In this Department  Course Offerings Catalog  Main Page General Information  College of Arts and Sciences  Conservatory of Music Double-Degree Program  Other Links  Registrar's Office Office/Departmental Directory  Arts and Sciences Main Page Jewish Studies Jewish Studies Jewish Studies aims to foster knowledge of Jewish civilization: the history, religion, and culture of the Jews. Interdisciplinary in nature, the Program employs a variety of methodologies to examine a history of more than three thousand years in the land of Israel and in diaspora communities around the world. It enables students to acquire a broad knowledge of the field along with some of the fundamental tools required for its further study. These skills include the ability to read and comprehend core texts of the Jewish tradition, as well as a command of methods for interpreting other materials relevant to the study of Jewish history and society. Major: The Jewish Studies major consists of at least 30 hours of Jewish Studies and elective courses. Majors complete a core of four courses, and then further course work concentrated in either religion or history. All majors are required to complete the following core courses: JWST 111 Classical Hebrew I JWST 112 Classical Hebrew II JWST 131 (Jewish History from Biblical Times to 1492) or JWST 132 (Jewish History from the Spanish Expulsion to the Present) JWST 150 Introduction to Judaism Majors are urged to complete these four core courses during their first two years of study. They must choose a concentration in religion or history. All majors are required to take an additional three courses from the Program's offerings. Majors with a concentration in religion are required to select three additional JWST religion courses, including at least one 300-level seminar. Majors with a concentration in history are required to select three additional JWST history courses, including JWST 131 or 132 (whichever was not taken for the core requirement), and one 300-level seminar. The Program Director must approve these three additional courses, insuring that the major attains breadth as well as depth in the field. In addition, all majors may, in consultation with their adviser, choose up to three elective courses to complete their major. The Jewish Studies major at Oberlin places emphasis on acquiring reading knowledge of Hebrew texts. Students who have completed JWST 111 and JWST 112 (or the equivalent) may have the opportunity to use their reading knowledge of Hebrew texts in 200- and 300-level courses or in private readings supervised by the Jewish Studies faculty. Majors are encouraged to live in Johnson House, the Program House of Jewish Studies. In order to develop facility in Modern (conversational) Hebrew, the Program encourages majors to spend summer/s and/or at least a part of their junior year at one of the authorized programs in Israel or elsewhere that have intensive Modern Hebrew Language courses. Minor. A minor in Jewish Studies consists of a minimum of 15 credit hours in JWST courses. Students are encouraged to take at least one course in both major disciplines (history; religion), that Oberlin offers. Honors. Qualified students wishing to do an advanced research project in JWST are invited to apply for admission to the Honors program for their seventh and eighth semesters. Students wishing to be considered for the Honors Program must consult the Director of the Program in their sixth semester and submit a statement of the proposed topic and its methodology (7-10pp.), as well as a bibliography (2 pp.), by Spring Break of the student's sixth semester. Admission to the Program will be determined by JWST faculty/ committee based on the student's level of proficiency and academic record in JWST and overall, and the strength and suitability of the proposal. Credit hours earned from the Honors project should be beyond those required for the Major. Transfer of Credit. Students may transfer up to 14 hours toward the major, or 7 hours toward the minor, from accredited institutions and at the discretion of the director of the Program. With the exception of Hebrew, such credits should be for specialized courses, rather than for courses equivalent to introductory courses required for the major/ minor.   back to top Course Offerings 111. Classical Hebrew I 3 hours 3HU, CD First Semester. Geared to quickly bringing the student to reading comprehension of Biblical texts, this course emphasizes Biblical grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. No prior knowledge of Hebrew is required but the course will move briskly beyond the basics. Enrollment Limit: 15. Ms. Magnus 112. Classical Hebrew II 3 hours 3HU, CD Second Semester. Continuation of Biblical Hebrew, and essentials of post-biblical Hebrew, with an emphasis on acquiring skills necessary for reading and translating mishnaic, medieval, and early modern Hebrew texts. Selected readings and discussion of texts. Prerequisite: JWST 111 or consent of instructor. Enrollment Limit: 15. Mr. Socher 131. Jewish History from Biblical Antiquity to 1492 3 hours 3SS, CD, WR First Semester. Survey of Jewish history from biblical origins through the medieval period in the Christian and Islamic realms until 1492. Covers biblical society and its literary expression; the emergence and development of rabbinic Judaism; Jewish sects, including early Christianity; Hellenistic and Roman rule; Jewish religio-political attitudes and behavior toward non-Jewish powers; the Jewish community and family; the Crusades; the Spanish and other expulsions; medieval Jew-hatred and Jewish responses. Identical to HIST 131. Enrollment Limit: 45. Ms. Magnus 132. Jewish History from the Spanish Expulsion to the Present 3 hours 3SS, CD, WR Second Semester. Survey of Jewish history from 1492 to the present, focusing on cultural and political challenges of modernity and Jewish responses. Covers messianic movements; Hasidism; emancipation; religious reform and modern traditionalism; socio-economic transformation; assimilation and cultural revival; modern anti-semitism and Jewish responses; Zionism; Jewish radicalism; the Shoah; the State of Israel; and American Jewry. Identical to HIST 132. Enrollment Limit: 45. Ms. Magnus 150. Introduction to Judaism 3 hours 3HU, CD First Semester. A theoretical introduction to Judaism as a religious system. Special attention will be paid to the historical development of the religion through interpretation of traditional texts and ritual practices. Identical to RELG 250. Enrollment Limit: 40. Mr. Socher 151. Modern Jewish Thought 3 hours 3HU, CD Second Semester. An interpretive study of key figures and movements in modern Jewish thought, from the 17th to the 20th century. Central topics to be examined include the ideologies of the modern movements (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox), challenges to the veracity of biblical texts, authority of rabbinic tradition, and the place of the Jew and Judaism in an enlightened secular society. Thinkers to be studied include Spinoza, Mendelssohn, the Baal Shem Tov, Marx, Herzl, Kook, Buber, Solveitchik, and Heschel. Identical to RELG 251. Enrollment Limit: 40. Mr. Socher 206. Ancient Judaism from the Exile to the Rise of the Rabbis 3 hours 3HU, CD First Semester. Ancient Judaism from the Exile to the Rise of the Rabbis. This course traces Judaism from the Babylonian exile through the rise of the rabbis. Critical reading of historical and literary sources from the Bible, Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls constitute the core of the course. Wisdom literature, the impact of Hellenism, the Maccabean revolt, apocalypticism, sectarianism and the beginnings of rabbinic Judaism are central themes. No previous knowledge of ancient Judaism is required. Identical to RELG 206. Enrollment Limit: 40. Ms. Gibson 208. The New Testament and Christian Origins 3 hours 3HU, WR Second Semester. This course examines the New Testament in its Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts. Text and literary criticism as well as the historical-critical method are applied to the literature and theologies of the earliest Christian communities in order to illumine Christianity's origins and development. Important themes include orthodoxy and heresy, the division between Jews and Gentiles, the many images of Jesus and the emergence of the New Testament anthology as canon. Identical to RELG 208. Enrollment Limit: 40. Ms. Gibson 209. Women in Ancient Mediterranean Religions 3 hours 3HU, CD Second Semester. This course investigates the roles and depiction of women in four ancient Western religious traditions: Greek and Roman polytheism, Judaism, and Christianity. Identification and recognition of women's religious experience is the primary task. In addition, this course seeks to understand the role of female divinities and the connection, if any, between the place of women in the larger culture and their place in the religious realm. No prior familiarity with these religious traditions is required. Identical to RELG 209 and WOST 209. Enrollment Limit: 35. Ms. Gibson 233. Jewish Memoirs and Memory: Writing the Self in Jewish Society 3-4 hours 3-4SS, CD, WR Next offered in 2003-2004. 234. Good & Evil: Decision-Making in the Holocaust 3-4 hours 3-4SS, CD, WR Next offered in 2003-2004. 235. East European Jewry: 1772-1939 3 hours 3 SS, CD, WR Next offered in 2003-2004. 237. Women in Jewish Society, Antiquity to Modernity 3 hours 3SS, CD, WR Second Semester. Selected topics in Jewish women's history from antiquity to the twentieth century, examining "normative" constructions of women's roles as well as social and cultural realities. Uses biblical and rabbinic materials, medieval communal and personal (divorce, prenuptial) documents, women's letters, memoirs and rituals to explore gender roles and power relations between Jewish women and men, women and religion, women's economic and communal functions, literacy, sexuality, responses to persecution, and feminism. Identical to HIST 237. Enrollment limit: 30. Ms. Magnus 255. Theology, Science, and the Secularization of Europe (1200-1800) 3 hours 1.5HU, 1.5SS, CD, WR First Semester. This course will examine various claims about the secularization of Europe and the relationship between the two dominant intellectual orientations of theology and science during this period. We will also explore the influence of theological and scientific thinking on changing conceptions of law and civil society through such themes as utopianism and mechanistic conceptions of the state. The course will consist of lectures and discussions; readings will include major historical interpretations and primary source texts as a basis for reinterpreting this critical period of intellectual history. Identical to HIST 205 and RELG 255. Enrollment Limit: 45. Mr. Miller, Mr. Socher 258. Introduction to the Talmud: Argument & Interpretation 3 hours 3HU, CD, WR Next offered in 2004-2005. 306. Germans and Jews 3 hours 3-4SS, CD, WR First Semester. A colloquium open to students with prior study of Jewish history examining the evolution of the Jewish position in Germany from that of an impoverished, culturally isolated, persecuted minority, to a highly acculturated, even assimilated, middle-class group. We will study Jewish emancipation in the German states, Jewish responses to changed political and economic circumstances, social change, intellectual and religious movements innovated by German Jewry (Reform, Neo-Orthodoxy, Positive Historical Judaism, Wissenschaft des Judentums), Jewish reactions to modern anti-semitism, and the emergence of a German-Jewish identity, as well as rejection of such an identity. Consent of instructor required. Identical to HIST 306. Enrollment Limit: 15. Ms. Magnus 338. Seminar: Selected Topics in Early Judaism and Christianity 3 hours 3 HU, WR Second Semester. 2002-2003 Topic: Relations between Jews, Gentiles and Christians in the Early Centuries. This is a course about conflict, separation, prejudice and hatred-both ancient and modern. We will investigate the possibility that the roots of anti-semitism lies in early Christians' attempts to justify their beliefs to the skeptical pagan audience and in their efforts to distance themselves from their Jewish roots. Readings begin in the New Testament period and continue through the fourth century CE. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor and either RELG 206 or RELG 208 are required. Enrollment Limit: 15. Ms. Gibson 353. Seminar: Moses Maimonides: Philosophy & Law 3 hours 3HU, CD, WRi Next offered 2004-2005. 354. Seminar: Spinoza: Heresy and Modern Judaism 3 hours 3HU, WR Second Semester. The great modern philosopher and bible critic Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) was excommunicated by the Jewish community of Amsterdam and is often described as the first modern or secular Jew. This seminar will examine Spinoza's writings, especially the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, and writings about Spinoza. It will focus not only on Spinoza's life and thought but the way in which he anticipated some of the central issues of Jewish modernity, such as the authority of religious tradition and the question of Jewish identity in the modern state. Identical to RELG 354. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 15. Mr. Socher 500. Honors Project 1-3 hours 1-3HU, CD Students wishing to do Honors in Jewish Studies during their final year should consult their Major Advisor or the Chair of the Jewish Studies Program; see further details regarding Honors projects at the beginning of this section of the catalog. Projects sponsored by Ms. Magnus, Mr. Socher, or Ms. E.L. Gibson Consent of instructor required. 995. Private Reading 1-3 hours 1-3HU, CD Projects sponsored by Ms. Magnus, Mr. Socher, or Ms. E.L. Gibson Consent of instructor required.   back to top