Committee Chairman: Philip V. Bohlman, GoH 211, 702-0514

Undergraduate Program Adviser: Ariela Finkelstein, C 223, 702-7022

afinkels@uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The B.A. in Jewish Studies provides a context in which College students may examine the texts, cultures, languages, and histories of Jews and Judaism over three millennia. The perspective is contextual, comparative, and interdisciplinary. The long and diverse history of Jews and Judaism affords unique opportunities to study modes of continuity and change, interpretation and innovation, and isolation and integration of a world historical civilization. Students are encouraged to develop appropriate skills (in texts, languages, history, and culture) for independent work.

Program Requirements

The major requires twelve courses distributed according to the guidelines that follow.

Language. The twelve courses required for the major normally include three quarters of Hebrew. This language requirement may be met with examination credit. Students with no AP or placement credit may register for first-year modern Hebrew (or Yiddish or Biblical Hebrew).

If the student's research project requires knowledge of a language other than Hebrew, the student may petition the committee to substitute that language for Hebrew.

Judaic Civilization. The major requires three courses in the Judaic Civilization sequence. This program includes ancient, medieval, and modern components. The temporal limits of these "periods" are determined by the faculty members assuming responsibility for the sequence. The first step of the sequence, covering the history of ancient Israel to the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth, could be replaced by a one-quarter introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Students who meet the general education requirement in civilization studies with another civilization sequence must also complete the Judaic Civilization sequence as part of their major. Students who meet the general education requirement in civilization studies with Judaic Civilization are required to take one quarter of another civilization sequence pertinent to the area and period of their primary interest in Jewish Studies and two additional courses in Jewish Studies. This choice is made in consultation with the Undergraduate Program Adviser.

Other Requirements. Students who take Judaic Civilization as three of the twelve courses required in the major take six elective courses in Jewish Studies; students who meet the general education requirement with Judaic Civilization take eight electives. These courses would, in part, constitute a specific area of concentration for each student, and are chosen by the student in consultation with the Undergraduate Program Adviser. Students are encouraged to take at least one method or theory course in the College in the area pertaining to their area of special interest.

It is expected that the general education requirements in the humanities or social sciences be completed before students enter the program, typically at the end of their second year. Students who have not completed the general education requirements before admission to the program should do so during their first year of the program.

Each student in the program has an adviser who is a member of the program's faculty (see list below). A worksheet is distributed to students to help them organize their programs.

Summary of Requirements

                                  3      courses in Hebrew or other approved language
as described in "Language" section*

                                  3      JWSC 20000-20100-20200 (if not used to meet general education requirement); or one related civilization course plus two additional courses in Jewish Studies

                                  6      courses related to Judaic Studies**

                                12

*          Credit may be granted by examination.

**                    Courses to be chosen in consultation with
the student's adviser in Jewish Studies.

Optional B.A. Paper. Students who choose this option are to meet with their advisers by May 15 of their fourth year to determine the focus of the research project, and they are expected to begin reading and research for the B.A. paper during the summer before their fourth year. After further consultation, students are to do guided readings and participate in a (formal or informal) tutorial during Autumn Quarter of their fourth year. Credit toward the major is received only for the Winter Quarter tutorial during which the B.A. paper is finally written and revised. The B.A. tutorial may count toward one of the courses related to Judaic Studies. The B.A. paper must be received by the primary reader by the end of fifth week of Spring Quarter. A B.A. paper is a requirement for consideration for honors.

This program may accept a B.A. paper or project used to satisfy the same requirement in another major if certain conditions are met and with the consent of the other program chair. Approval from both program chairs is required. Students should consult with the chairs by the earliest B.A. proposal deadline (or by the end of their third year, when neither program publishes a deadline). A consent form, to be signed by both chairs, is available from the College adviser. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.

Honors. Honors are awarded to students who show excellence in their course work, as well as on the B.A. paper. To qualify for honors in Jewish Studies, students must register for JWSC 29900 in addition to the twelve courses required in the general program of study, bringing the total number of courses required to thirteen. They will be required to maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the major. An oral defense of the B.A. paper must also be given to three members of the Jewish Studies faculty.

Grading. Students take all courses required for the major for quality grades. However, students who qualify for academic honors may take JWSC 29900 for P/F grading during the second quarter of their fourth year. Requirements for this P/F course will be agreed upon by the student and the instructor.

Faculty

L. Auslander, R. Austen, P. Bohlman, M. Brinker, A. Finkelstein, M. Fishbane,
T. Frymer-Kensky, M. Geyer, P. Mendes-Flohr, M. Postone, J. Robinson, M. Roth,
J. Sadock, E. Santner, J. Schloen, J. Stern, B. Wasserstein

Courses: Jewish Studies (jwsc)

Consult the quarterly Time Schedules for updated information and additional course listings in Hebrew Bible, Hebrew literature and history, and Jewish thought.

20000-20100-20200. Judaic Civilization I, II, III. Taking these courses in sequence is recommended but not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This is a sequential study of periods and communities selected from the history of Judaic civilization, viewed from multiple perspectives (i.e., historical, literary, philosophical, religious, social) and examined in light of the varied ways that civilization is and is not the product of interactions between the Jewish people and surrounding civilizations, nations, and religions. The primary focus is on a close reading of original sources in translation. Specific periods and communities studied may vary from year to year.

20000. Judaic Civilization I: Introduction to Biblical Civilization. (=HUMA 20000, JWSG 31000) This course provides an overall introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), with specific attention to its literary, religious, and ideological contents. The diversity of thought and theology in ancient Israel is explored, along with its notions of text, teaching, and tradition. Revision and reinterpretation is found within the Bible itself. Portions of the earliest post-biblical interpretation (in Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and selected Pseudepigrapha) are also considered. Autumn.

20100. Judaic Civilization II: Rabbinic Judaism from the Mishnah to Maimonides. (=HUMA 20100, JWSG 31100) This course is a study of the primary texts in the development of classical and medieval rabbinic Judaism from roughly 70 C.E. to the twelfth century. The course centers on selections (in translation) from the Mishnah and tannaitic Midrash, the Babylonian Talmud, Geonic and Karaite writing, the Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew literature of Andalusia, and Maimonides's legal and philosophical compositions. Topics include different conceptions of the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation; the origins and development of the Oral Law; relations between Judaism and both Christianity and Islam; sectarianism; rationalist, and antirationalist trends in rabbinic thought; and the emergence of secular pursuits in the rabbinic tradition. Winter.

20200. Judaic Civilization III. (=HUMA 20200, JWSG 31200) The third quarter of the sequence focuses on Jewish life and creative achievement in America, the Holocaust and testimonies by survivors, and a brief look at modern Jewish theology. Spring.

22000-22100-22200. Elementary Classical Hebrew I, II, III. (=HEBR 10101-10102-10103, JWSG 30100-30200-30300) The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to read biblical Hebrew prose with a high degree of comprehension. The course is divided into two segments: (1) the first two quarters are devoted to acquiring the essentials of descriptive and historical grammar (including translation to and from Hebrew, oral exercises, and grammatical analysis); and (2) the third quarter is spent examining prose passages from the Hebrew Bible and includes a review of grammar. The class meets five times a week. S. Creason. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

22300-22400-22500. Intermediate Classical Hebrew I, II, III. (=HEBR 20104-20105-20106, JWSG 30400-30500-30600) PQ: JWSC 22200 or equivalent. This course is a continuation of HEBR 10103. The first quarter consists of reviewing grammar and of reading and analyzing further prose texts. The last two quarters are devoted to an introduction to Hebrew poetry with readings from Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophets. D. Pardee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

23000-23100-23200. Medieval Jewish History I, II, III. (=HUMA 23000-23100-23200, JWSG 38100-38200-38300, NEHC 20411-20412-20413) PQ: Consent of instructor. This sequence does not meet the general education requirement in civilization studies. This three-quarter sequence deals with the history of the Jews over a wide geographical and historical range. First-quarter work is concerned with the rise of early rabbinic Judaism and development of the Jewish communities in Palestine and the Eastern and Western diasporas during the first several centuries C.E. Topics include the legal status of the Jews in the Roman world, the rise of rabbinic Judaism, the rabbinic literature of Palestine in that context, the spread of rabbinic Judaism, the rise and decline of competing centers of Jewish hegemony, the introduction of Hebrew language and culture beyond the confines of their original home, and the impact of the birth of Islam on the political and cultural status of the Jews. An attempt is made to evaluate the main characteristics of Jewish belief and social concepts in the formative periods of Judaism as it developed beyond its original geographical boundaries. Second-quarter work is concerned with the Jews under Islam, both in Eastern and Western Caliphates. Third-quarter work is concerned with the Jews of Western Europe from the eleventh through the fifteenth centuries. N. Golb. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

24800. The Representation of Jesus in Modern Jewish Literature. (=CMLT 25800, NEHC 20457, RLST 26601) This course examines the Jewish literary world's relation to the figure of Jesus from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. We study the transformations of Jesus through close readings of major works, both prose fiction and poetry, by Yiddish and Hebrew writers (e.g., Uri Zvi Greenberg, H. Leivick, Jacob Glatstein, S. Y Agnon, Avraham Shlonsky, Natan Bistritzki, A. A. Kabak, Haim Hazaz, Zalman Shneior, Yigal Mosenzon, Avot Yeshurun, Nathan Zach, Yona Wallach, Yoel Hoffmann). We focus on the historical changes in Jewish thought with regard to Jesus and their influence on the way modern Jewish writers depict Christians and Christianity. Classes conducted in English, but students with knowledge of Hebrew are encouraged to read texts in the original. N. Stahl. Spring.

25000-25100-25200. Introductory Modern Hebrew I, II, III. (=HEBR 10501-10502-10503, JWSG 35000-35100-35200, LGLN 20100-20200-20300/30100-30200-30300) This course introduces students to reading, writing, and speaking modern Hebrew. All four language skills are emphasized: comprehension of written and oral materials; reading of nondiacritical text; writing of directed sentences, paragraphs, and compositions; and speaking. Students learn the Hebrew root pattern system and the seven basic verb conjugations in both the past and present tenses, as well as simple future. At the end of the year, students can conduct short conversations in Hebrew, read materials designed to their level, and write short essays. A. Finkelstein. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

25300-25400-25500. Intermediate Modern Hebrew I, II, III. (=HEBR 20501-20502-20503, JWSG 35300-35400-35500, LGLN 20400-20500-20600/30400-30500-30600) PQ: JWSC 25200 or equivalent. This course is devised for students who have previously taken either modern or biblical Hebrew courses. The main objective is to provide students with the skills necessary to approach modern Hebrew prose, both fiction and nonfiction. In order to achieve this task, students are provided with a systematic examination of the complete verb structure. Many syntactic structures are introduced, including simple clauses, and coordinate and compound sentences. At this level, students not only write and speak extensively but are also required to analyze grammatically and contextually all of the material assigned. A. Finkelstein. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

25600-25700-25800. Advanced Modern Hebrew I, II, III. (=HEBR 30501-30502-30503, JWSG 35600-35700-35800, LGLN 22900-23000-23100/32900-33000-33100) PQ: JWSC 25500 or equivalent. This course assumes that students have full mastery of the grammatical and lexical content at the intermediate level. However, there is a shift from a reliance on the cognitive approach to an emphasis on the expansion of various grammatical and vocabulary-related subjects. Students are introduced to sophisticated and more complex syntactic constructions, and instructed how to transform simple sentences into more complicated ones. The exercises address the creative effort on the part of the student, and the reading segments are longer and more challenging in both style and content. The language of the texts reflects the literary written medium rather than the more informal spoken style, which often dominates the introductory and intermediate texts. A. Finkelstein. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

26100. Maimonides and Hume on Religion. (=PHIL 25110, RLST 25110) This course studies in alternation chapters from Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed and David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, two major philosophical works with literary forms that are at least as important as their contents. Topics include human knowledge of the existence and nature of God, anthropomorphism and idolatry, religious language, and the problem of evil. We may also read other short works by these two authors on related themes. J. Stern. Winter.

29700. Reading and Research Course. PQ: Consent of instructor and Undergraduate Program Adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29900. B.A. Paper Preparation Course. PQ: Consent of instructor and Undergraduate Program Adviser. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Required of honors candidates. Autumn, Winter, Spring.