Jewish Studies (JWST)

JWST 200B. Introduction to Jewish Studies: Cultures, Histories, Texts. 1 Unit.

Provides an interdisciplinary introduction to Jewish history and culture from its foundations to the modern world. The class focuses on major themes such as the development of Jewish monotheism in the ancient world; Jewish diaspora, persecutions and interactions with the Christian and Islamic worlds in the medieval and early modern period; Jewish emancipation, modern anti-Semitism and Zionism between the Enlightenment and First World War; and the causes and consequences of the Holocaust and the foundation of Israel as well as the impact of those events on contemporary Jewish culture, politics, and memory in the 21st century.