The Construction of Jewish Identity: Summer 2008/09

We will study the evoluation of Jewish culture from Biblical times through the e nd of the 19th century. Our goal is to find commonalities between the past and t he present, and also to understand how our present day experiences differ from t he past. Our central question is: what is it that defines a Jew and where are th e borders between what is and what is not Jewish.

We will be reading two collections of essays: Cultures of the Jews Volume I: Mediterranean Origins and Cultures of the Jews Volume II: Diversities of Diaspora, both edited by David Biale. We will also read Jews and Power by Ruth Wisse. Our goal is to understand how the Jewish communities understood themselves over time, their relationship to the surrounding cultures, and what made them both distinct from and a part of the larger world.

The class will be run as a seminar, with weekly writing assignments and one larger synthesis paper.