JWST - Jewish Studies
JWST408 Honors Seminar in Jewish Studies (3 Credits)
An in-depth exploration of a theme in Jewish history, literature, culture or thought. Course subject and readings will vary from year to year, but will generally cut across periods, locations, or disciplines. Students are expected to engage the course material critically and to use the seminar as an opportunity to develop an independent research agenda.
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Restriction: Junior standing or higher.
JWST409 Research Seminar in Jewish Studies (3-4 Credits)
A capstone course for Jewish Studies. Guides students through advanced source material and subject matter, research skills, and presentation techniques. A substantive paper based on independent research and analysis is one expected outcome.
Prerequisite: Must have completed two upper-level courses in an appropriate area of Jewish Studies; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
Formerly: JWST309.
JWST418 Honors Thesis Research in Jewish Studies (3-6 Credits)
Guided research on a thesis under the supervision of the Jewish Studies faculty.
Repeatable to: 6 credits if content differs.
JWST419 Special Topics in Jewish Studies (3 Credits)
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
JWST429 Advanced Topics in Jewish Studies (3-4 Credits)
Special topics at an advanced level for Jewish Studies. Primarily intended for majors and graduate students.
Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.
JWST430 Dead Sea Scrolls (3 Credits)
A study of the Dead Sea Scrolls in their ancient and modern settings, and in terms of contemporary scholarly interpretations of their meaning. Interpretations of the historical significance of these documents, their connections to ancient Jewish sectarian movements, and their implications for our understanding of Judaism, Christianity, and the history of the Bible.
Prerequisite: Must have completed one JWST course or one RELS course; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies. Cross-listed with RELS430.
JWST432 Jews in Medieval Times 1000-1450 (3 Credits)
Social and cultural life of Jewish communities spread throughout Islam and Christendom. Major topics include the Gaonate, kehila organizations, legal, rationalist, and mystical thought, and the context of rising animosity against Jews linked to the Crusades and changing Church doctrines.
Recommended: HIST282, HIST330, HIST331, or JWST234. Cross-listed with: HIST476.
JWST452 The Golden Age of Jewish Philosophy (3 Credits)
Jewish philosophy from Maimonides in the 12th century to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain at the end of the 15th Century. Topics include the limitations of human knowledge, creation of the world, foreknowledge and free will, and the existence of God.
Prerequisite: 3 credits in PHIL courses; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies; or permission of ARHU-Philosophy department. Cross-listed with: PHIL417.
JWST459 Readings in Medieval Hebrew (3-4 Credits)
Readings and analysis of Hebrew texts and literature from the Middle Ages. Language of instruction in English; all texts in Hebrew.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
Credit Only Granted for: JWST459 or JWST466.
Formerly: JWST466.
JWST468 Readings in the Hebrew Bible (3-4 Credits)
Readings in the Hebrew text of the Bible. Emphasis in close reading, grammar analysis, and modern interpretations of the Bible. Language of instruction English; all texts in Hebrew.
Prerequisite: HEBR313; or permission of instructor.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
Formerly: HEBR441 and HEBR442.
JWST469 Readings in Rabbinic Hebrew (3-4 Credits)
Readings in classical rabbinic texts and related corpora. Emphasis on grammar and reading skills as well as critical analysis of the material. Language of instruction: English; all texts in original language.
Prerequisite: HEBR313; or permission of instructor.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
JWST471 Modern Hebrew Literature in Translation (3 Credits)
An exploration of modern Hebrew prose, poetry, and literary essays written from the 1880s through the present in Europe, Palestine, and Israel. An investigation of the challenges confronting authors such as Mendele Mokher Sforim, Avraham Mapu, Chaim Nahman Bialik, Dvorah Baron, S.Y. Agnon, and David Fogel as they tried to create a contemporary secular literature out of an ancient sacred language. All texts in English translation.
JWST478 Readings in Modern Hebrew (3 Credits)
Variable topics in Modern Hebrew Literature.
Prerequisite: HEBR313; or permission of instructor.
Restriction: Junior standing or higher.
Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.
JWST491 Judaism and the Construction of Gender (3 Credits)
The study of Jewish culture, religious practice, communal authority, and literature through the frame of such critical categories of analysis as gender, sexuality, masculinity, power, ethics, and the feminine.
Prerequisite: 1 course in JWST; or 1 course in LGBT; or 1 course in WMST or WGSS. Cross-listed with: WGSS491.
Credit Only Granted for: JWST491, WMST491 or WGSS491.
Formerly: WMST491.
JWST492 Sex, Gender, and Jewish Identity (3 Credits)
An exploration of Jewish embodiment, including dynamics related to biological sex, culturally-framed gender, and sexuality. Topics of discussion may include transgender and intersex Jews, stereotypes and gender performance, modesty, genetics, and body alteration. Focus is on contemporary Jewish culture, framed within the larger historical and textual tradition.
Prerequisite: 1 course in WGSS; or 1 course in JWST; or 1 course in LGBT; or permission of instructor. Cross-listed with: LGBT448W, WGSS492.
Credit Only Granted for: JWST492, JWST409G, LGBT448W, WMST498W or WGSS492.
Formerly: WMST498W and JWST409G.
JWST498 Advanced Language Module for Jewish Studies (1-3 Credits)
A supplementary language module for students enrolled in designated Jewish Studies classes. Language of instruction English, texts in original language.
Prerequisite: HEBR212 or JWST282; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
JWST499 Independent Study in Jewish Studies (1-3 Credits)
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Repeatable to: 6 credits if content differs.
JWST600 General Seminar in Jewish Studies (3 Credits)
Introduce graduate students to the fields, problems, and basic methods of research in the comtemporary practice of Jewish Studies. Consideration of chronological and historiographical problems, questions of the development of Jewish thought and literature and Jewish religious and cultural history in four rough chronological periods: Biblical Israel, Judaism in Antiquity, Judaism in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, and Modern Judaism.
JWST609 Supervised Instruction-Practicum in Jewish Studies (1 Credit)
Supervised instruction or supervised practicum in Jewish Studies. Intended for graduate students whose course work includes field work or classroom teaching.
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
JWST619 Directed Readings in Jewish Studies (3 Credits)
Independent Study in Jewish Studies. Readings and papers.
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.
JWST648 Readings in Jewish History (3 Credits)
Focus on the central issues in Jewish history as well as the key historiographical debates on those issues.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
JWST658 Readings in Jewish Thought and Culture (3 Credits)
Examines key issues in the development of Jewish thought and culture.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
JWST678 Readings in Jewish Literature (3 Credits)
Examines selected themes or literatures in the development of Jewish literary traditions.
Repeatable to: 9 credits if content differs.
JWST699 Independent Graduate Readings in Jewish Studies (1-3 Credits)
Independent readings or guided research in a field of Jewish Studies with a member of the Jewish Studies graduate faculty.
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Repeatable to: 12 credits if content differs.
JWST719 Readings in Jewish Studies (3 Credits)
Course exposes students to significant primary and secondary material on selected topics as well as the major methodological problems covered by professional scholars working on these topics.
Repeatable to: 99 credits if content differs.
JWST799 Masters Thesis Research (1-6 Credits)
Research and Writing the Masters Thesis in Jewish Studies.
Repeatable to: 6 credits.