I must complete Elementary Yiddish II with a passing grade.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lang, Beatrice
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Status: Open - AS.211.202 - Freshman Seminar: A Thousand Years of Jewish Culture
This course will introduce students to the history and culture of Ashkanzi Jews through their vernacular, Yiddish, from the settlement of Jews in German-speaking lands in medieval times to the present day. Particular emphasis will be placed on the responses of Yiddish-speaking Jews to the challenges posed by modernity to a traditional society. In addition to studying a wide range of texts—including fiction, poetry, memoir, song, and film—students will learn how to read the Yiddish alphabet, and will prepare a meal of traditional Ashkenazi dishes. No prior knowledge of Yiddish is necessary for this course.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lang, Beatrice
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 1:30PM - 2:45PM
Status: Open - AS.210.263 - Intermediate Yiddish I
This course will focus on the Yiddish language as a key to understanding the culture of Yiddish-speaking Jews. Topics in Yiddish literature, cultural history and contemporary culture will be explored through written and aural texts, and these primary sources will be used as a springboard for work on all the language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Prerequisite: AS.210.164 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Lang, Beatrice
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.211.480 - Religious Themes in Film and Literature
This course would be of interest to anyone who would like to learn about the intersection of religion and modern culture. At the center of the course will stand a close study of the representation of religious themes and their role in modern literature and cinema. The works which we will deal with are not considered religious and yet they include religious themes as part of their narrative, images, language or symbolic meaning. We will trace in various works from various countries and genre, themes such as: divine justice, providence, creation, revelation, the apocalypse, prophecy, sacrifice and religious devotion. We will also study the ways in which Biblical and New Testament stories and figures are represented in these works. The course will have a comparative nature with the aim of learning more about the differences between the literary and cinematic representations.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 12:00PM - 1:15PM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.216.373 - War in Israeli Arts and Culture
In this course we will study the various representations of what functions as one of Israel’s most unifying and yet dividing forces: war. By analyzing literary and cinematic works as well as visual art and popular culture we will attempt to understand the role of war in shaping Israeli society, culture and politics. Topics such as commemoration and mourning, heroism, dissent and protest, trauma and memory and the changing image of the soldier will stand at the center of the course.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Waitlist Only - AS.216.373 - War in Israeli Arts and Culture
In this course we will study the various representations of what functions as one of Israel’s most unifying and yet dividing forces: war. By analyzing literary and cinematic works as well as visual art and popular culture we will attempt to understand the role of war in shaping Israeli society, culture and politics. Topics such as commemoration and mourning, heroism, dissent and protest, trauma and memory and the changing image of the soldier will stand at the center of the course.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi, Stahl, Neta
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: TTh 10:30AM - 11:45AM
Status: Open - AS.211.328 - Berlin Between the Wars: Literature, Art, Music, Film
Explore the diverse culture of Berlin during the heyday of modernism. During the Weimar Republic, Berlin became a center for theater, visual arts, film, music, and literature that would have an outsize impact on culture throughout the world and the twentieth century. The thinkers, artists, and writers drawn to interwar Berlin produced a body of work that encapsulates many of the issues of the period: the effect of the modern city on society; “the New Woman”; socialist revolutionary politics; the rise of the Nazis; and economic turmoil. While learning about interwar Berlin's cultural diversity, we will take a special look at works by Jewish writers and artists that engage with the question of ethnic, religious, and national identity in the modern world, specifically in the context of Berlin’s rich Jewish history and the rise of anti-Semitism in the interwar period. All readings will be in translation.
Credits: 3.00
Instructor: Spinner, Samuel Jacob
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: W 1:30PM - 4:00PM
Status: Open - AS.384.315 - Third Year Hebrew
Designed to maximize comprehension and the spoken language through literary and newspaper excerpts providing the student with the language of an educated Israeli. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies. Final day/time will be determined during the first week of classes based on students’ schedules.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings:
Status: Open - AS.384.115 - First Year Hebrew
Designed to provide reading and writing mastery, to provide a foundation in Hebrew grammar and to provide basic conversational skills. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies. Final day/time will be determined during the first week of classes based on students’ schedules.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings: MTThF 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Status: Open - AS.216.500 - Independent Study
Credits: 0.00 - 3.00
Instructor: Stahl, Neta
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings:
Status: Open - AS.384.215 - Second Year Hebrew
Designed to enrich vocabulary and provide intensive grammatical review, and enhance fluency in reading, writing and comprehension. Cross-listed with Jewish Studies. Final day/time will be determined during the first week of classes based on students’ schedules.
Credits: 4.00
Instructor: Cohen, Zvi
Term: Fall 2018
Meetings:
Status: Open