Fall 2025 Undergraduate Courses
Jewish Studies 100.002
Introduction to Jewish Religion, Culture, and People: Jews and Their Neighbors (link is external)
Instructor: Sarah Levin
CN# 26417
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Morgan 109
Units: 4
This course introduces students to the diversity of Jewish communities across time and geographies through a survey of literatures, histories, and cultures. Jewish cultures have always been co-produced in interaction with their non-Jewish neighbors. Through this study of Jewish cultural pluralism throughout history, we will investigate complex issues of identity and layers of belonging. Students from all majors and backgrounds are welcome. No previous knowledge of Judaism or Jewish Studies is necessary.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
- This is the program's core class and counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor.
Jewish Studies 120A.001 (ComLit 155)
Pack Light: Traversing Translation & Hebrew Literature(link is external)
Instructor: Yael Segalovitz
CN# 26389
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Social Sciences 80
Units: 4
Nothing could be easier than translating, it seems; a quick use of Google Translate or an AI chat and you’re good to go. Why, then, does the result so often fall flat or sound off, especially when it comes to complex literary works? In this course, we’ll trace the footprints of literary translation—the cultural, geo-political, theological, and linguistic knowledge embedded in every utterance we produce, and the acute challenges that arise when carrying these elements across languages. Taking on the viewpoints of writers, translators, and readers, we’ll tackle questions like: How should a translator handle an idiom with no equivalent in the target language (like “barking up the wrong tree”)? Is a translation’s job to capture the original’s unique flavor or to read smoothly to its new audience? And what’s the experience of reading someone else’s words filtered through a translator’s sensibility? Hebrew literature—born from a people in constant movement and containing echoes of multiple languages—presents a particularly fertile ground for exploring translation. We’ll follow the work in and about translation by celebrated modern Hebrew writers such as Yehuda Amichai, Shimon Adaf, and Maya Arad, as well as Sayed Kashua, whose writings sophisticatedly navigate the boundaries between Hebrew and Arabic; We will engage in hands-on translation exercises accommodating students with or without second language proficiency. We’ll peek into translators’ behind-the-scenes accounts, including Robert Alter’s work on Bible translation; And grapple with theoretical perspectives from Walter Benjamin through Jacques Derrida to Naomi Seidman on translation’s ethical and political implications. As a special component of the course: some of these writers and thinkers will join us for live class discussions! Translation, as many who practice it will tell you, is reading at its most intense. By semester’s end, you’ll not only better understand the intricacies of translation and gain insights into Modern Hebrew literature but also sharpen analytical skills that extend far beyond this course. Bring your passport—we’ll be crossing linguistic borders together.
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 120A.002 (Yiddish 107)
"Jewish Humor"(link is external)
Instructor: Miriam Borden
CN# 33734
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Online
Units: 4
This course will trace the history of humor among Jews in Europe and beyond, from the earliest instance of Yiddish writing in 1272 to Yiddish on Duolingo in 2025. This inquiry will take us back to Eastern Europe, where Yiddish-speaking Jews evolved their own distinct concept of themselves and the world around them. We will also collect jokes and analyze a variety of humorous genres (short fiction, film, stand-up, jokes, music) using a variety of analytical perspectives (historical, psychological, ethnographic, queer, and literary). We will examine how laughter has served in the Jewish tradition as both a coping mechanism and an instrument of self-defense.
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 121B
Mizrahim in Israel: History and Culture(link is external)
Instructor: Yifat Moas
CN# 33820
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Evans 41
Units: 4
While Jews are often imagined as having European roots, a significant portion of Israel’s Jewish population descends from once-thriving communities in Arab and Islamic countries. Their culture, and the ethnic relations between Mizrahi Jews (i.e., Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origin) and Ashkenazi Jews (with roots in Europe), have fundamentally shaped Israeli society. This course explores the history, culture, and evolving identity of Mizrahi Jews—from their historical experience in Arab and Islamic lands, through their immigration and struggles in Israel, to their cultural revival and growing political influence. These historical and cultural dynamics offer insights into the diverse forces that have shaped Israeli society, both past and present.
- Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 122B (AGRS 130T)
The Jews Between Ancient Empires(link is external)
Instructor: Duncan MacRae
CN# 33819
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Wheeler 104
Units: 4
This course is an investigation of two histories: the history of the Jewish people in Greek and Roman antiquity and the history of ancient imperialism. We will seek to understand how each of these histories can illuminate the other. From the sixth century BCE through to the fifth century CE, Jewish populations lived in the shadow of ancient empires (Persian, Hellenistic Greek, Roman). We will look at how this experience shaped Jewish identity, religion and cultural life. At the same time, the rich record for ancient Jewish history can help us understand how subject peoples experienced and shaped imperial rule. The course will involve readings from Jewish and non-Jewish ancient texts in translation (including from the Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, other apocryphal texts, Josephus, Tacitus, Roman imperial laws) and introductions to the archaeological and documentary evidence for ancient Jewish communities.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 123A (History 175D)
Muslim-Jewish Encounters: From the Beginnings of Islam to Today(link is external)
Instructor: Ethan Katz
CN# 24637
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Wheeler 108
Units: 4
The course takes us far beyond contemporary tensions between Muslims and Jews, and deep into a more complicated history that spans the Mediterranean and beyond. We move through topics that include the earliest encounters between Muslims and Jews during the years of the rise of Islam; the historical impact and legacy of the dhimmi (the system of rights and restrictions that defined Jews’ status for centuries under Islamic rule); the culturally fruitful shared experience of Jews and Muslims in Medieval Spain and the Ottoman Empire; the effects of French, British, and Italian colonialism in the modern Middle East; and the important conflicts over Zionism and Arab nationalism during the past century.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 175E
History and Sociology of Modern Israel(link is external)
Instructor: Yifat Moas
CN# 33821
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Dwinelle 189
Units: 4
In recent years—and especially since the October 7th massacre and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas—global discourse around Israel has become increasingly polarized, often reduced to simplistic labels of "pro-" or "anti-" Israel. Yet many remain unfamiliar with the complex history and social fabric of the country. This course surveys the historical events, social transformations, and cultural dynamics that have shaped Israeli society—from the emergence of the Zionist movement and the founding of the state to the present day—offering students a multidimensional understanding of Israel in both historical and contemporary contexts.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
More Fall 2025 Undergraduate Courses that Count Towards the JS Minor
Film 145.003
Israeli Cinema and Media Cultures
Instructor: Aner Preminger
CN# 33712
Meeting Time: Tuesdays 5:00-8:00pm
Location: Dwinelle 142
Units: 4
This course will examine the evolution of Israeli cinema in the context of global cinema history and Israeli culture. In the global context, we will discuss the nature of the interaction between Israeli cinematic developments and cinematic developments worldwide. In the domestic context, we will explore Israeli cinema as a mirror reflecting social and political developments within Israeli society and as a source of influence on Israeli culture and society. Beginning with the 1960s and the introduction of modernism into Israeli cinema, we will focus on film images and narratives that grapple with the paradoxes of a polarized society in search of its identity, including the perception and representation of marginalized communities, particularly women, ethnic minorities, and Palestinian citizens of Israel. We will also examine representations within Israeli films of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and Arab citizens of other countries.
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
History 103B
The Jews of Germany(link is external)
Instructor: John Efron
CN# 23231
Meeting Time: Mondays 10:00am-12:00pm
Location: Dwinelle 3205
Units: 4
This seminar is designed to introduce students to an examination of the major themes and issues concerning the history of the Jews in Germany from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. German Jews made defining innovations in Jewish life while at the same time, they also contributed to general western culture to a degree disproportionate to their numbers. No other Jewish community has had such a profound effect on both Jewish and European civilizations concurrently. Among the topics to be explored are the debates over Jewish emancipation, the scholarly and religious life of German Jews, integration into and separation from the mainstream, German antisemitism and Jewish responses, economic transformations, communal organization and family life, Jewish culture in the Weimar Republic, life under Nazi rule, Jewish life in postwar Germany.
- MeetsHistorical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Legal Studies 174.001
Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel(link is external)
Instructor: Ayelet Blecher-Prigat
CN# 31903
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Evans 2
Units: 4
This course introduces key issues in constitutional law and theory, using a comparative perspective with a focus on the Israeli constitutional system. The course will explore topics such as the principles and controversies surrounding judicial review, the evolution of Israeli constitutionalism, the interpretation and application of fundamental rights like equality, privacy, and freedom of religion. By examining these issues through a comparative perspective, students will develop critical thinking skills and a deeper appreciation for the role of constitutional frameworks in addressing complex societal debates. The course also offers insights into challenges that mirror those faced in the United States, particularly regarding the respective roles of the judiciary, the legislature, and the constitution in resolving divisive issues.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) 117AC
The Origins of Racism in the West(link is external)
Instructor: Yonatan Binyam
CN# 33776
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Mulford 240
Units: 4
This course provides students an opportunity to investigate the similarities and differences between premodern and modern group identity narratives. Premodern narratives of peoplehood will be analyzed alongside modern racial narratives utilizing a comparative approach to reading primary sources, coupled with a critical engagement with secondary sources on the issues of race, racism, and religion. The course will focus on narratives related to Western Civilization, white people, black people, Antisemitism, and Orientalism. It will also cover some of the parallels and differences between Western ideologies of racism and Antisemitism and those found in certain parts of the premodern Islamic world and the Middle East.
This course satisfies the American Cultures requirement.
- Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Political Science 138S
The Comparative Study of Genocide(link is external)
Instructor: Scott Straus
CN# 26393
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Social Sciences Bldg. 60
Units: 4
This course will examine the origins and forms of what a legal scholar once called an “odious scourge”: genocide. For years, genocide mainly referred to the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews during World War II. However, since the end of the Cold War events in Eastern Europe, Central Africa, and elsewhere have drawn scholars’ attention to genocide as a political phenomenon that may be studied across regions and time periods. Although ethical and policy concerns will underlie the discussion, as they do whenever genocide is the topic of study, our main objective will be to examine the determinants of genocide and related forms of mass violence.
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Yiddish 101A
Elementary Yiddish
Instructor: Miriam Borden
CN# 25792
Meeting Time: Mon,Tu,Wed 10:00-11:00am
Location: Online
Units: 4
In this beginners' course students will learn to speak, read, and write Yiddish, the original lannguage of East European Jews. Using the communicative method and the new textbook In Eynem, students will focus in class on speaking by playing out short dialogues. Grammar will be taught inductively, through examples. The course will introduce Yiddish culture through a variety of songs, stories, film clips, and illustrations.
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Spring 2026 Undergraduate Courses
Jewish Studies 5 (ComLit 20)
Jewish Life and Literature
Instructors: Yael Segalovitz and Roni Masel
CN# 34115
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Social Sciences 56
Units: 4
We live in times of extreme uncertainty, but one thing is undeniable: we are living through catastrophe. From the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine to environmental collapse, global pandemic, political upheaval, and the rise of authoritarian regimes, rupture has become a defining feature of our moment. What can Jewish history teach us about the emergence, experience, and consequences of catastrophe? And what is catastrophe to begin with?
This course traces voices of rupture across Jewish thought and literature—from biblical laments and rabbinic midrash to modernist poetics and contemporary prose. Moving between philosophy, theology, psychoanalysis, and literary criticism, we will read foundational texts by figures including Walter Benjamin, Freud, Clarice Lispector, S. Yizhar, and Mahmoud Darwish alongside biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jewish sources. In so doing, the course also offers an introduction to two millennia of Jewish thought, history, and textual traditions, as well as their ongoing dialogue with neighboring cultures and languages. While telling a story of tragedies, we will also ask ourselves in what other terms, more hopeful perhaps, we could narrate an alternative history of the human experience; and what these other stories could afford us in imagining a peaceful (or at least, less violent) world.
- Meets Arts & Literature L&S Breadth
- Counts toward the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 1o2 (Spanish 109A)
Elementary Judeo-Spanish (Ladino)(link is external)
Instructor: Adam Mahler
CN# 26977
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Online
Units: 4
Judeo-Spanish, also known as Ladino, is the linguistic legacy of the Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late fifteenth century. In this translation-driven course, students will learn to read and analyze Judeo-Spanish literary and cultural texts. Combining language instruction with elements of literary studies, this fast-paced course exposes students to Sephardic culture in the longue durée, including Hispano-Jewish poetry, Moroccan balladry, liturgical texts from Amsterdam, Ottoman-era memoir, holocaust testimony from the Balkans, and Jewish-American reportage and satire. Depending on course composition, students will have the opportunity to practice basic conversational skills. No knowledge of Hebrew or a Romance language required.
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 110
The History and Cultures of Jews in the United States(link is external)
Instructor: Gregg Drinkwater
CN# 26988
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Evans 87
Units: 4
Since the founding of the United States, Jews have been a tiny minority within a Christian-dominant culture. Just about 2.4% of the current population of the U.S. identifies as Jewish. And yet as this country approaches its 250th birthday, few other communities of comparable size can point to a history of being as widely celebrated as American Jews - while also recalling moments of being widely ostracized and debated. In this course, we will trace the history of American Jews from the colonial era to the present (with a particular emphasis on the 20th century), and reflect on the outsized role American Jews have played in the nation’s cultural imagination. We will examine the richness and diversity of American Jewish culture and the American Jewish experience, while also attending to the challenges and constraints faced by generations of Jews in this land. Topics and themes of the course will include: migration and the immigrant experience; the role of religion in American life; the boundaries of racial and ethnic identities; social and economic mobility; histories of integration and exclusion; cultural and religious innovation; antisemitism and philosemitism; gender and sexuality; and the often contested interplay between personal and communal identities.
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 120
Jewish Folktales: Past and Present, Self and Other
Instructor: Sarah Levin
CN# 25064
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 5:00-6;30pm
Location: Dwinelle 255
Units: 4
Folklore helps us make sense of the world we live in at the same time that it entertains us.
• Curious about dybbuks, golems, genies (jinns)?
• Want to know the folktales Shakespeare used?
• Want to learn new Jewish jokes?
In this course, we’ll read a sampling of folktales and jokes from diverse Jewish communities (German, Kurdish, Moroccan, Russian, Yemeni, etc.) while exploring themes such as creativity and artistic expression. We’ll also address gender, group identity and values, stereotypes, and the interactions of Jews and non-Jews. Films, videos, and guest storytellers will complement discussions. Final projects allow students to pursue their interests. Students from all majors and backgrounds are welcome. Conducted in English with readings in English.
– Meets Arts & Literature, L&S breadth
– Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 121B
Global Mizrahi Culture: Music, Art, and Cinema(link is external)
Instructor: Yifat Moas
CN# 24356
Meeting Time: Mon, Wed, Fri 12:00-1:00pm
Location: Evans 41
Units: 4
While Jews are often imagined as having European roots, many are unaware of the rich and complex histories of Jewish communities that thrived for centuries across the Middle East and North Africa. This course offers a broad perspective on these communities—collectively known as Mizrahi Jews—their distinctive cultures and histories, examining both their diversity and the threads that connect them.
The course moves between the cultural worlds of Mizrahi communities in their countries of origin—such as Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Tunisia—and the global Mizrahi communities that evolved throughout the twentieth century (particularly following the establishment of the State of Israel), as political and social changes led these once-thriving Jewish societies to disperse and re-form in new cultural contexts around the world. Through this dual lens, the course explores the continuities of Mizrahi culture and the ways in which traditions, identities, and memories have been sustained across generations and geographies.
- Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
- Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 122 (Education 150.001)
Religion and Spirituality in Education: Israeli and American Cases(link is external)
Instructor: Hanan Alexander
CN# 23701
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 2:00-3:30pm
Location: Evans 5
Units: 3
This course will examine the roles of religion and spirituality in education from the perspective liberal democratic society in two paradigm cases, Israel and the United States. It will review similarities and differences in the ways each school system conceives and practices such notions as secular and religious, initiation and indoctrination, diversity and inclusion, and public and private. For example, public schools do not offer religious instruction in the United States, due to the constitutional separation of religion and state, whereas religious schools receive state funding in Israel, as they do in many other countries that require no such separation. The course will also consider critiques of these concepts and practices based on gender, race, class, nationality, language, and the search for meaning, as well as similarities and differences between the impact of religious affiliation and nationalism and the influence of extremism in each educational system.
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 126 (Education 150.002)
Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought: Faith, Culture, and Education(link is external)
Instructor: Hanan Alexander
CN# 27964
Meeting Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-11:00am
Location: Social Sciences 54
Units: 4
Jewish thought is a field of Jewish studies that analyzes the themes of Jewish tradition, culture, community, and education throughout the ages from a conceptual point of view. The field often deals with connections, parallels, influences, and tensions between Jewish ideas and those of the wider world through studies of Jewish philosophy, theology, and mysticism. Key topics that are considered in this field include the existence and nature of God, the rationale for religious observance, the purpose of the Jewish people, the demands of Jewish ethics, the bonds between Israel and the Diaspora, the authority of revelation, the relation between faith and reason, and the transmission of Jewish culture across the generations.
** Students may petition to use this course towards the Jewish Studies Minor, in lieu of Jewish Studies 100.**
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Jewish Studies 175E
Social Movements in Israel (link is external)
Instructor: Yifat Moas
CN# 34471
Meeting Time: Mon, Wed, Fri 10:00-11:00am
Location: Evans 4
Units: 4
Israeli society has consistently drawn global attention, primarily in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet many remain unaware of the vibrant and intensely contested public debates within Israel itself, and of the diverse social struggles that shape its internal dynamics.
This course explores the development of protest movements and social activism in Israel—from left-wing movements calling to end the occupation to right-wing mobilizations seeking to reinforce it, as well as religious- and ethnic-based campaigns, struggles over social equality, gender and sexual identity, and the relationship between religion and state.
Through these case studies, the course situates Israeli activism within broader theoretical perspectives on social movements—particularly the cultural approach, which highlights collective identity, meaning-making, and the emotional dimensions of political action.
- Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
More Spring 2026 Undergraduate Courses that Count Towards the JS Minor
Yiddish 102A
Elementary Yiddish 2(link is external)
Instructor: Miriam Borden
CN# 28177
Meeting Time: Mon,Tu,Wed 10:00-11:00am
Location: Online
Units: 4
This course is a second-part introduction to the language that has been spoken by Ashkenazic Jews for more than a millennium, and an opportunity to discover the rich world of Yiddish language and culture through literature, music, folklore, television, blogs, and even memes. Using the communicative approach, we will learn how to speak, read, listen, write, and think critically about the worlds of Yiddish past and present..
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor
Yiddish 103
History of Yiddish Culture in English
Instructor: Miriam Borden
CN# 26416
Meeting Time: Tu/Thu 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Online
Units: 4
Who are the Jews? Yiddish culture holds one set of answers. Yiddish, the heritage language of Ashkenazic Jews in Europe, is the key to 1,000 years of Jewish history and culture. This course traces the development of Yiddish culture from the first settlements of Jews in German lands through centuries of life in Eastern Europe, down to the main cultural centers today in Israel and the Americas. Through transnational Yiddish folklore, literature, music, drama, and more, we examine how the Yiddish language became a powerful tool to respond to changes and challenges to Jewish life. We will consider the Jewish encounter with travel, exile, race, violence, and politics across several centuries, especially in the modern period. And we will consider more recent representations—and reinventions—of Yiddish culture in contemporary film, television, digital media, and popular culture. By the end of the course, students will be able to unravel the mystery, the wit, and the beauty of the mameloshn (mother tongue).
- Counts towards the Jewish Studies Minor