Special Topics Courses | American University

Every year the Jewish Studies Program offers "special topics" courses, which focus on particular aspects of Jewish culture, history, politics, and religion. These courses offer students in all programs an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to Jewish Studies. Here are some of our most recent special topics:

JWST-296.001 Modern Jewish Civilization
Jerome Copulsky, Director, Jewish Studies Program
Surveys Jewish responses to the challenges of modernity. Examines the creation of new Jewish communities in America and Israel, shifts in Jewish political status, and innovations in Jewish religious and intellectual history such as Zionism and Hasidism.

JWST-296.002 Divided Cities in Twenty-first Century
Dana Hercbergs, Abensohn Postdoctoral Fellow in Israel Studies
Divided cities embody complex consequences of nationalism, war, migration and economic disparities in the last century. Focusing on salient cases like Jerusalem, Beirut, Berlin, and Dubai, this course studies historical, cultural, and geographic accounts of the impact of divisions on residents' daily lives and their sense of local identity.

JWST-320.001 Israel & Palestine: History and Culture
Dana Hercbergs, Abensohn Postdoctoral Fellow in Israel Studies
This course approaches the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through historical, ethnographic, and cultural perspectives. Beginning with the Zionist and Palestinian nationalist movements in the late nineteenth century, the course traces their interactions to explore the complexities of national and communal identities, and notions of home and return in Israeli and Palestinian society.

Fall 2012

JWST-320.001 Introduction to Judaism
Jerome Copulsky, Director, Jewish Studies Program
This course introduces students the diverse ways Judaism changed as it responded to modernity. The class covers the evolution of and distinctions among the three major religious movements of Judaism -- Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform--and other expressions of Jewish religious life.

Spring 2012

JWST-396.001/HIST-319/619.001 Holocaust

Piotr Kosicki, Instructor, History Department

Traces the history of anti-Semitism and the development of racism that led to the Holocaust. Examines the historical development of the Final Solution. Considers the variety of responses to Jewish persecution by the Nazi perpetrators, the Jews, and the nations of the world.

HIST-396.004/JWST-396.002 Jerusalem Through the Ages
Randall Geller, Professorial Lecturer, History Department
This course covers the history of the city of Jerusalem from David's conquest ca. 1,000 B.C.E. through to the present day, focusing especially on the site as a holy city to Muslims, Christians, and Jews, and its status as a point of contention in the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict.

Spring 2011

HIST 344.002/644.002 Topics in Jewish Culture: American Jewish Popular Culture
Nina Spiegel, Adjunct Professor, Department of History
This course examines the history of American Jewish popular culture in the twentieth century through the prisms of film and TV; food and leisure; music, theater, art and dance. The class analyzes the interplay between American and Jewish cultures, exploring topics such as urbanization, immigration, suburbanization, and globalization.

HIST 344.003/644.003 History of Zionism
Nina Spiegel, Adjunct Professor, Department of History
This course investigates the development of the Zionist movement, focusing on its European context in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It explores the influence of European nationalisms, central works of Zionist thinkers, and the variety of approaches, as well as debates within the movement.

Fall 2010

SOCY-396 Selected Topics: Israeli Politics
Fred Lazin, Abensohn Visiting Professor at the Center for Israel Studies
This course provides an overview of current issues, topics, and controversies affecting Israeli politics. It considers the Israel political system in the context of major political and social developments, in a comparative context.

Spring 2010

JWST-320.001/HIST-344.003/644.003 Topics in Jewish Culture: Museums & Memory: Israel & U.S.
Nina Spiegel, Schusterman Teaching Fellow in Jewish Studies
This seminar focuses on how museums interpret history and shape public and collective memory. Exploring topics in the modern Jewish experience, the course analyzes the process and politics of cultural creation. Themes will include nationalism, immigration, and conflict as they appear in museums in both America and Israel.

JWST-320.002/HIST-344.002/644.002 Topics in Jewish Culture: American Jewish Popular Culture
Nina Spiegel, Schusterman Teaching Fellow in Jewish Studies
This course examines the history of American Jewish popular culture in the twentieth century through the prisms of film and TV; food and leisure; music, theater, art and dance. The class analyzes the interplay between American and Jewish cultures, exploring topics such as urbanization, immigration, suburbanization, and globalization.

Spring 2009

JWST-320.002/HIST-344 Jews, Culture, and Empire
Tatjana Lichtenstein, Schusterman Teaching Fellow in Jewish Studies
This course examines the development of modern East European culture within the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires since the late nineteenth century; includes urbanization, secularization and immigration; the politics and cultural revolution; Yiddish literature, theater, and film.

Fall 2008

JWST-320.002/HIST-344 Topics in Jewish Culture: Modern Jewish Politics
Tatjana Lichtenstein, Schusterman Teaching Fellow in Jewish Studies
Examines the emergence and development of modern Jewish politics since the early nineteenth century focusing on the relationship between politics, culture, and society; topics include the Jewish encounter with major political ideologies; the relationship between Jews and the state; and the role of modern philanthropy in transforming Jewish societies.

COMM-549 Topics in International Media: Comparing Media Systems in Democracies - Israel and Europe
Yoram Peri, Schusterman Visiting Professor of Israel Studies
Students in this seminar learn about the media and the important political roles they play in key states in Europe and in Israel. The Mediterranean, North European, Post-Soviet and the Liberal models will de discussed. A special emphasis will be on the Americanization process of the media, on tabloidization, and on the new political role that they have acquired – culminating with the formation of "mediapolitik", that is politics that has adopted the "media logic".

RELG-371/671.001 Topics in Jewish Religion: Changing Face of Jewish People
Leila Gal Berner, Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Philosophy and Religion
Is being Jewish today a national, ethnic or faith-based identity? We will use texts from the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, Jewish philosophy, rabbinic literature and contemporary sociology to explore issues surrounding Jewish identity including: membership, conversion, citizenship, Israel and Zionism, gender, antisemitism, exile, and Diaspora. Geographic location, position in society, external and internal definitions of Jewishness, oppression, and acceptance all impinge on definitions of individual and collective identity.

Spring 2008

SIS-396/696.003 Ethnicity & the State: Israel in Comparative Perspective
Calvin Goldscheider, Polinger Scholar in Residence
This course analyzes recent case studies on ethnic/immigrant groups in various regions. The focus is on Israel with systematic comparisons to the United States, countries within Europe, and the third world. Students will compare ethnic, national origin, and religions within and between countries over time while developing focused independent comparative research projects.

HIST-344 Topics in Jewish History: American Jewish Women’s History
Pamela Nadell, Director, Jewish Studies Program
A rich tapestry of diverse colors woven across time and space—that is the history of America’s Jewish women. We will especially focus on gender refracted through the prisms of religion, politics, education, and economic life, and compare America’s Jewish women with Jewish women elsewhere in the modern world.

Fall 2007

RELG-371/671.001 Topics in Jewish Religion: What Today’s Jews Think About
Leila Gal Berner, Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Philosophy and Religion
This course will explore what today’s Jews are thinking about concerning new theological approaches, issues of gender and sexuality and bioethics and much more. We will examine traditional views in light of new Jewish conversations and perspectives, looking at both ancient and contemporary texts as our source materials.

JLS-596 Israeli Law and Legal System
Naomi Gale, Schusterman Visiting Scholar in Israel Studies
The course covers: history of the legal system and its legal sources (legislation, case law, analogy, Israel's heritage and custom); absence of a constitution; the Declaration of Independence; structure of the judicial system (the regular three instances and specialized judicial bodies. Special attention will be given to the religious courts, and to the complexities of the position of women under both religious and civil laws. The course will also include discussion of human rights, and the use of basic laws like Human Dignity and Liberty (1992) as part of the gradual emergence of a constitution.

Fall 2006

RELG 371/671.001 Topics in Jewish Religion: Women and Judaism
Leila Gal Berner, Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Philosophy and Religion
Beginning with an exploration of Jewish women’s history and legal status, we will focus on feminist theological perspectives and Jewish women’s spirituality as reflected in personal writings, ritual, liturgy, and midrash (biblical interpretation and commentary). In this regard, the dialectic between tradition and innovation will be examined. We will together explore underlying meta-issues such as how the female and the feminine find their place within Judaism, and how Jewish women engage with, challenge, and embrace Judaism.

Spring 2006

HIST-344/644 Topics in Jewish History: Israel in International Politics
Barry Rubin, Inaugural Abensohn Visiting Professor in Israel Studies
During its almost sixty years of existence, Israel has been involved in many important issues and its experiences also illustrate broader problems of policymaking issues and international affairs. Aside from the Arab-Israeli conflict it has played an important role in a wide variety of Middle Eastern questions. Israeli’s relations with the United States, Europe, and the Third World are also explored in this course. These questions are examined from the standpoint of Israeli interests and policymaking as well as bilateral relations and perceptions of other countries.

Fall 2005

LIT-381 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Literature: From Shtetl to Superhero
Rebecca Boggs, Lecture, Department of Literature
Explores the modern Jewish experience in a variety of literary genres (fiction, graphic novel, poetry, film, drama) and contexts, from the shtetl life of Tevye (Sholem Aleichem) to the superhero-creating struggles of Kavalier & Clay (Chabon). Other authors may include Peretz, Bellow, Roth, Ozick, Spiegelman, Eisner, Wasserstein, Levinson, and Goodman.

PHIL 315/615.001 Jewish Thinkers Confront Modernity
Leila Gal Berner, Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Philosophy and Religion
What do some of the greatest modern and contemporary Jewish philosophers think about God, the Jewish people, the Land of Israel, social responsibility, prayer, gender, spirituality and religious life? Together we will explore the writings of Judaism’s greatest modern thinkers and the implications of their thought for the present and future of the Jewish people.

Coming Soon	Date
Waterworks	05/26/13
Spring 2013 Exhibitions: Lee Haner, Painting Borges, and Saturation Point	05/26/13
Spring 2013 Exhibitions: Timothy App	05/26/13

Degrees

Directory Assistance

Offices & Services

Shortcuts

Jewish Studies | Special Topics Courses

Spring 2013

Fall 2012